Drone wars...

Wars aint what they used to be....

Drone Wars

Karl Sanchez has an excellent article on Russia and drones which you should read. It has pretty much the full text of Putin's recent speech on drone production during a meeting of the Military-Industrial Commission.

Main Points:

Russia realizes the importance of drones in modern warfare.

2023: 140,000 drones delivered to the RuAF

2024: 1, 140, 000 (tenfold increase)

2030: 48 new sites for design and serial production

To achieve its goals, the RF is streamlining production and supply with governmental initiatives and help of volunteer organizations.

RuAF staffing is being increased to 2, 389,000 , with a military of 1.5 million (World's second largest military)

What does all this mean?

This is not just a huge leap in military capability but also in technological development— since advanced drone technologies require bleeding edge AI, aviation tech and electronics-- which can be spun off into a whole range of industries, spurring industrial development even in the consumer area.

The increase in the size of the military as well as ongoing development of a range of military technologies other than drones means that the Russian military will have no peer-- except for the Chinese, who are allies. Russia has already advanced so far ahead of the US in so many areas that the Americans may never be able to catch up.

If push came to shove in Europe, the Russians would walk all over NATO. Probably in a few weeks.

That's not going to happen of course.

NATO is happy to fight to the last Ukrainian--. As we can see in Kursk. But the point where there will be no Ukrainians left to die at European convenience is coming very soon.

Maybe we should say no Ukrainians willing to die for NATO.

In Kiev recently there have been more than 200 incidents of "guerrillas" burning military conscription squad vehicles.

Similar incidents have also occurred on a large scale in Odessa. All these acts of resistance are directed at attempts to force people to serve. In other words, ordinary people realize the war is lost—no one wants to be that last Ukrainian to die for a mistake.

Thousands of Ukrainians have also perished trying to escape to other countries to avoid almost certain death in Donetsk or places like Kursk.

As the Russians continue to make progress— take POWs, treat them with respect, and rebuild cities in the South, the chance of a populist revolt against the NATO regime in Kiev increases daily – while the US and Europe discredit themselves.

I should mention that foreign mercenaries are not taken as POWs--as mercenaries they are not protected by the laws of war and the atrocities that they commit in Ukraine have led to Russian soldiers just executing them.

This is also a moral war. About justice.

In the end, it is obvious that NovoRossiya will likely extend too most of what is now Ukraine.. Ukrainians will vote for the future —not for the past. The West has failed. Russia has succeeded. Who wants to vote for failure? Who will vote against future prosperity?

The US probably understands something of this — so envisions a new Iron Curtain along the Polish border to stop the Russian conquest of the Western World--and to provide a rationale for adventurism in other areas – the Arctic and the Pacific. The fact that Ukraine is nowhere near the Arctic nor the Pacific is irrelevant.

Stupid and stupider.

The Americans cannot compete with Russia in the Arctic. Nor with China in the Pacific.

As for politically unstable Europe, populism—which happens when you ignore the needs and wants of ordinary people. Having lost the Ukraine, the US may lose Europe too.

Rescue Cats

This is Gris (“Grey”, in Japanese pronounced “GooRi”.

Gris is a very small female feral cat who was “introduced” by another older male street cat named “Maubo” who was also taken in but died some time after.

Gris was starved and apparently had been kicked.

When taken to the vet for neutering, it was discovered she had serious internal injuries which required surgery.

“Gris”is very timid. Friendly only to her caregiver. She tolerates me when I visit now —after 7 years —but is still very afraid of strangers and feet.

Even small acts of kindness change the world. Do what you can. In goodness there is always reward.

Coffee Please!

Yes, working hard on Part 3, trying to figure out a.) American Un-Reason b.) American Un-democracy. As you probably noticed, Trump and Harris are even in the polls. I was able to predict the last couple of elections accurately. Not sure about this one. A lot depends on geopolitical events in the next few weeks.

To buy me and my furry owners coffee and get on the mailing list for Part 3 please click here! Or on Ichi’s picture below.