Putin's MIC

When capitalism works...

In yesterday's article, I wrote about the use of the Oreshnik MRBM against Ukraine as what you might call a geopolitical "demonstration event"-- that is, an attack that shows off a capability that had not existed before.

Of course, the US and the Western media were at pains to dismiss the importance of this attack, which among other things blew up a lot of the Ukraine’s few remaining ATACMS missiles by a.) not mentioning the ATACMS b.) suggesting that this new missile was just some refurbished old missile from storage.…

Right after the Oresnik attack on (Nov 22) , Putin met with the Defence Ministry leadership, representatives of the military-industrial complex and missile system developers

Imagine the President of the US States meeting with the Department of Defense leadership, and people from every major company in the American military industrial complex—as well as missile developers!

That’s not the way things work in the US where the government works for the MIC and not the other way around , as in Russia.

In fact, in the US,nothing even remotely like this has happened since WWII and FDR!

Some takeaways.

Your achievements and the short time it took you to develop this new system inspire pride and admiration. They convincingly show that the domestic school of rocket engineering possesses tremendous potential and is capable of addressing the most complex tasks to ensure Russia’s security and sovereignty..

Putin reveals that this system was developed in a relatively short time.

In the West, such systems take at least a decade – usually more—sometimes two.

That’s why the US is now not years behind Russia, but, as one commentator has said, a full generation. Russia’s capability is a result of what I have a remarked on before – their emphasis on technical education and industrial development. They turn out engineers, not MBAs.

And, of course, the fact that the MIC works for the State - and not vice versa.

In this context, importantly, the Oreshnik system is not an upgrade of old Soviet-era systems, even though we are all originally from the Soviet systems, and we were all raised on the accomplishments of previous generations and, to a certain degree, we built on their achievements. However, this system is, in fact, the result of your work that was done in modern Russia, new Russia. The system relies entirely on contemporary cutting-edge innovations.

The West would have us believe that only the West-- that is, the US-- is capable of technological creativity.

That myth was destroyed a long time ago when the Japanese challenged the US automotive industry and took over their consumer appliances industry. The US responded by...sending its industry overseas!

But“modern Russia, new Russia” has been energized by sanctions and the West’s war against it –innovating to win. Creativity was necessary to survival. And industry and innovation stayed home.

Putin says

I must say that in today’s circumstances, when we face new and mounting threats and challenges, the development of such weapons systems holds special, one might even say vital, importance for our country.

Russia has pragmatic priorities. The US has only the financial priorities of shareholders.

The Western media are trying to say that there is currently no supply of Oreshnik missiles—and the attack was a one-off. As in, “they probably had just the one”.

Some outlets, notably Sputnik, have quoted Putin talking about a “stockpile” of Oreshnik missiles. I couldn’t find the source for that.

And the Putin meeting does indicate that full-scale mass production has not begun—yet.

But….

First Deputy Chairman of the Board of the Military-Industrial Commission Vasily Tonkoshkurov

Russia can quickly establish mass production of the Oreshnik ballistic missile,

The scientific and productive capabilities of the defense industry make it possible to organize the serial production of the new weapon as soon as possible

The current production pace will ensure that over 95% of Russia's nuclear triad is equipped with modern systems,

The West will see this as vain boasting —because it would take them years to put something like this into serial production, with their limited industrial base, low efficiency, and high costs.

But the war against west has resulted in huge productivity gains for Russia’s industrial base, the kind of thing not seen in the US except during WWII.

It is also obvious that Russia would not “combat test” a missile in these circumstances and use it to threaten Europe, if it did not have adequate supply, perhaps 50 to 100 missiles.

First comes “limited production”. Then real-world testing. Then mass production.

Yes, Russia has a stock of these missiles. Probably enough to devastate Europe.

Remember, however, that Oreshnik is not the only hypersonic system in the Russian arsenal .It is just one system of many.

Putin also says

New versions of the Zircon are said to be Mach 10 and have a 500~1000 km range. Of course, there are other weapons, too.

What is important about these weapons is that they are game changers for conventional war. When the Russian military was weaker, and NATO stronger, Russia would have needed tactical nukes to defend itself. Now, it doesn’t.

It can prosecute a war against West – if need be-- and win by conventional means. Russia would rather not do this— of course —it’s goal is not conquest or hegemony but rebuilding its culture and achieving prosperity. But now it has options it did not have before. And under attack by a declining, delusional empire, it needs those.

The West wanted “regime change” in Moscow – and tried to use sanctions and subversion to promote unrest. They failed.

With its now very comprehensive arsenal of hypersonic weapons, Russia could destroy military power in the West in just weeks, discrediting Western governments and elites —, resulting in exactly the kind of regime change that the West wanted for Russia.

Perhaps, that is the only way things will change.

The West wanted conquest. It wanted to Balkanize Russia and colonize it.

That, now, will never happen.

Europe of course has potential to balkanize itself, as we see in the dis-United Kingdom already. If you look at Europe in terms of ethnicities — it’s a mess.

Who wants to go back to the Middle Ages?

Russia doesn’t want to take over Europe As I said, it’s a mess.

Like China, it just wants to do business in a multipolar world.

Are you listening Macron? Sir Keir? Donald? Scholz? Just as Zelenski’s days are numbered - so too are yours.

Wild cats

There are many species of wild cats. Many of them endangered like the Rusty Spotted Cat - one of the smallest cats — but a fierce hunter. The one below is an adult male!

Cute-looking - but it’s not a pet. It’kills prey many times it’s own size. This one is a sanctuary animal that needs special care.

As I said, I have become work on the next “special” article. What makes Putin and Xi exceptional? What made almost every US President in memory a dud? Why are Putin and Xi “different”. There are no conventional explanations that I can see.But there are explanations!

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