Ukraine Invasion: Part 17

[MagicFox]

A new place for us to convene, thread 17.

Saw mention earlier that India buys arms from Russia ? Presumably they are now checking their purchase very carefully indeed having seen them in action ? I hope they kept the receipts.

Surely this is a trade opportunity tailor-made for prst-Brexit Britain ?

I would have Kwasi Karteang out there on the first plane possible. (in fact I would suggest that any day anyway). And I would make it headline news.

UK offers India replacements for shonky Russian kit
Why buying British still matters

In fact if I really wanted piss Putin off:

UK offers India replacements for shonky USSR era kit

You really do not bring down dictators by trying not to rile them.

Im reposting this as was on end of thread 16, didnt realise 17 had started !

I was asking where all the armaments we are sending to Ukraine are coming from. Surely we dont have that much of a stockpile, and must be depleting our own defences. Do we manufacture in the UK, or is it outsourced ( Not to China hopefully!)

@thereisonlyoneofme

Im reposting this as was on end of thread 16, didnt realise 17 had started !

I was asking where all the armaments we are sending to Ukraine are coming from. Surely we dont have that much of a stockpile, and must be depleting our own defences. Do we manufacture in the UK, or is it outsourced ( Not to China hopefully!)

Imade a comment a few threads back about what makes a "first world" country.

Being able to up industrial-military capability is short order is one characteristic.

Remember it's not even two years since the UK was able to "appear" not one, not two, but over a dozen nightingale hospitals and run a vaccination programme for over 60 million people. Without so much as a single conscript needed. There has to be something to make up for the weather and food.

Also the Ukrainians successful targeting and assassinating top generals suggests that (a) the Wests intelligence is pretty awesome and (b) whoever it's being given to in Ukraine is doing a damn good job of using it.

DG there was a rumour after the first few generals were hit that actually Putin deliberately wanted to get rid of them

Thanks for the new thread

@PaperTyger

DG there was a rumour after the first few generals were hit that actually Putin deliberately wanted to get rid of them

Well that's a good story to put about ... of you are Ukrainian. Nothing like denting your enemies morale - even more.

Pmk

@PaperTyger

DG there was a rumour after the first few generals were hit that actually Putin deliberately wanted to get rid of them

That sounds very Putinesque ...

Saw mention earlier that India buys arms from Russia ? Presumably they are now checking their purchase very carefully indeed having seen them in action ? I hope they kept the receipts

Hah!

@thereisonlyoneofme

Im reposting this as was on end of thread 16, didnt realise 17 had started !

I was asking where all the armaments we are sending to Ukraine are coming from. Surely we dont have that much of a stockpile, and must be depleting our own defences. Do we manufacture in the UK, or is it outsourced ( Not to China hopefully!)

Drat..just answered your question on the previous..here’s a C&P, hope it doesn’t break any rules:

Anybody’s guess where all the sub-components originate, (especially anything semi-conductor related…

The Javelin anti-tank weapon is mostly an American product

www.raytheonmissilesanddefense.com/what-we-do/land-warfare/precision-weapons/javelin-missile

FWIW The shorter range NLAW (the British anti tank weapon that has been delivered in big numbers) is made in Northern Ireland but has links back to Bofors (Sweden) and the Thales group (French).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_generation_Light_Anti-tank_Weapon

Big unanswered question AFAIK is how quickly can they be produced, and have the deliveries made a hole in Britain’s (MODs) own stock..

@notimagain
Anybody’s guess where all the sub-components originate, (especially anything semi-conductor related…

Taiwan. TSMC produces over 40%. You will likely have an indirect interest in TSMC in your pension funds. They will appear in most global equity funds somewhere.

www.cnbc.com/2021/03/16/2-charts-show-how-much-the-world-depends-on-taiwan-for-semiconductors.html

finance.yahoo.com/quote/TSM?p=TSM

companiesmarketcap.com/

You know who is very interested in Taiwan?

@DGRossetti

Also the Ukrainians successful targeting and assassinating top generals suggests that (a) the Wests intelligence is pretty awesome and (b) whoever it's being given to in Ukraine is doing a damn good job of using it.

..yep..probably down to a combination of factors…Poor communications discipline/lack of secure comms, combined with Generals actually going forward to kick backsides…

Might also be down to basic, mark 1 eyeball stuff by the Ukrainians such as shooting at the vehicle with the most/largest antenna or the person running around looking like he’s trying to organize things..

Also the Ukrainians successful targeting and assassinating top generals suggests that (a) the Wests intelligence is pretty awesome and (b) whoever it's being given to in Ukraine is doing a damn good job of using it.

Absolutely. The 'in field' reconnaissance and observation is astounding. Contrary to what another poster said on thread 16, generals in combat do not step out of staff cars in glossy uniform wearing braid and medals. At the front line there will be small insignia on battle dress that is hard to spot from a distance. Incoming fire will be against a position where there is intel of senior officers being in the location. A sniper may observe other factors such as body language which can give little signs away. More junior offices gather to a more senior officer then turn away first, for example.

Russian state television has been showing footage of hospitalised soldiers receiving medals. So many of them have lost limbs and they look utterly shell-shocked or resentful. Speculation is that the footage has been shown to prime Russians for seeing a significant number of badly injured young men.

The Times is reporting that the Russians are recruiting spies in Estonia.

Poland has been pushing for far more stringent and tightened sanctions on Russia, including banning Russian freight and shipping from entering the EU and effectively preventing Russian citizens from travelling to the EU (with the exception of defecting military).

The Russian puppet government in Luhansk is reporting that some kind of referendum will be held in the area for people to decide if they want it to be annexed by Russia. Bet that will be legit.

@Tuba437

Interesting that Blinken and now Liz truss have spoken about sanctions being lifted if Russia withdraw. I do feel like there has been a shift over the last couple of days hopefully towards de escalation.

When talking about Ukrainien casualties I did wander how they would distinguis between civilians and people that have taken up arms to protect their country.

Where have they said that please?

I’m in two minds about that - clearly there has to be incentives for Russia to back off. On the other hand I do not want to go back to the economic status quo in this country, which is slowly resulting in it grinding to a halt. All the misbegotten foreign wealth floating around in financial London is making it uneconomic for everyone else to survive here and surely this time the fragility of globalism compared to improved local self-sufficiency has to be obvious to all.

@TargusEasting

Taiwan. TSMC produces over 40%. You will likely have an indirect interest in TSMC in your pension funds. They will appear in most global equity funds

Thanks..

[quote notimagain]@TargusEasting

Taiwan. TSMC produces over 40%. You will likely have an indirect interest in TSMC in your pension funds. They will appear in most global equity funds

Thanks..[/quote]
ASML in the Netherlands does too. But there's a real shortage atm of the needed materials.

All the misbegotten foreign wealth floating around in financial London is making it uneconomic for everyone else to survive here and surely this time the fragility of globalism compared to improved local self-sufficiency has to be obvious to all.

I spot a crossover here with Biden's speech. Might does not equal right. Right equals might. Responsible capitalism can generate better living standards for everybody. London has been boosted not just by Russian money but by deregulated property ownership laws. If you benefit from wealth in a dictatorship that has no respect for human rights then it is not going to have any respect for property. We know 70%+ of the world population live under dictatorships or autocracies. If you are lucky enough to join the scheme and be given access to wealth in return for loyalty, you are not going to reinvest in that country if you can invest the money in the UK, France or Italy. That investment has bolstered London, but what really hangs it all together is the financial institutions including insurance and the trading platforms. Longer term, I am sure leaving the EU will lead to an erosion of London as a global finance centre. The government have some bizarre plans to pre-empt this, but nothing makes sense really.

Thanks for new thread.

Some really interesting analysis and insights on BBC Radio 4 The World This Weekend, not least from Khruschev's grand daughter

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0015tpb

english.nv.ua/nation/president-s-office-says-ukraine-russia-foreign-ministers-ready-to-meet-for-peace-talks-50228752.html

Not sure on the reliability but some interesting insights regarding talks.

Thank you very much for the new thread. I very much agree with other posters about how helpful and full of detail and insight it has been.

Placemarking

Thank you for all the intelligent insights

Thanks for all the posts last night. They really helped me get a bit of a clearer reading and get on top of the anxiety that was brewing. I’m definitely going away next weekend :)

ThNks for all the insights. It’s clear lots of posters spend time and thought on their posts and it’s very much appreciated. Of course I understand nobody here knows exactly what’s happening or likely to but I find it helpful to get a read on the general feeling and to read the things that other posters have picked up on that I missed.

Thank you for the new thread.