A KC-135 Stratotanker’s pilot seems to have decided he wanted to send Putin a message:
This is how I want my tax dollars spent
— Fella41🇺🇸🇺🇦🇺🇳 (@Fella41NAFO) November 2, 2022
Traditional law of the skies, if the Russians cannot draw a larger phallus within 24 hours the base legally belongs to us. https://t.co/Ri0YCqowlD
— Blake Herzinger (@BDHerzinger) November 3, 2022
Here is President Zelenskyy’s address from earlier this evening. Video below, English transcript after the jump:
Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!
Today is Railway Worker’s Day – a professional holiday of thousands of people who have become a real pillar for our country. For us, the railway is transport, as it has always been, the provision of defense, the supply of everything necessary for society, and the production of defense structures.
In the afternoon, I congratulated the workers of Ukrzaliznytsia, presented state awards. I want to once again thank all the railway workers for their conscientiousness, for the fact that they show with their work how the ordinary performance of official duties in unusual circumstances becomes an important part of the movement of the entire nation towards victory in the war.
During the day, an air alert was announced several times in most regions of our country. There are downed Shaheds, there are downed Kalibrs. In particular, eight Shaheds were shot down by the unit of the 301st Nikopol anti-aircraft missile regiment. Two Kalibrs were destroyed by the units of the South and Center air commands. I thank you warriors for this result!
In the south, as usual, the fighters of the 59th separate motorized infantry brigade named after Yakov Handziuk have good results. They destroy enemy equipment, Russian manpower. The fighters of the 406th separate artillery brigade are also doing a great job – very precisely.
The most fierce fighting throughout this week is concentrated in Donbas – Bakhmut and Soledar. We are holding our positions. And in these and some other directions in the Donetsk region, the Russian army has already spent as many lives of its people and as much ammunition as it probably did not spend in the two Chechen wars combined.
But the real level of Russia’s losses is concealed from Russian society. They even concealed their mobilization now and are simply lying to people that the mobilization task has allegedly been completed. The truth is, in the regions of Russia and on our occupied territory, they continue to collect people to send them to death.
And this absolutely insane stubbornness of the owners of today’s Russia is the best indicator that everything they tell some foreign leaders about their alleged readiness for negotiations is just as false. When someone thinks about negotiations, he does not look for ways to deceive everyone around him in order to send tens or hundreds of thousands more people to the meat grinder – mobilized or in the form of some mercenaries.
And it is very good that the world perceives Russian rhetoric as it deserves, namely as a lie, and pays attention only to what the terrorist state actually does. Does, not says.
We are ready for peace, for a fair and just peace, the formula of which we have voiced many times. The world knows our position. This is respect for the UN Charter, respect for our territorial integrity, respect for our people and due responsibility for terror – this is punishment for all those who are guilty and full compensation by Russia for the damage caused to us.
Today we have a very important statement from the ministers of foreign affairs of the G7, a very thorough one. It covers key aspects of the situation in our defense against Russian aggression. I especially want to thank the partners for creating a coordination mechanism to help our country rebuild its critical energy infrastructure.
Today we have a new defense assistance package from our American friends. The amount of the package is $400 million. And in particular, it is armored vehicles, which we very much need to move forward at the front. I am grateful to President Biden, the U.S. Congress and the entire American people for the continued and vital assistance.
I would like to single out the Netherlands, which announced its next package of military assistance. The amount is 125 million euros. This is, in particular, what will ensure the strengthening of our tank units – together with American and Czech efforts.
Jake Sullivan, U.S. President’s National Security Advisor, visited Kyiv today. He is constantly working in communication with Head of the Office Andriy Yermak, and this line of Ukrainian-American interaction is very helpful to us in protecting the state. We are working on the issue of air defense and anti-missile defense for Ukraine. Today, I celebrated Mr. Sullivan’s personal efforts by presenting him with one of the most honorable awards of our state – the Order of Yaroslav the Wise. And we discussed in detail with Mr. Sullivan how we can further strengthen our interaction.
These days, the First Lady of Ukraine and representatives of our government visited Portugal – the Web Summit, one of the most powerful annual events for the global IT industry, took place there. Olena opened the summit with her speech. She called on the IT community to help protect our state, and this requires very technological things. And we feel that there will be a response.
In general, Ukraine was represented at the Web Summit by the largest team in history: representatives of leading IT companies, foundations, and more than 70 Ukrainian startups. The IT industry is one of the foundations of the modern economy, and even this year – despite everything – our export of computer services is growing – and significantly compared to the 21st year, and Ukrainian IT companies attracted about $350 million in investments. This is a serious result, but we will do everything to make the result even greater.
There was also a meeting of the First Lady with the leaders of Portugal – the President and the Prime Minister. I thank them for the support and willingness to help Ukraine more.
And one more thing.
November 4 is the day when an important step was taken in the development of our sovereign statehood. 31 years ago, on this very day, the Law of Ukraine “On the State Border” was adopted. This is one of the first fundamental documents of restored Ukrainian independence.
We remember every corner of our country. We will liberate all our cities and villages, no matter what the occupiers plan to prolong their stay on Ukrainian soil. Ukraine will be free. And our entire border will be restored – both on land and at sea. Both in the east and in the south.
Glory to all who bring our victory closer!
Thank you to everyone who helps Ukraine!
Glory to Ukraine!
Here is the British MOD’s assessment for today:
Ni Shagu Nazad!
And here is their map for today:
Here is former NAVDEVGRU Squadron Leader Chuck Pfarrer’s most recent assessment of the situations in Izium and Kherson:
IZIUM AXIS /2045 UTC 4 NOV/ RU forces have attacked across the P-66 HWY and now occupy a salient from Novovodiane in the east to the vicinity of Makiivka in the west. The RU salient is dominated by high ground to the west, offers limited cover, and is smothered by UKR artillery. pic.twitter.com/vNHJorRbB0
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) November 4, 2022
KHERSON/1300 UTC 4 NOV/ A readjustment of RU defenses to the south bank of the Dnipro is considered likely in the near term. UKR forces are ready to exploit RU vulnerabilities during what will be a complex, difficult and increasingly chaotic Russian withdrawal. pic.twitter.com/Bl67Yb3KDr
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) November 4, 2022
In case you ever wondered what the inside of a Ukrainian drone looks like:
Huge props to my @cxemu colleagues @natasedletska, @KOvsianyi, and Maksym Savchuk for their work on this.
— Carl Schreck (@CarlSchreck) November 4, 2022
Here’s a a British MOD video about the training mission they’re leading.
🌍 Ten nations from around the world have come together to participate in the UK-led training programme, which prepares Ukrainian recruits with little to no military experience in frontline combat skills.
🇬🇧🇸🇪🇨🇦🇳🇱🇩🇰 #StrongerTogether 🇳🇿🇱🇻🇦🇺🇳🇴🇫🇮
🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/QWg3KV5NoO
— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) November 4, 2022
By now I’m sure most of you have seen Marjorie Taylor Green’s statements from the Trump rally yesterday. You’ve also seen me explain here several times what is going to happen if the GOP retakes the House, let alone both chambers of Congress next week. GOP elected officials like Green, as well as “conservative” movement leaders and commenters like Carlson (who is actually both) have now moved the Republican to just under majority support for abandoning Ukraine to Putin.
Percentage of Republicans who say we're doing "too much" to support Ukraine:
March (WSJ): 6%
March (Pew): 9%
May (Pew): 17%
Sept. (Pew): 32%
Today (WSJ): 48%https://t.co/eX43Dfd5wZ
— Aaron Blake (@AaronBlake) November 3, 2022
You all already know what I expect is already happening and is going to be expanded on as a result of the midterm elections, so I’m not going to belabor it here again.
Here are the details of the new aid package to Ukraine:
NEW: The US is sending $400 million in new military assistance to Ukraine, including HAWK air defense munitions, DOD announces.
Comes after Spain promised HAWK air defense systems (see below). https://t.co/WqCq527fsl
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) November 4, 2022
Ukraine is also getting from the US in latest $400 million military aid package T-72 tanks and Phoenix Ghost tactical drones.
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) November 4, 2022
Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs (APNSA/aka the National Security Advisor) Jake Sullivan was in Kyiv today:
First name basis. Zelensky says he gave “Jake” the “Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of the II degree on behalf of the entire Ukrainian people for strengthening interstate cooperation, supporting state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/hk40SjG074
— Christopher Miller (@ChristopherJM) November 4, 2022
You’ve got your medal, now send the ATACMS already!
Why you may ask? This is why!
My latest:
"The Ukrainian military is facing a severe need for Western high-precision, long-range weaponry and the ability to target launch sites in Belarus and Russia before missiles are fired at Ukrainian cities.”https://t.co/DJMH7UBWOC— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) November 4, 2022
The war in Ukrainian skies is now as intense as the battles on the ground.
It’s been weeks since Russia switched to an airstrike campaign against Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.
Cities plunged into darkness, but the Ukrainian Air Force says it is steadily adapting to the threat, intercepting most of the incoming Russian cruise missiles and kamikaze drones.
The battle for Ukrainian skies is only beginning.
Russia has likely spent most of its missile stockpile. But with Iranian support, it will be able to carry out attacks on the Ukrainian population for the foreseeable future.
Ukraine’s air defense, at high cost, gives an effective counter to Russian-operated Iranian Shahed-136 drones.
But it will find it extremely hard to counter Iranian-made ballistic missiles Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar, which are expected to be shipped to Russia.
The Ukrainian military is facing a severe need for Western high-precision, long-range weaponry and the ability to target launch sites in Belarus and Russia before missiles are fired at Ukrainian cities.
Amid relentless attacks, the Ukrainian military, over the last few weeks, has managed to develop new algorithms for combating the Shaheds, according to Colonel Yurii Ihnat, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force.
The air defense is adapting, with between 60% and 70% of the Iranian drones being shot down. In some cases, the efficacy goes up to 90%, according to Ihnat.
At the same time, Ukraine’s Air Force has to overspend the air-to-air and surface-to-air missiles to down cheap and simple drones that nonetheless pose a serious threat.
Russians also adapt to Ukrainian defenses and constantly change the drones’ flight routes and use them only during the night, Ihnat told the Kyiv Independent.
Among the most important Shakhed launch sites is the Luninets base in Belarus’ Brest Oblast, just some 320 kilometers northwest of Kyiv, according to Ukraine’s military.
By early November, after nearly a month of intense use against Ukraine, Russia spent the whole batch of 300 drones supplied by Iran, according to Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
The Russian campaign has already targeted some 40% of Ukraine’s energy grid, which triggers massive energy shortages and emergency blackouts.
The problem behind the Ukrainian inability to intercept more is rather simple — the lack of means and resources, according to Air Force’s Ihnat.
The Ukrainian air defense, heavily relying on obsolete Soviet systems like S-300P/PT, is still outnumbered and outgunned and finds it extremely hard to cover Ukraine, a country bigger than France.
Ukrainian air defense units, including fighter wings, at all levels, must constantly move across the country to avoid being detected and cover at least the most critical areas.
When it comes to S-300 and Buk systems, the most powerful Soviet-made capabilities, the Ukrainian military finds it hard to keep purchasing new munitions from depots worldwide.
In this regard, the Ukrainian command has a lot of hope in Western assistance in developing a multilayered air defense grid covering all bands and altitudes with advanced systems.
Moreover, according to the Air Force, what is important is a large supply of munitions for a prolonged air battle.
“I keep telling this to everyone in world media — let nations that operate NASAMS — such as Spain, Australia, and the U.S. — donate just one battery each. Many countries have it, and there are many AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles around,” Ihnat said.
“We’d be able to substantially amplify our defense.”
After months of intense battles in the sky, even Russian arsenals have been substantially reduced.
By Oct. 12, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, Russia had used 213 out of a total of 444 air-launched cruise missiles like Kh-101 and Kh-555 (48% spent), and 272 out of 500 Kalibr missiles (54% spent).
And according to the Ukrainian military, Russia, as part of its bombing campaign, intensified the use of missiles it likely can’t produce in meaningful quantities due to international sanctions.
When it comes to ballistic missiles, Russia is reportedly facing problems, as months of the war against Ukraine left it with only around 124 out of 900 Iskander missiles.
Likely because of this, the Kremlin also reportedly agreed with Tehran to acquire Fateh-110 and Zolfaghar ballistic missile systems, having reported effective ranges of 300 and 700 kilometers, respectively.
In this regard, the Air Force spokesman says everyone should be “realistic” about the Ukrainian chances against ballistic missiles.
“We can’t intercept them,” Ihnat said.
“Because we will never have enough capabilities to cover the whole 2,500 kilometers of our border (with Russia and Belarus),” he added.
The Air Force expects the Kremlin to deploy the Iranian missiles north of the Ukrainian border in Russian and Belarusian regions. In this case, they will be able to reach targets in Kyiv within 15 minutes or so.
“We need to be thinking not about a sort of Iron Dome — but about destroying Russian missile systems on their launchpads,” Ihnat said. “This is the easiest and the most realistic way.”
When it comes to Western-provided systems like IRIS-T or NASAMS, it remains to be seen if such systems are effective enough against ballistic missiles in combat.
So far, the Ukrainian military has found it hard to apply practical algorithms against Russian Iskanders due to the complex nature of such targets.
The Iranian missiles are technologically inferior to the Iskander missiles. But nonetheless, the Fateh-110 carries a 600-kilogram warhead, a serious threat to Ukrainian infrastructure.
And the Zolfaghar (in operation since 2017) is capable of separating its warhead from the rest of the missile body in the flight’s midcourse phase, which makes it even more challenging to detect and intercept.
WARNING! WARNING! DISTURBING CONTENT!!!
I hope all the people whole denied Russian crimes in Bucha will watch this new video from PBS and AP and feel an appropriate level of shame, but some how I doubt they're capable of that. https://t.co/bPsIrLVqmi
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) November 3, 2022
Also involved with the investigation alongside PBS and AP was @situ_research:https://t.co/pDraaa5TE0
— Eliot Higgins (@EliotHiggins) November 3, 2022
ALL CLEAR!!!
Prigozhin is clearly trying to set the conditions to execute some sort of power play in Russia:
The first event to be hosted by Russia's first public "Wagner Centre"?
Children's Congress: "Children for Peace – St Petersburg – Luhansk"
You could not make this shit up pic.twitter.com/39wGj7XVGa
— Max Fras (@maxfras) November 4, 2022
Fox News appears to have been less than forthcoming with the widow of their late war correspondent killed in Ukraine. The Washington Post has the details:
“I decided not to tell his family,” she said, “because I was so sure he was going to show up. We all knew he had nine lives.”
But Ross-Stanton wasn’t waiting for the next message from Fox: A former journalist herself, she started making calls from her London home that night to friends, sources, distant connections — anyone who might know something about Pierre.
The next day she learned that Zakrzewski, 55, had been killed, along with a 24-year-old Ukrainian journalist on his team, Oleksandra Kuvshynova. They had been in the Kyiv suburb of Horenka on a reporting trip when their vehicle was hit by an explosion. The third member of their reporting team, Benjamin Hall, then 39, was alive but suffering grave injuries that would cost him a foot, an eye and part of his leg. Two Ukrainian soldiers they were traveling with were killed as well, The Washington Post has learned.
Seven months later, Ross-Stanton hasn’t stopped working the phones.
For war correspondents, the risk of death has long been accepted as part of the job. Already, 15 journalists have been killed in Ukraine since the war began in February, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. But as of November, Zakrzewski and Kuvshynova remain the only journalists working for a U.S. television network who have died in this conflict.
Ross-Stanton remains on a quest to understand the murky circumstances of her husband’s death. Though she has pieced together some of the story of how his team ventured out to the front lines of the fighting at a particularly dangerous time, she is still trying to determine whether anyone — beyond the military force that launched the attack — is responsible for what happened, or for the chaotic aftermath.
One particular detail continues to trouble her: The team of security consultants hired by Fox to work with its journalists in Ukraine was not traveling with her husband and his team when they were attacked.
Her frustration with the dearth of information is shared by the parents of Kuvshynova, a young arts maven and aspiring journalist who launched into conflict-zone reporting when her country was invaded. They said no one from Fox called to tell them that their daughter had been attacked, and they have not been given any more information in the months that followed about how she died. They first became aware of the incident after reading a social media post from a Ukrainian government official. “We were not kept in the loop at all. The communication was not sufficient,” said her father, Andrey Kuvshynov. “We learned about it from the internet.”
While she declined to discuss the details, Ross-Stanton said she is still in talks with Fox over a settlement that would provide compensation for Zakrzewski’s death. Meanwhile, with a notebook and calendar at her side, she has been constructing a chronology of her husband’s final days and hours.
“I want the truth and I want the whole truth and I want to know exactly what happened,” Ross-Stanton said in the first interview she has given about her husband’s death. “It’s not that I don’t trust Fox to give me the right answers, but I don’t trust anybody to give me the answers that I want to hear.”
Much, much more at the link!
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
— Patron (@PatronDsns) November 3, 2022
127/250 t-shirts are sold! More than half. Thank you🤗 https://t.co/Qh2WlU7HMH
— Patron (@PatronDsns) November 4, 2022
And here’s a new video from Patron’s official TikTok:
@patron__dsns Таке😁 #песпатрон #патрондснс
The caption is pretty self explanatory.
Open thread!
I Need a Show for Walking on the Treadmill
trollhattan
No doubt Republicans, if they control either or both houses come January, go hammer and tongs against further military aid to Ukraine. Such an odd stance for the historical “there’s a commie in every woodpile” party, but here we are. Meanwhile LFG, take back captured territory this winter while Russian troops are freezing their Russian asses off.
twbrandt (formerly tom)
As always, thanks Adam for these updates. I pray daily that the Dems hold both houses of Congress.
Martin
Bunch of Starlink terminals in Ukraine went dead today. Hard to not assume that Musk got pissed at everyone dunking on him and pulled the plug in retaliation.
DOD is going to demand we nationalize half of his shit.
Tony G
@trollhattan: Well, Putin is a fascist, not a communist. So the fascist political party in the United States supports Putin. People like Chris Hedges and Noam Chomsky also support Putin because … mumble, mumble, mumble.
West of the Cascades
@Martin: Your proposal is acceptable.
Martin
@trollhattan: They can’t really stop them. Biden can always transfer some US army units to Poland so Poland can send weapons to Ukraine. One way or another Ukraine will still get their aid.
NutmegAgain
Just a little follow-up on the PBS related videos of the horrors in Bucha– there is a recent Frontline episode using a lot of the same footage, and they go into how it may be possible to trace perpetrators for war crimes. Here’s hoping. It’s just beyond ghastly.
Alison Rose
This:
is almost word for word what I said when I saw Zelenskyy’s post earlier. I mean, I’m glad Sullivan went to Kyiv and it does seem like the Ukrainians like him, but at the same time, especially since I agree with you, Adam, about what is likely coming down the pike here, I’m very frustrated at this brick wall we seem to hit regarding the weapons Ukraine truly needs.
Also, I would love to take every Republican who answered yes to that stupid poll and airdrop them into Kherson and then let’s see what they think. Of course, most of them would just go run crying to Daddy putin and beg for citizenship. Which he would happily grant them, then toss them a rusty Swiss Army Knife and a windbreaker and send them back to the front.
Stuff sucks. But even still now, and indeed especially now, thank you as always, Adam.
bbleh
As to MTG, Fox, et al., nothing surprises me any more, and moreover, I can’t figure any motivation for their actions other than truly juvenile ODD-like behavior, which I can only assume they figure (likely with good reason) will resonate with their target audience. But OMG.
As to the UK MOD, whose updates are always dependable and which I respect immensely, I gotta say that “the tactic of shooting deserters likely attests to the low quality, low morale, and indiscipline of Russian forces” seems like a … er … pretty safe bet.
Carlo Graziani
An equally important reason to give Ukraine at least a starter set of ATACMS munitions is to finally choke off Russian rail supply to Ukraine.
A few bomblet warheads at the Starobilsk railyard, and the Belgorod depot is out of the war for good. Look at Pfarrer’s map, and the location of the new Russian salient. Starobilsk is what the Kharkhiv struggle is about. A few more behind Luhansk for good measure and there is literally no way for the Russians to get heavy weapons into the Donbas.
Another brace of bomblet warheads at Dzhankoi railyard, and the Russians can keep the Kerch bridge — it won’t matter any more, no trains will make it up out of Crimea. No tank or artillery rounds, no food, no clothing, fuel, small arms, radios, etc. The Russians can fight with sticks, in rags, and eat each other.
It seems like an easy deal to make. If the US is nervous about unrestricted missile targeting, agree in advance on the targets, then hand over the munitions. At least it’s the thin edge of the wedge.
Another Scott
Except for the engine and the camera, the electronics, etc., they found on that drone is old technology. The Xilinx Spartan-6 goes back to 2009. There used to be a a giant electronics graveyard in downtown Dayton – Mendelson’s Surplus – that would have just about any old electronics part you could think of. There are undoubtedly places like that, still, all over the world. Wholesalers/Resellers like that, and other 3rd or 4th or lower level wholesalers, are much more likely to get parts to Iran than some backdoor at AMD or TI.
Cheers,
Scott.
Anonymous At Work
@Another Scott: What about the camera and engine, though? Austria is NATO bloc, after all. Did Iran get the tech and gear legit, repurposed, or is there a leak here to track down?
lashonharangue
@Another Scott: Sounds like the place in Dayton was similar to WeirdStuff in Sunnyvale https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/04/08/sjm-l-weirdstuff-0408/
Grumpy Old Railroader
“Railway Workers Day.” Woot woot! I can only imagine some of the working conditions. In America and Canada (and much of the world) there are federal laws limiting the number of hours a railroad crew can work. I have no doubt that in a war zone, all those rules go out the window.
I salute my Ukrainian brothers and sisters working to keep the railroad functioning. Why do I say Woot Woot? The whistle signal to move “forward” is two short toots on the horn. And to Russia I say a long Wooooot “Stop” and Woot Woot Woot “Back up“
ETA: Most of us are familiar with a train whistle when it travels across a road crossing, but did you know the whistle signal for approach a highway crossing is two longs, a short and one long? Listen when next you see a train approach a road crossing Woooot Woooot Woot Woooot
dibert dogbert
I have been watching Forte10 and 11 patrolling the Black Sea. How come they haven’t been making the same patterns????
Grumpy Old Railroader
I found out via my HAM radio friend that a few dealers in the USA still stock and carry vaccuum tubes for old radios and TVs. And yes, one of them is in Dayton
Another Scott
@Anonymous At Work: Good questions, and likely to be a more productive path to find sanctions violations than looking for who is selling them generic 10-30 year old electronics designs and parts.
Cheers,
Scott.
dr. luba
Patron: How the photo gallery on my phone would look, if I had one.
The Pale Scot
@Grumpy Old Railroader:
Blackfoot ~ Train, Train
MY cousins and I spent our time at the Jersey City/Bayonne yard. I was intrigued by my nana’s stories of of going there to grab coal off the tracks to heat the house when she was a girl. They were tough people
Martin
@Grumpy Old Railroader: Lots of amps still use vacuum tubes. You can buy them at Guitar Center. Not as uncommon as you might think.
I’ve got a few Soviet ones around the house somewhere.
Wapiti
@The Pale Scot: My granddad was a very old school farmer (and mechanic) who had a forge in his tractor shed. For making the odd part. He had a good supply of coke fuel, which he said he got when a train car derailed. (I expect everyone took as much as they could haul, like old wreckers).
Yutsano
@Martin: You have a Soviet amp? I bet the sound is…something.
trollhattan
@Yutsano: Is now hearing Marshall Zhukov–200 watts of awesome! Also tanks.
James E Powell
@Yutsano:
There are people who swear by the Sovtek tubes.
opiejeanne
@James E Powell: I learn something new every time I come here.
ColoradoGuy
Tube guy here. What’s baffling is the supply of Electro-Harmonix/Sovtek tubes (also sold as rebranded old-school classics like Genelex Gold Lion and Tung-Sol) was only interrupted for a couple of months (with resulting price rises), and then re-started. How on Earth they are shipped out of Russia, and how the Russian factory workers are paid, is a mystery to me. Maybe paid for in Yuan, and air-freighted through China, or maybe the intermediary is Turkey. Of course, they are not a critical munition, and they go into guitar amps (mostly) and fancy audiophile amplifiers. Expected life varies between 1000 and 5000 hours, depending on amp design.
Surprisingly, vacuum tubes are also made in the Czech Republic (JJ tubes) and in several factories in China. When the last tube factories in the West closed in the Eighties, the former Soviet and Chinese producers picked up the slack, and have had a nice steady business ever since. The year-in, year-out demand from the guitar players has kept the factories open ever since, and the audiophiles piggybacked on top of that.
Hangö Kex
Thanks for these posts (& insightful comments). :)
Enhanced Voting Techniques
Knowing the Republican they will try to have it both ways, make a show of trying to cut back the aid, fail to stop Biden and then tell their idiot base “what can we do, you know how sneaky and evil liberals are.”
Geminid
@Anonymous At Work: Austria is not a NATO member. It would still be subject to sanctions if its companies sold the engines and other drone components to Iran. That country has developed procurement routes so as to evade sanctions, and these have to be shut down individually so some items still make it through.
Apparently some of these engines are stolen from aircraft and smuggled to Russia. But Iran has its own manufacturing capacity and the smuggled engines only supplement domestic production.
Iran has a substantial industrial base and plenty of capable engineers as well as production workers. The regime has made production of weaponry a national priority, and since the munitions companies are owned by people with ties to the Revolutionary Guard Corp and/or civilian officials there is a financial incentive for decision makers to sell drones, missiles etc. to Russia. These can be shipped by air or across the Caspian Sea to Astrakhan, then by rail.
Chief Oshkosh
@Martin:
Meh. I don’t think that’s a good solution (although I’m not against across nationalization the board — the petroleum industry should be). The tech for Starlink is too leading/bleeding edge right now for DoD, etc. to run effectively. Probably better for all if Elon is personally sidelined for a while. It is flu season, after all.
Chief Oshkosh
@dibert dogbert: Trigger discipline?
Chief Oshkosh
I read an article yesterday, maybe it was here, about how the way to think about the Putin side is that this is a more of a Soprano’s episode rather than an old production of War and Peace. Putin and his cronies, and people like Putin from across nations, are not in it for old-style geopolitical gain. They’re in it for the money. They run nation-level protection rackets. Ukraine is the grocery store owner who decided to not pay. Ukraine thus must be stomped as a reminder to all the other shopkeepers that the Mob rules.
The mobsters are the oligarchs who are of every nationality, all over the world. These are the people who fund MTG, directly or indirectly. The Murdochs are in this group. Hence Carlson.
davecb
@Carlo Graziani: Just FYI, there is a railroad map as part of open street map, at https://www.openrailwaymap.org/
Barry
<a href="#comment-8666710" @trollhattan:
“Such an odd stance for the historical “there’s a commie in every woodpile” party, but here we are.”
It’s not so odd for the ‘We love Hitler’ party.
Anonymous At Work
@Geminid: Engines, sure, if you can get the specs and are willing to dedicate the production of unsellable parts, which means only military use. Cameras, those would require a bit more. Is Iran’s technological and industrial production base sufficient for military-grade fiber optics?
Geminid
@Anonymous At Work: I don’t know much about Iran’s high tech industry, just that they have educated engineers and scientists to support it. They also have developed a “black” supply chain to get around sanctions. Their nuclear program had been under sanction restrictions for some years when trump walked away from the JCPOA in 2018, but they’ve since installed several hundred centrifuges more efficient than the ones already in use. That must have taken up a substantial chunk of engineering and fabrication resources but the Iranian regime is willing to devote a lot of its resources to this program-which they insist has no military purpose- as well as missile and drone production. And as I said above, high Revolutionary Guard Corps figures as well as ranking politicians profit because of their financial ties to their military-industrial complex.
As far as electronic and electro-optical requirements, Iran could look to Russia for some of its needs, at least raw materials and maybe some finished products. They may even get help from China in this area, but that’s speculation.
Another Scott
Who needs Twitter as long as we still have tapestries??
Cheers,
Scott.
Tony G
@NutmegAgain: The Putin-worshipers on “the left” will claim that the Bucha footage is fake.
Geminid
@Another Scott: That made me think of a scene in one of Bernard Cornwell’s Saxon Chronicle novels, where the protagonist has his forces hurl bee skips over the ramparts of a Viking encampment, and then storm the walls in the confusion. The beekeeper was sad about giving up his skips.
way2blue
@Martin: Sigh. I’d been thinking for a while that Musk was a hop, skip & jump from turning them off. Saying something something peace… (If his ‘gimme more $$$’ didn’t work.)
way2blue
@Martin: Congressional Democrats need to start by passing the FY23 budget before the end of the year. Or else things will go off the rails quickly I fear.
way2blue
@Carlo Graziani: Exactly—a started set & agree ahead of time on the targets. The idea that Crimea is off limits is unfathomable for starters. And the worry about provoking escalation? Have these U.S. military advisors been watching the same war?
Traveller
Carlo Graziani and way2blue have this so painfully correct that it almost hurts that such a simple and correct plan has not already been put into effect. Still, things being as they are, I suggest as a temporary answer until Carlo’s idea is adopted…Ukrainian SOF should use M72 LAW’s to attack train engines with the same passion as Russsian tanks are attacked by NLAW’s and Javelin’s.Why the M 72? It is smaller and more portable than the larger anti-tank missiles and should be effective against train engines.