Where can I find all the illustrious Feinstein memes? I need to keep them. Some of the very best memes I’ve seen!
So what are you doing here, shouldn’t you be working?
13 May, 2023 16:17
Ukraine lying about taking down hypersonic missile – Izvestia
Kiev’s radar surveillance systems have failed to detect most Kinzhal launches, military sources have told the Russian newspaper
Kiev’s claims that it intercepted a Russian hypersonic Kinzhal missile with a US-made Patriot air defense system are not true, several sources within the Russian military and defense industry told the newspaper Izvestia on Saturday.Ukrainian forces have failed to hit a single such missile to date, the sources added.
Most Kinzhal launches are not even detectedby either Ukrainian or NATO radar surveillance systems, the Russian media outlet claimed, citing the same anonymous sources.
Izvestia also reported that the remnants of what was claimed to be a Kinzhal displayed by Kiev on May 10 might have belonged to another Russian missile – the 9M723 – launched by the ground-based short-range ballistic missile system Iskander-M. Some elements of the two missiles’ construction are similar, although the Iskander-M has been used much more frequently by Russian forces during the ongoing campaign in Ukraine, a military expert told reporters.
Kiev showed on May 10 the remnants of what it said were several missiles, one of which it claimed was a Kinzhal. However, Izvestia’s sources said that, judging by the looks of what was displayed, all of the missiles had fulfilled their aims rather than being intercepted.
On Thursday, another source within the Russian military also called the reports about an interception of the Russian Kinzhal missile by the Patriot system “an attempt to substitute a wish for reality.” The hypersonic missile has a speed exceeding the maximum interception capabilities of any air-defense systems used by Ukraine, including the Patriot, the source told TASS. The Kinzhal also executes a special maneuver to avoid interception andmakes an almost vertical approach to the target, the source added.
Kiev reportedly inflates the number of Russian missiles its forces intercept to justify such heavy use of ammunition for the air-defense systems supplied by the West. “The number of interceptions is two-three times higher than the number [of missiles] we really launch,” the source said, adding that sometimes Kiev reportsintercepting missiles that Russia did not even launch.
Last week, Ukraine’s Air Force commander, Lieutenant General Nikolay Oleshuk, claimed on his Telegram channel that Kiev's forces had intercepted a hypersonic Kinzhal missile. On May 9, the Pentagon press secretary, Brigadier General Patrick Ryder, told journalists that the US Defense Department “can confirm that the Ukrainians took down this Russian missile with a Patriot missile defense system.” He said, though, that he would not “get into the specifics” or try to “characterize” the missile supposedly intercepted by Kiev
(Ukraine knows the west is ready to back out, so now they are making up stories. Russia had 8 years to come up with every strategy and what could happen.)
https://www.rt.com/russia/576228-ukraine-lie-intercept-hypersonic-missile/
13 May, 2023 07:58
UK to push on with army downsizing – Times
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace reportedly wants to stick to the plans drawn up prior to the Ukraine conflict
UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace will press ahead with plans to reduce the British Army in size despite the Ukraine conflict and increased military spending, The Times reported on Friday, citing sources.
In 2021, the Defense Ministry announced plans todecrease the number of troopsfrom 82,000 to just over 70,000, while cutting thenumber of tanks from 227 to 148. However, due to the ongoing conflict between Moscow and Kiev, the idea of downsizing has made many UK MPs and military commanders uneasy, withPatrick Sanders, the head of the army, calling it “perverse”in the context of a major conflict in Europe.
Despite these concerns, and with the UK’s NATO allies scrambling to boost their militaries, British ministers are said to believe that London “is not under significant pressure to change course.” The matter is expected to be addressed in a defense command paper scheduled for release in June.
The UK government still plans to reduce the number of infantry personnel in favor of artillery, according to Times.
“We have too much infantry – a legacy of the counter-insurgency wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We need more artillery. The jury is out on whether you need main battle tanks,” a government source told the outlet.
Another army source told The Times that “the main lesson from Ukraine is you need mass,”adding that“the truth is we don’t have enough infantry and we don’t have enough artillery.”
In March, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the defense budget would swell by £5 billion ($6.2 billion) over the next two years, with additional funds meant to both replenish stocks of arms sent to Ukraine and modernize the nuclear arsenal.
This comes amid warnings that the UK would not be up to the task if it had to fight with a near-peer adversary. Wallace himself said in January thatthe army is “hollowed out and underfunded.” In February, retired General Richard Barrons said in an op-ed for The Sun that the UK could run out of ammo within hours in case of a major conflict. He added that the British militarycannot currently be regarded as a ‘top tier’ NATO force.
Amid the Ukraine conflict, numerous Western countries, including Germany, France, and Poland, have boosted their military budgets, with total military expenditure in Europe seeing the steepest year-on-year increase in at least 30 years, according to the Stockholm International Peace Institute.
https://www.rt.com/news/576213-uk-army-cuts-ukraine/