Quote:
Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND
Technical glitch on the buoy... Yeah, we'd see that one coming.
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Really makes the most sense.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND
Any coincidence with the parade we've been running in the Baltic lately?  |
Yes. Russia has been putting more boats to see than in years and have put a few off our shores, those that can make the trip. They don't have the numbers they once had but they don't seem to be putting their people through the optical-rectumitis that our people are going through.
As for "the parade", we have been putting solitary ships up there and in the Black Sea, nothing really provoking, A DDG would not last long in either place. Air: less than a full squadron of aircraft. Land: a couple brigades here and there in Europe. What we have in Europe, total, is a sliver of what we did in the 80s. We even pulled out the last tanks a couple years ago, just before this stuff ramped up, and now USA is moving some small units (tank/mechanized) over to the Baltic states which amount to no more than a trip wire.
Espionage, disinformation, and cyber war from Russia, at the US and NATO allies, particularly the Germans, Poles, and Baltic/Nordic states, is at the highest level since the 80s - and in the case of cyber, far higher.
See all this stuff from "RT" lately? That is the official new service of the Kremlin.
If Russia decides to go for broke, the two Cavalry Squadrons will have as much life as the Berlin Brigade did 30 years ago. Short. The Europeans are shadows of their former selves and what they do have has poor availability due to lack of maintenance and forced short days (yes, German maintainers are being forced to work short days in order NOT to break labor laws). Sixty percent of the tiny Luftwaffe is grounded. Not to mention they have tiny, tiny ordinance stocks and have been "borrowing" ours in Libya and Syria.
Of course, the Peace Dividend and all, everyone knew Russia would not invade Georgia, Ukraine, stir the Azerbaijan and Armenia pot, or send their terrorist puppets into Turkey to blow stuff up. Seeing that Russia never did any of those things (/sarc) surely they wouldn't do anything now.
Add a disastrous US Foreign Policy, difficult USA politics/elections, hollowed out forces, and a President that is mailing it in for the next 9 months. Sprinkle a divided Europe with a migrant crisis, terrorism, and minuscule defense spending and add a dash of poor Russian economy, sanctions, nationalism, and a declining population with a narcissistic leader with a Czar complex...
At least it is good to know that the European Theater ground conditions get real good for maneuvers real soon, too.
Deterrent works. We have little deterrent these days.
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