[Goose]

Another big day for Ukranian support. Sweden sending 50 CV90s (newer Bradley equivalent) and undisclosed number of Archer artillery systems. Denmark sending 19 more French Ceaser units. US package reportedly to be announced today including 100 Strykers and GLSDBs. No new MBT announcements beyond the British Challengers.

I don't envy Ukraine's logistics corps, but that is a lot of high end hardware.

Edit: Also Poland PM reportedly saying they will send leopards with or without Germany's consent. I wonder what the consequences of breaking export agreements would be, or if in this case Germany is happy to have Poland send them without having to officially approve it. They could always refuse to sell arms to Poland in the future, but that could be a self-inflicted wound both in loss of funds when Poland orders from elsewhere as well as potentially impairing their own national security from a less robust eastern buffer with Russia.

Poland isn't going to be buying much of anything military from Germany right now, nor is anybody else. Germany is in such bad shape militarily that they are going to need 400% of their military industrial complex building stuff for Germany, that is if they can ever get organized and procure it. I posted this before from another source, but it tells the story. https://wtvbam.com/2023/01/15/repaired-g...aker-says/
Remember that. 2024 at the earliest. Poland is ordering from Korea who has better pricing, better delivery, and few/no export restrictions. Even if their hardware isn't perfect, at least you can get it. Germany could release Poland from the export restrictions on what Poland already has in terms of tanks, but so far they haven't. On the political front, I would have been considered insane 20 years ago if I said appointing a Defense Minister who was SPD would be a good thing. Today it is.

German politicians have their hands in various Russian-related financial interests; it's painful to watch their actions right now...



Also, are there any more spare MiG planes/parts in ex-bloc NATO countries that we could backfill with US F-16s?  Or has that already been tapped out?

I think it is pretty well exhausted. Even when it existed, it was pretty meager pickings. Better than nothing but still small numbers.

Glad to see the hardware coming in as reports of further Rus/Belarussian activity continue to roll in.  The Russians continue to rely on Stalin's maxim that quantity is sometimes a quality of its own.

Yes, and we in NATO continue to rely on superior equipment expertly operated by well trained troops. In Ukraine, the expertly operated and well trained part is harder to produce. This is not because the Ukrainians can't be trained, but rather because it takes time. That is the problem with the NATO approach. Your advantage over the enemies superior numbers is your superior equipment. That superiority rests on your ability to utilize the equipment expertly and fully. That takes training, and there is no way around that. NATO undoubtedly takes longer than necessary when there is no war on, but even allowing for that, the time is significant. Some weapons are easier to use than others. An F-16 is lots harder on many levels than a Bradley, which in turn is much harder to learn than a Javelin.

So far, we have been fortunate that Russian leadership has pretty much failed on both a tactical and a strategic level. That helps cancel out some of their numerical advantage. It isn't wise to assume that failure will persist. We can hope so, but don't count on it. As long as they keep trying, they might get it right. We need to get Ukraine trained up before they do.

[Goose]

Another big day for Ukranian support. Sweden sending 50 CV90s (newer Bradley equivalent) and undisclosed number of Archer artillery systems. Denmark sending 19 more French Ceaser units. US package reportedly to be announced today including 100 Strykers and GLSDBs. No new MBT announcements beyond the British Challengers.

I don't envy Ukraine's logistics corps, but that is a lot of high end hardware.

Edit: Also Poland PM reportedly saying they will send leopards with or without Germany's consent. I wonder what the consequences of breaking export agreements would be, or if in this case Germany is happy to have Poland send them without having to officially approve it. They could always refuse to sell arms to Poland in the future, but that could be a self-inflicted wound both in loss of funds when Poland orders from elsewhere as well as potentially impairing their own national security from a less robust eastern buffer with Russia.

Poland isn't going to be buying much of anything military from Germany right now, nor is anybody else. Germany is in such bad shape militarily that they are going to need 400% of their military industrial complex building stuff for Germany, that is if they can ever get organized and procure it. I posted this before from another source, but it tells the story. https://wtvbam.com/2023/01/15/repaired-g...aker-says/
Remember that. 2024 at the earliest. Poland is ordering from Korea who has better pricing, better delivery, and few/no export restrictions. Even if their hardware isn't perfect, at least you can get it. Germany could release Poland from the export restrictions on what Poland already has in terms of tanks, but so far they haven't. On the political front, I would have been considered insane 20 years ago if I said appointing a Defense Minister who was SPD would be a good thing. Today it is.

German politicians have their hands in various Russian-related financial interests; it's painful to watch their actions right now...



Also, are there any more spare MiG planes/parts in ex-bloc NATO countries that we could backfill with US F-16s?  Or has that already been tapped out?

I think it is pretty well exhausted. Even when it existed, it was pretty meager pickings. Better than nothing but still small numbers.

Glad to see the hardware coming in as reports of further Rus/Belarussian activity continue to roll in.  The Russians continue to rely on Stalin's maxim that quantity is sometimes a quality of its own.

Yes, and we in NATO continue to rely on superior equipment expertly operated by well trained troops. In Ukraine, the expertly operated and well trained part is harder to produce. This is not because the Ukrainians can't be trained, but rather because it takes time. That is the problem with the NATO approach. Your advantage over the enemies superior numbers is your superior equipment. That superiority rests on your ability to utilize the equipment expertly and fully. That takes training, and there is no way around that. NATO undoubtedly takes longer than necessary when there is no war on, but even allowing for that, the time is significant. Some weapons are easier to use than others. An F-16 is lots harder on many levels than a Bradley, which in turn is much harder to learn than a Javelin.

So far, we have been fortunate that Russian leadership has pretty much failed on both a tactical and a strategic level. That helps cancel out some of their numerical advantage. It isn't wise to assume that failure will persist. We can hope so, but don't count on it. As long as they keep trying, they might get it right. We need to get Ukraine trained up before they do.