War in Ukraine

No, I had not seen that. But two points:

First, if China really could see our stealth aircraft (when they are operating as stealth aircraft), then the smart move would be not to tell us. The only reason to say this out loud is for deterrence purposes.

Second, China has no idea, nor could they, when these aircraft are operating under stealth conditions. Most often, they are not and are (deliberately) easy to see on radar or with infrared. If China wants to make war plans based on how our aircraft operate under peacetime conditions, then so much the better.

 

Here is a link to both, disregard the headline:

Russia shot down 337 Ukrainian drones, biggest attack in three years | AP News

 

So you're saying that you are naive enough to believe that Ukraine cyber-attacked Twitter servers? Because they have nothing better to do?

 

well since trump stopped the war they had to focus on something

 

80% of Ukrainians support Zelensky and would die to the last man for him.

The other 20% live in Ukraine.

 

Interesting to see where this goes ....

U.S. will immediately resume military aid as Ukraine says it is open to 30-day ceasefire | PBS News

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would present the ceasefire offer to the Kremlin.

“We’re going to tell them this is what’s on the table. Ukraine is ready to stop shooting and start talking. And now it’ll be up to them to say yes or no,” Rubio said. “If they say no, then we’ll unfortunately know what the impediment is to peace here.”

National security adviser Mike Waltz added: “The Ukrainian delegation today made something very clear, that they share President Trump’s vision for peace.”

Waltz said negotiators “got into substantive details on how this war is going to permanently end,” including long-term security guarantees.

Vladimir Putin's 'dilemma' over US-Ukraine ceasefire plan amid 'trap' fears but Russians wanting end to war

Vladimir Putin is facing a “dilemma” over whether to accept a ceasefire plan drawn up by the US and Ukraine, says one of the president’s former advisers.

Putin has previously spoken out against a ceasefire, stressing that a broader peace deal is needed which meets his demands to end his three-year war.

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But Russian society “is tired of the war and wants to have peace,” Mr Markov added on BBC radio, and Putin is also coming under pressure from countries beyond the West to stop the conflict.

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Putin’s relationship with Donald Trump may also influence his decision, Mr Markov explained: “Biden was just enemy, Trump is rival.” The Kremlin said on Wednesday it needed to be briefed by the United States on the outcome of US-Ukrainian talks in Saudi Arabia before it would comment on whether a proposed ceasefire was acceptable to Russia.

 

Rubio is an idiot. Maybe someday a neighbor will take over part of his backyard, and the police will invite Rubio to "peace talks" that offer the neighbor permanent ownership of part of his yard, and tell Rubio, "If you say no, then we'll know what the impediment is to peace here."

 

As I said a few weeks ago (with progressively diminishing confidence as each new unnecessary blow from our government befell Ukraine), I hope this has been the plan all along: force peace talks by any means necessary, even if it means smacking down the aggrieved party, reveal to the world that no “peace” short of Ukraine’s effectual surrender will be acceptable to Putin, then amend the strategy to cranking up pain on Russia until Ukraine receiving an actual security guarantee looks like a healthier alternative to economic collapse, revolution, and permanent loss of the Far East to China.

No need to pound the “optimistic” button; my use of the word “hope” already clearly implies that. Besides, we will see together what comes out of these talks. If our government seems to agree that Russian demands are reasonable for land it cannot win militarily (including a bridgehead over the Dneipr to support the next phase of conquest), Ukrainian disarmament, or Russian veto power over Ukrainian elections, then this whole thing is a sham. And all we will have done is erode our own influence over the war and increase that of Europe. Because those last three Russian demands are laughably unjust, and Ukraine is just going to keep fighting with whatever help it can get from whomever.

 

I take your point, of course. But Rubio is not posing the question of who is at fault for starting this war. He is posing a somewhat different question of which party is the greater obstacle for ending the fighting and securing a relatively just and durable peace. You and I already know the answer to that question, but there is a significant portion of the world population who would answer either that it is Ukraine (due to, say, its unreasonable demands to restore its borders to January 2014) or that they are not certain, because both sides look like they are a problem. Peace talks, which again I say are most likely bound to fail, will at least reveal to everyone who is not already solidly in Russia’s camp who the intransigent party is. This method has, if nothing else, the benefit of having not been tried.

 

If there was anything remotely like this, in Russia, it would have been 24/7 news. Hell, it would have been screen savers …

 

My understanding with stealth is that you can absolutely see an F-22 on radar, but the image is small. I.E. it looks like a bee or something very small. The key is targeting and hitting it, which is damn near impossible.

My biggest question with stealth is when does electronic (jamming, distorting, "cloaking") become better than physical design and, thus, physical design goes back to focusing on sheer performance. For instance, if it had a "cloaking device" the new F-15 would be the baddest thing in the sky.

 

You ask some great questions, none of which, of course, could be discussed here.

 

Obviously, the kerfuffle in the White House and the (days long) weapons pause was much ado about nothing. The Trump team’s “ball’s in your court” overture, to Russia, is engineered to make Russia look like the belligerent if it balks on an agreement it finds problematic.