Bloomberg
U.S.
Author: Michael
On Friday at the Ramstein airbase, multiple countries pressed Berlin to deliver German-made Leopard 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine as part of an arms transfer package that included “hundreds” of armored vehicles of various types.
Leopard 2
Berlin sold many of the 3,600 Leopard 2s produced after the Cold War ended, and they are now in use by 21 countries across four continents.
The Leopard 2s, which weigh between 55 and 65 tons, have far superior armor, firepower, and detection capabilities to most Russian tanks, which weigh between 40 and 50 tons.
With the help of billions of dollars in new military aid from the West, including infantry fighting vehicles (but not German tanks), Ukraine will be ready to strike back and stop Moscow’s attempts to keep its invasion going.
But Kyiv is in dire need of other weapons systems to win decisively. According to military analysts, as Russia prepares for a protracted war, it is not clear that defense production – at least in Europe – can sustain the high level of military aid.
The USA and Finland announced new military aid packages worth $2.
The Kremlin spokesman said the West was “illusioned” about Ukraine’s ability to win, warning they would not stop regretting this.
“We see a general state of delusion about Ukraine’s ability to win on the battlefield,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at a press conference on January 20, adding that “the West will not stop repenting.” sorry for this illusion.”
Asked if the war in Ukraine would continue to escalate, Peskov said the conflict “is moving in an upward direction, and we can see NATO countries becoming more and more involved indirectly and sometimes directly.
The US military announced that the al-Tanf base in southern Syria was attacked by a suicide drone, wounding two people, but did not name the responsible party.
“Three suicide drones (UAVs) ambushed al-Tanf base in Syria,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) announced on January 20. The agency said the US-led coalition shot down two drones, but the third hit the complex, injuring “two members of allied Syrian forces.”
“Raids of this kind are unacceptable,” said CENTCOM spokesman Joe Buccino, without specifying who was responsible.
(Photo by Vladimir Aleksandrov/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Army Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, offered a slightly revised update Friday on the numbers of Russian casualties during the country’s all-out war in Ukraine.
“I would say it’s significantly well over 100,000 now,” he said Friday at a press conference after the wrap-up of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Germany.
A U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon of the Ohio Air National Guard’s 180th Fighter Wing flies over Iowa Aug. 11, 2022. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Airman 1st Class Tylon Chapman).
Once again, gamers apparently can’t help but post sensitive information about military technology online in order to make the game more realistic. In this case, it’s the game War Thunder, and the posts concern data about the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the F-15E Strike Eagle.
War Thunder is a multiplayer online game in which players engage in simulated combat with tanks, planes, and warships.
USAF
The U.S. Air Force’s first operational F-15EX Eagle II fighters will not be equipped with conformal fuel tanks, or CFTs, according to a newly released Pentagon report. A lack of CFTs will significantly reduce the F-15EX’s range, which has been a major selling point for the type in the past.
Mention of the CFT decision was included in the most recent annual report from the Pentagon’s Office of the Director of Operational Test and Evaluation, or DOT&E, which was released yesterday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with President Joe Biden
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, Gab TV, Truth Social, Gettr
While the U.S. Treasury is taking extreme measures to avert a crisis as the June debt ceiling deadline approaches, the Biden administration has promised another $2.5 billion in military aid to Ukraine. On Thursday, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, announced the aid package and vowed that the U.S. “will stand united with Ukraine for as long as it takes.”
The current aid package comes after Congress passed a massive $1.
Royal Netherlands Air Force
Repeated calls from Ukrainian officials and pilots for F-16 fighter jets look like they finally could be a step closer to being answered, with confirmation from the Dutch government that it will look at any request to transfer its aircraft with an “open mind.” Those were the words of Wopke Hoekstra, the Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, speaking yesterday ahead of the meeting of defense ministers from around 50 countries at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, which you can read more about here.