“We’ve continued to support the needs of the warfighter even without pulling our installations into the modern era,” said Stephanie Hoaglin.
How the Army goes about modernizing its crucial but aging organic industrial base
Tag: Ammunition
Recruitment and far right: “I Love the Third Brigade”
Recruitment and far right: “I Love the Third Brigade”
The United States is putting pressure on Zelensky to lower the age of conscription again, but for the moment the Ukrainian president is rejecting this possibility. This is what Ukrainian media such as Ukrainska Pravda reported this week, referring to the mobilization of men between 18 and 25 years old, a very small population group in which the country’s future cannot afford to lose. Even before the law on mobilization was approved, which is very unpopular despite not being as harsh as foreign allies demanded, prominent figures and self-proclaimed friends of Ukraine such as US Senator Lindsey Graham have publicly encouraged Ukraine to recruit those over 18 years old despite the demographic risk that this implies for the country they claim to defend. These suggestions seem to have become a demand that is confirmed even by people who belong to the state apparatus. “If this information has come to light, it may confirm that American politicians from both parties are putting pressure on President Zelensky on the question of why there is no mobilisation for those aged 18-25 in Ukraine,” said Serhiy Leshchenko, one of Andriy Yermak’s advisers and a figure who has gone from representing the third sector, civil society in Maidan Ukraine to all kinds of well-paid positions in government or in the few state-owned companies that Kiev has not yet privatised. The past ten years show a double standard between those who have been privileged and those who have been impoverished and marginalised thanks to the European and liberal reforms of the peacetime years. However, Ukraine’s refusal to recruit its most vulnerable population group strictly responds to the future needs of the state, which, if it hopes to rebuild itself, must maintain minimum levels of youth population.
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Army races to widen the bottlenecks of artillery shell production
Army races to widen the bottlenecks of artillery shell production
The U.S. Army has started diversifying its supplier base for 155mm artillery shells, moving away from the bottleneck of a single source that has endangered the flow of fresh ammo, according to a top service official.
The service is racing toward a goal of shoring up all major single sources that provide parts or materials for 155mm munitions by the end of 2025.
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The Pentagon is investing billions of dollars to increase the capacity of 155mm munition production as it races to replenish stock sent to support Ukraine’s fight against the Russian invasion, which began in early 2022, and to ensure the U.S. has what it might need should conflict erupt across multiple theaters at once. The Army planned to spend $3.1 billion in FY24 supplemental funding alone to ramp up production.
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Prior to the war in Ukraine, the U.S. could build about 14,400 of the artillery shells per month. But as Ukrainian forces burn through the ammunition for howitzers sent to the country, the U.S. recognized quickly that replenishment could not be done with the current infrastructure.
The service has set a target of producing 100,000 artillery shells per month, but Army officials have shared it has fallen slightly behind schedule. Even so, the Army is now producing 40,000 shells a month, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said at the Defense News Conference last month, adding that the plan is to reach 55,000 shells a month by the end of the year.
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The Army had been making 155mm shells at a single plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and a privately operated facility nearby. All of the shells were transported to one place – Iowa Army Ammunition Plant – where they are packed with explosives.
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The Army is planning to design and construct a domestic TNT production facility, which will likely be at Radford, Bush has said in the past. Once a contract is awarded, the plan is to build it in 48 months. Currently, the U.S. relies entirely on TNT from allies.
The only place that made combustible cartridge cases – Armtec Defense Technologies – was in Coachella, California, well-known for its music festival, but also for being located along the San Andreas Fault with a high risk of large earthquakes. Day & Zimmerman will produce the cases at another location in Texarkana, Texas.
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“There [is] still the occasional single point, if you go down far enough, I’m not sure we can ever eliminate them entirely,” Bush said. “But we can build in more redundancy than we had before, which was, frankly, a very fragile setup where I could give you grid coordinates for like, four buildings in America, and if one of those, something happened tomorrow, we weren’t making anything … it definitely isn’t acceptable now, and we’re trying to get away from it.”
*SMH*
What’s Wrong with Boris Johnson’s Plan to “Save” Ukraine?
A September 21, 2024 article published in The Spectator written by former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson titled, “It’s time to let Ukraine join NATO,” attempts to formulate a theory of victory for Ukraine as war with Russia continues to grind on.
What’s Wrong with Boris Johnson’s Plan to “Save” Ukraine? (archived)
Israel and Hezbollah Are Escalating Toward Catastrophe (it’s not looking good for the IOF)
Ignore the propaganda. I’ve quoted the most relevant parts of the articles:
09-23-2024 – Israel and Hezbollah Are Escalating Toward Catastrophe
For Israel, the incentives also argue against a large-scale war with Hezbollah. After nearly a year of fighting in Gaza, the IDF is tired, munitions stockpiles are depleted, public support for Israel’s leaders is weak, Israel’s economy is suffering, and its international and regional standing have significantly eroded. And IDF military planners are well aware that Hezbollah’s more advanced fighting capabilities and sophisticated weapons arsenal would make the Gaza campaign look like child’s play.
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Brian Berletic: Washington Sets Trap for Iran, Will Iran Take the Bait?
Brian Berletic, September 24
Amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and growing tensions in the Asia-Pacific, Washington is moving toward an equally dangerous, regional war in the Middle East between its Israeli proxies and a growing list of neighboring states and organizations.
Washington Sets Trap for Iran, Will Iran Take the Bait? (archived)
CNN Admits US Out of Arms for Kiev As Russian Forces Gain Ground
Update on the conflict in Ukraine for September 22, 2024…
– Russian forces continue advancing along the line of contact;
– Ukrainian sources are claiming to have “slowed down” Russia’s advance toward Pokrovsk, but in actuality, Russian forces by necessity slow down as they approach high concentrations of urban fortifications;
– CNN admits the US is running out of weapons and ammunition to send Ukraine; – Ukraine continues carrying out high profile attacks inside Russia, the latest on an alleged munitions depot, but such attacks are not frequent enough to disrupt Russian combat operations;
– As Ukrainian fighting capacity is systematically destroyed, Ukraine’s Western sponsors are considering ways of perpetuating or escalating the conflict with the use of Western-made missiles against pre-2014 Russian territory still being discussed;
Outgunned and outnumbered, Ukraine’s military is struggling with low morale and desertion
Outgunned and outnumbered, Ukraine’s military is struggling with low morale and desertion
Serhiy Tsehotskiy, an officer with the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, told CNN the unit tries to rotate soldiers in and out every three to four days. But drones, which have only increased in number over the course of the war, can make that too dangerous, forcing soldiers to stay put for longer. “The record is 20 days,” he said.
Related:
Ukraine’s Kursk incursion has raised flagging morale among its troops and restored its initiative along a patch of the front.
59th Motorized Brigade (Ukraine):
“Chosen Company”, a group of volunteers from the United States, Australia, and several other countries, is attached to the 59th Brigade as an assault detachment within the brigade’s reconnaissance company. The unit, which was formerly a part of the International Legion, conducted reconnaissance and assault operations during the 2023 counteroffensive. In 2024, a New York Times article reported three incidents where members of Chosen Company killed Russian POWs, based on statements made by former members of the company.
‘Kill-Crazy’ Foreign Mercs in Ukraine Bragged About Murdering Russian PoWs – Report
PH: America, Marcos and AFP can get us nuked
IF advocates of the United States’ access to bases of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and US deployment of intermediate-range missiles prove the above headline unduly alarmist, this writer would be most thankful.
Related:
Out-Competing China and Constraining Russia
Forget Hardened Bases, Pacific Conflict Requires Agile Combat Employment, Commander Says
The Plan to Defend Guam from Missile Threats Is Years from Completion: More Investment Is Needed Now
Ground-Based Intermediate-Range Missiles in the Indo-Pacific
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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