Tag: military assistance

UK-supplied missiles used to strike civilians in Lugansk + Evidence Of ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy Use By Ukraine Emerges

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Ukraine’s military used UK-supplied long-range missiles to target civilians in the Russian city of Lugansk, resulting in several children being injured, according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense and local authorities.

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Later, however, it [Joint Center for Control and Coordination] clarified that the strike involved two Anglo-French Storm Shadow missiles and a US-made ADM-160B decoy missile.

UK-supplied missiles used to strike civilians in Lugansk – authorities

Related:

Evidence Of ADM-160 Miniature Air-Launched Decoy Use By Ukraine Emerges

The ADM-160B has a stated maximum range of around 500 miles and reportedly has the capability to mimic the radar signatures of various different kinds of aircraft. It is designed to follow a preprogrammed route, which can include loitering over designated areas.

In 2012, the Air Force also began acquiring ADM-160C variants, also known as MALD-Jammers or MALD-Js, which added an active radar jamming capability. Further improved variants of the MALD, which the U.S. Navy has also been acquiring, have since been developed as you can read more about here.

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It is worth noting that in December 2022 the Pentagon announced new aid for the Ukrainian armed forces that included what was only described at the time as a “counter air defense capability.” That U.S. military assistance package was also a so-called “drawdown,” meaning that all the items it contained would come straight from existing U.S. military stocks.

If the Ukrainian military has indeed begun receiving MALDs, this would not be the first time the Pentagon has transferred higher-end weapons and other equipment and not initially disclosed it. The sudden appearance of MALD wreckage would also fit the same general pattern of how it first emerged that the U.S. military was supplying its Ukrainian counterparts with AGM-88 High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM) last year, which was eventually confirmed.

The End of American “Exceptionalism”?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The End of American “Exceptionalism”?

This might have a decisive impact on the US currency as the drive to break with the petrodollar continues to grow and could produce something like a “perfect storm” impacting on the US economy. It threatens to drastically lower the standards of living of nearly all Americans within the next several years as the dollar loses value and purchasing power. As the US economy is heavily interconnected with many European economies, Europe is also likely to be a victim of the coming disaster.

The good news, of course, is that the United States will no longer be able to afford its endless wars and international interventions. Lacking its economic power, it will no longer be able to declare itself “exceptional” and the enforcer of a “rules based international order.” It would mean an ending of the funding of developments like the Ukraine proxy war and the troops will have to come home from places like Syria and Somalia. And it might even mark the ending of sending billions of dollars annually to a wealthy Israel.

Ending dollar supremacy would inevitably have an immediate impact on what passes for US foreign policy, making it more difficult for Washington to initiate and sustain Treasury Department sanctions on countries like Iran and North Korea. It could also create economic turmoil for many countries until the situation resolves itself by producing greater volatility in currency markets worldwide. The Federal Reserve Bank will no doubt respond to the unfolding crisis by acting as it always does by raising interest rates to astronomical levels, thereby hurting most the Americans who can least afford the shock therapy.

Ukraine May See New ‘Maidan’

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Ukraine could be looking at another Maidan

Meanwhile, Zelenskyy’s assurances don’t assuage some veteran observers of the country either. “We have not seen significant enough efforts to address corruption — although perhaps with one important exception,” said a former senior U.S. diplomat who has considerable experience in Ukraine. “I think they really are trying to prevent diversion of any of the massive Western assistance they’re receiving. I believe they do understand the risks, if there were to be a major scandal.”

But the former diplomat said that what struck him in recent meetings with opposition politicians and civil society leaders in Kyiv was how, “on the one hand, they truly appreciate Zelenskyy’s strength as a war leader,” but are “deeply worried also about corruption and his authoritarian style.”

“In their minds, there is going to be a reckoning as soon as the war ends,” he said. “And I think that’s probably going to be true.”