Tag: munitions

Most-accurate US artillery shell Excalibur quietly added to Ukraine aid

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Most-accurate US artillery shell Excalibur quietly added to Ukraine aid

Source

The Defense Department will spend $92 million in congressionally approved supplemental funds “for procurement of replacement M982 Excalibur munitions transferred to Ukraine in support of the international effort to counter Russian aggression,” according to a budget document last month that wasn’t previously disclosed.

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“The $92 million addition to Excalibur more than doubles the program’s budget, adding about 900 projectiles in fiscal 2022, up from $56.7 million that Congress approved this fiscal year,” according to Mark Cancian, a defense analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies who’s monitoring Ukraine-related spending.

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“This also confirms what had long been suspected, that the United States is providing this advanced weapon to Ukraine,” Cancian said. Each round currently cost from $98,700 to $106,400 in fiscal 2021 and 2022 dollars depending on the quantities purchased, according to Army budget documents.

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In addition to the previously undisclosed Excalibur, the budget documents also spell out supplies of well-known items such as conventional 155mm artillery rounds, Javelin anti-armor and Stinger anti-air missiles, the HIMARS mobile rocket system and its Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, or GMLRS, missiles. There are also smaller purchases of MK-19 grenade launchers, “precision sniper rifles” and “spotting scopes” and “replacement battery coolant units” for Stingers.

China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

China’s neighbors are buying US weapons Washington isn’t delivering

Even though the United States views these weapons sales as integral to deterring China from attacking Taiwan, some of the deals were publicly announced as far back as 2017.

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The reasons – government delays, supply chain issues and production requirements – are numerous, and the problem won’t be easy to fix, Rep. Mike McCaul, R-Texas, the ranking member on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Defense News.

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The U.S. government has approved the sale of 10 weapons systems Taiwan has yet to receive – some of which are not slated for delivery until the end of the decade.

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The United States has flooded billions of dollars in weapons into Ukraine, including items that are part of Taiwan’s backlog, such as Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and High Mobile Artillery Rocket Systems.

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For example, several Middle Eastern and eastern European countries are ahead of Taiwan in Lockheed Martin’s F-16 production queue. In 2019, the State Department approved an $8 billion Taiwan sale for 66 F-16s, but Taipei does not expect to receive the aircraft until 2026.

“Saudi Arabia is still ahead of Taiwan on the priority list in some cases,” Rep. Mike Gallagher, R-Wis., told Defense News ahead of a July meeting with Taiwan’s Washington envoy. “We need to take a look at that.”

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The United States may secretly transfer a number of weapons to Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

The United States may secretly transfer a number of weapons to Ukraine

The US authorities may not publicly announce the transfer of certain types of weapons to Ukraine as part of military assistance. About it writes Politico.

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The new military aid package for Kyiv, announced last week, includes Excalibur guided artillery shells, according to two Politico sources. At the same time, they are not mentioned in the Pentagon’s official statement on weapons supplied to Ukraine.

Politico also read the official notice to Congress in connection with the allocation of another aid package to Ukraine, which, according to the newspaper, notes that the weapons supplied by Washington to Kyiv “are not limited” to those listed.

“From Canada With Love” Message on a Rocket

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A new low for some Canadians.

Did it occur to any of these hateful individuals that some, perhaps all, of these missiles they’ve signed espousing their venomous mind set will kill civilians? If that thought did enter their addled minds (unable to think clearly; confused) did they still pay to have the missiles signed anyway knowing they would hit the ethnic Russian citizenry?

“From Canada With Love” Message on a Rocket

Related:

‘Sign my Rocket’ – the underground crowdfunding industry behind Ukrainian Nazi armed groups

Poland’s Position as the “Next Ukraine”

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Brian Berletic

While Western governments and the Western media continue clinging to the hope of an eventual “victory” for Kiev’s forces in Ukraine, the “frontline” is quietly being moved back to western Ukraine and even Poland just across the border. Recent pledges by NATO as well as arms deliveries this year and next appear to be headed in the direction of using Poland as the next battering ram with which US-led NATO will use against Russia.

Poland’s Position as the “Next Ukraine”

What happens to weapons sent to Ukraine? The US doesn’t really know

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

What happens to weapons sent to Ukraine? The US doesn’t really know

Because the US military is not on the ground, the US and NATO are heavily reliant on information provided by Ukraine’s government. Privately, officials recognize that Ukraine has an incentive to give only information that will bolster their case for more aid, more arms and more diplomatic assistance.

“It’s a war — everything they do and say publicly is designed to help them win the war. Every public statement is an information operation, every interview, every Zelensky appearance broadcast is an information operation,” said another source familiar with western intelligence. “It doesn’t mean they’re wrong to do it in any way.”

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For months, US and western officials have offered detailed accounts about what the West knows about the status of Russian forces inside Ukraine: how many casualties they’ve taken, their remaining combat power, their weapons stocks, what kinds of munitions they are using and where. [BS!]

But when it comes to Ukrainian forces, officials acknowledge that the West — including the US — has some information gaps.

Western estimates of Ukrainian casualties are also foggy, according to two sources familiar with US and western intelligence.

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The risk of a similar scenario happening in Ukraine also exists, the defense official acknowledged. In 2020, the Defense Department inspector general released a report raising concerns about the end-use monitoring of weapons being sent to Ukraine.

But given the nearly insatiable short-term needs of Ukrainian forces for more arms and ammunition, the long-term risk of weapons ending up on the black market or in the wrong hands was deemed acceptable, the official said.

Iraq to sue US over sovereignty violation, use of depleted uranium weapons: Official

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Press TV – December 14, 2020

An advisor to the Iraqi parliament’s foreign affairs committee says the Baghdad government is planning to lodge an international lawsuit against the United States for violating the country’s sovereignty and using internationally-banned munitions in civilian areas.

Iraq to sue US over sovereignty violation, use of depleted uranium weapons: Official