Ukraine has turned into a “lab” for Western arms as the war has given the US and its allies an opportunity to see how their weapons fare in a conflict with a major military power like Russia, CNN reported on Monday.
A source familiar with Western intelligence on the war told CNN that Ukraine is “absolutely a weapons lab in every sense because none of this equipment has ever actually been used in a war between two industrially developed nations.” The source described it as “real-world battle testing.”
Back in July, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov offered his country as a “testing ground” for Western arms makers. “We are interested in testing modern systems in the fight against the enemy and we are inviting arms manufacturers to test the new products here,” he said.
Reznikov got his wish as the US, and its allies have significantly stepped up military aid since then, and the war has escalated as Russia began large-scale strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure in October. Russia’s success in its use of cheap kamikaze drones in the infrastructure attacks has influenced plans for Western arms makers.
The British arms maker BAE Systems has announced that it’s developing a new armored vehicle with added protection to defend it from kamikaze drone attacks from above. Multiple intelligence and military officials told CNN that making cheap single-use drones has become a priority of many defense contractors.
The CNN report said that for the US military, the war has become an “incredible source of data on the utility of its own systems.” For example, the US has seen that its HIMARS rocket launch system has been effective against Russian forces, while the M777 howitzer has become less effective and less accurate over time.
The war in Ukraine has also created a demand for weapons that were beginning to become obsolete, such as the Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles. Raytheon stopped producing Stingers for years but now has been asked by the Pentagon to ramp up production as thousands have been shipped to Ukraine.
The people who view Ukraine as a weapons lab need to be parachuted into the middle of a conflict in a target zone for those fancy weapons. That way, at least, the people who should be dying will do that dying in the place of Ukrainian and Russian (yes, I consider the people in the eastern Oblasts who are ethnic Russians to be Russians) citizens.
I wonder how many of these creeps would volunteer for target duty?
Russia tested its hypersonic missiles there ON Ukraine. They are unstopable by any nation on earth at this time. Very few nations have hyper-sonic missiles, and no nation at this time has any defense that can stop these missiles once fired. Did Ukraine realize that the greatest warfare advances would be used ON them, not by them. Sad but true, Ukraine is and will continue to see most of the best and most advanced war fighting system’s used on them, not by them. Were they so naive as to believe that the U.S. & NATO would be the most cutting edge warriors after their ignoble rout from Afghanistan..?? Maybe they will want to buy my bridge in Brooklyn so they can collect toll…!
“Were they so naive as to believe that the US & NATO would be the most cutting edge warriors” – Ukrainian political elite after 2014 is completely subordinated to American oligarchy. They have the choice: 1 – stay loyal to US, have a lot of money and in case if something go really bad, have a good chance to be safely evacuated to The West. Or, 2 – lose everything including their lives.
What concerns the people, they live under terrorist neo-Nazi regime. Many of them are completely brainwashed and disorientated. Their choice is also not great: 1 – leave the country (many millions have done it). 2 – hide somehow from the mobilization and wait. Once mobilized, they are closely supervised by neo-Nazis and NATO instructors. The executions in Ukrainian army are common.
I feel as sorry for the people of Ukraine as I do for the citizens of the US. Both are being played for suckers by the Militarys. The Ukrainian population is losing citizens and property brought on by the Capitalist rulers of the US in the search for profits of the MIC needed to keep the economy afloat and keep the populace quiet.If a mere fraction of the dollars expended on National Defense{sic} over the last 50 years had been spent on living conditions in this country the world would be in better shape. Now we are all faced with extinction and I do not see a solution.
I don’t see other way out as to return to Christian values. Perfect social justice and equality is unachievable, but at least, it should be proclaimed as a goal. Also financial equality. It is all explained in Bible. Once a political party based upon Christian values is created, it will have a chance to get to the power and reform the political system.
Not going to.happen as long as Capitalism us running the US economy All.of this talk about equality is BS and will
Not happen before the end of days.The 2% will.continue to rule until the bitter end.
While I appreciate your sentiments, M, non-Christians have values too.
“Values” are not confined to one particular set of beliefs. All it requires is the ability to distinguish right from wrong and that includes atheists as well.
Non-Christians are not a problem so far as they don’t deny Christian values. For example, Chinese political model is based upon the same Christian values. The most important is to separate the big business from politics.
The population of Ukraine declined from 52 million to 42 million BEFORE the war, as people fled the oligarchy.
Now it is down to half of that controlled out of Kiev. Many of those are “internally displaced” and so quite likely to keep moving.
So from 52 down to 21 million and decreasing steadily, people voted with their feet.
That is true, but still even if a terrorist state has population 3 millions, it is still dangerous to the neighbors. The denazification should be accomplished anyway.
And once Russias stock of 10 hypersonic missiles is expended, back to shelling and repurposing air defense missiles.
They said that months ago. And months ago. And weeks ago. Yet the missiles keep flying.
None whatsoever, Bear.
I am sure Ukraine citizens are absolutely crazy about that.
If it gets the Russians to leave, they are probably OK with it.
When the Russians leave, the Ukies will not be happy with what little left that shelters or operates
CNN: Ukraine Has Become a ‘Scrap Yard’ for Western Arms
Ukraine Has Become a ‘Scrap Yard’ for Western Arms, morals and credibility.
A a scrapyard for for intelligent thinking too. What were they thinking when they signed up to Obama, Clinton, Nuland coup to threaten Russia? Did they think feckless NATO would save them from Russian wrath for trier threats….???? I have no idea how many pieces of silver the plotters got from the five BILLION dollars of the NED lucre Nuland bragged that bought their Nazis back to positions of power to kill their Russian speakers of their fellow citizens. But it may not seem like a smart choice while they are now toblasted back to the stone age. All Thanks to our Peace President Obama and his fat dumpy harpies.
Americans, fearing the most modern their weapons could fall in Russian hands, are reluctant to use it in Ukraine. On the other hand, the capitulation of Kiev regime is so terribly unpleasant for American government that everything will be done to avoid it.
The other problem: Kiev regime needs not only weapons but also soldiers. Few thousands dead don’t matter, but when the number of killed mercenaries from NATO countries is big enough, it might create a political crisis.
Lives do not matter to the US as long as they are not white,only profits don’t
Not white and not slavic.
This is always the case but it’s good to remind people.
Vietnam Redux.
For who?
Is the MIC going into overdrive?
They’ve been in overdrive for more than a decade…!
You are right.
Some Western factions are crazier than others or their minds are full of imperial hubris. They likely have overestimated their own abilities while underestimating Russia.
I am still optimistic that the cooler, saner heads will prevail. But it is not up to me. I’m just a spectator.
Ukraine has also become an Anti-Weapons Lab for Russia….!
There will be little surprise for Russia when and if a full scale West-Russia war starts…!
Western media are telling us lies and half-truths about the war in Ukraine. CNN spent most of 2022 labeling Russia’s invasion as “unprovoked.” Russia certainly saw the NATO military alliance constantly expanding towards Russia’s borders, and the US unilateral withdrawal from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, and vigorous support from US officials for the anti-democratic coup in Ukraine in 2014, the gigantic US military budget, and various other western actions as provocative and threatening.
CNN’s coverage of the recent Russian cruise missile strike on Dnipro was misleading. It quoted Zelensky claiming the strike was a war crime, with no other side presented. Was Russia’s offense that they spend so little on arms that they had to resort to using a missile designed for ships, and failed to hit the intended land target? Next and within the same CNN story: “Also on Monday, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights reported that 7,000 civilians have died in Ukraine since the beginning of the war. OHCHR added that they believed ‘most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with wide area effects, including shelling from heavy artillery…'” Is CNN implying that only one side commits war crimes?
CNN’s other coverage of the war on January 16th provides the uncomfortable answer. In a story titled “How Ukraine became a testbed for Western weapons and battlefield innovation,” the reporters celebrate Ukraine’s development of a mobile app that “has been highly effective at directing Ukrainian artillery fire onto Russian targets.” CNN continued, “For the US military, the war in Ukraine has been an incredible source of data on the utility of its own systems… a crucial piece of insight has been about the M777 howitzer… but the barrels lose their rifling in a short time frame, making the artillery less accurate and less effective.” Yet it only takes a quick google search to find this from military-today.com: “The maximum rate of fire for the M777 is 4 rounds per minute for up to 2 minutes; the sustained rate of fire is 2 rounds per minute.”
When the US gave Ukraine these expensive titanium howitzers and hundreds of thousands of shells, we knew their limitations and surely informed the Ukrainians. CNN’s headline could have been the lack of discipline among Ukraine’s soldiers, their cavalier abuse of donated weapons, or their willingness to inaccurately hurl countless high-explosives in the general direction of Russians and Ukrainian civilians alike caught East of the front.
President Biden has repeatedly said that “we’re going to give Ukraine what it needs…for as long as it takes.” Yet our resources are not infinite, and our aggressive posture risks escalation to nuclear war. CNN cheer-leads for continuing this gamble with our lives, and keeping the taxpayers’ blank checks for endless killing and destruction flowing. Instead, the US should negotiate with Russia without pre-conditions, seeking to end the fighting and build shared security, cooperation, and prosperity.
https://journal-neo.org/2023/01/17/the-trouble-with-western-tanks-in-ukraine/
The Trouble With Western Tanks in Ukraine.
Western planners have no alternatives but nuclear war and sanctions. We’re all witness to a Washington and WEF-inspired Holocaust.
I wish I knew how one could reach Biden, but he’s been bought off.
Bought -off and senile: not a good combination.
So, just like the Spanish Civil War before WW2.
WW3 is not a cheering prospect, but it fits the pattern announced with such glee.
“CNN: Ukraine Has Become a ‘Weapons Lab’ for Western Arms Ukraine’s defense minister previously offered his country as a ‘testing ground’ for Western weapons makers”
As much as Ukraine is a ‘Weapons Lab” for Western countries it is also a “Weapons Lab” for Russia.
Instead of weakening Russia this situation in Ukraine will allow Russia to improve strategy, tactics, weapons, and electronic warfare equipment.
The blowback or unintended consequences of the US and EU sending weapon system to Ukraine is that Russia can improve their military.
This situation is a real indicator of the dumbing down of the US population and leadership.