"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (5 Viewers)

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Greg Boeser said:
We in the West need to stop pretending that Russia-Ukraine is just a regional border dispute. Russia, Iran and China are directly and indirectly trying to expand their spheres of influence by force and intimidation. What's going on in Ukraine is different only in degree to what Iran and it's proxies are doing in the Middle-East, and China is doing in the South China Sea. And they are all working together.
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That says what a lot of people don't want to hear.
 
Thumpalumpacus said:
OMAHA BEACH, France (AP) — An American veteran and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared an emotional moment at a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to liberate France in World War II, each praising the other as a hero.

Retired Staff Sgt. Melvin Hurwitz, 99, and other veterans were introduced to the foreign dignitaries remembering the landings in Normandy on Thursday. When he met Zelenskyy, Hurwitz kissed the Ukrainian leader's hand and pulled him in for an extended hug, exclaiming: "Oh, you're the savior of the people!"

A beaming Zelenskyy replied: "No, no, no, you ... you saved Europe." The crowd watching exploded with applause, and Hurwitz asked for a picture with the Ukrainian president. He told Zelenskyy that he prays for him.

apnews.com

At D-Day ceremony, American veteran hugs Ukraine's Zelenskyy and calls him a savior

An American veteran and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy shared an emotional moment at a ceremony to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion to liberate France in World War II.
apnews.com apnews.com
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I admit it. I got a bit tearful when I saw those two heroes interact.
 
GTX said:
More reporting:

www.twz.com

Mirage 2000 Fighters To Be Sent To Ukraine From France

Mirage 2000s are now set to be second type of Western combat jet to enter Ukrainian service after the F-16.
www.twz.com www.twz.com
Click to expand...

View: https://youtu.be/1HGAZCa_0fU

I don't know much about the Mirage, other than it being a beautiful plane. I have no idea how similar the F-16s the various nations gave to Ukraine are to each other, let alone how they would compare (compliment?) with the Mirage-2000-5. This caught my eye. I subscribe to this channel as he covers areas of SE Asia that seem overlooked.
 
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SaparotRob said:

View: https://youtu.be/1HGAZCa_0fU

I don't know much about the Mirage, other than it being a beautiful plane. I have no idea how similar the F-16s the various nations gave to Ukraine are to each other, let alone how they would compare (compliment?) with the Mirage-2000-5. This caught my eye. I subscribe to this channel as he covers areas of SE Asia that seem neglected.
Click to expand...

The F-16s being sent are F-16AM/BM Block 15 MLU variants which have, as their name implies, been through the mid life upgrade which included upgrades to the cockpit and avionics, including new radar, IFF and mission computer. Basically to brings it to the equivalent of that on the F-16C/D Block 50/52. It also added the ability to employ radar-guided air-to-air missiles such as AIM-120 AMRAAM and generally enhanced the operational performance and improved the reliability, supportability and maintainability of the aircraft.

The Mirage 2000s being offered are supposedly the 2000-5 variant which is a major upgrade on the Mirage 2000C including far better cockpit, new Thomson-CSF RDY radar capable of air-to-ground, air-to-air, and air-to-sea operations and allows the aircraft to use the MICA missile, up to six of which can be fired simultaneously at targets. It also has a very advanced countermeasures suite.

Generally I believe both the F-16s and Mirage 2000s will offer very similar levels of capability and will compliment each other. Probably the greatest difference would be that the Mirages have far greater range/endurance than the F-16s. Other than that both will be matched very closely and it would probably come down to pilot abilities to differentiate them.

I understand France has 37 of the 2000-5 variant and I assume/hope all will be provided. What is also interesting is that Greece is also talking about selling their Mirages including 25 2000-5s. If these could be provided to Ukraine that would boost the numbers to 62 which would go nicely alongside the 85 F-16s offered already.
 
Greg Boeser said:
We in the West need to stop pretending that Russia-Ukraine is just a regional border dispute. Russia, Iran and China are directly and indirectly trying to expand their spheres of influence by force and intimidation. What's going on in Ukraine is different only in degree to what Iran and it's proxies are doing in the Middle-East, and China is doing in the South China Sea. And they are all working together.
Click to expand...
I agree with almost everything that you say. The only part where I slightly differ, is the last short sentence 'And they are all working together'.

I know its a slightly different take but I would suggest 'They are all taking advantage of each other' By this I mean for example. China was pretty stand offish, until Russia saw an opportunity when Ukraine were going to be short of ammunition and equipment. Then Russia threw everything they had at Ukraine and China saw the Russia had a chance of making significant advances. Only then did China give Russia almost they wanted, but its costing Russia in low oil prices and a certain amount of control on what they can do on the field of battle. China needs the West for its economy which isn't doing well at the moment and would not respond well if Russia was to do something stupid against a western NATO country. Its worth noting that some Chinese Banks under the threat of sanctions are stopping any transactions with Russia. If the Chinese Government were confident enough, I am sure they could lean on the Chinese Banks to resume transactions with Russia, but they haven't.
Korea suddenly were needed by Russia (and how they must have enjoyed that) and is supplying ammunition in vast quantities, but its costing Russia a pretty penny in reduced oil and technical help with the Korean Missile programme. No one, even Russia and China really wants a capable N Korean nuclear missile programme. I think I am right in saying that the last time the N Korean saw any serious combat, it was against China and they did pretty well.
India is taking advantage of the low oil costs, but is also trying to turn away from Russian weapons. Pakistan is close to China and has Chinese aircraft in its Air Force and these are at least as good and most of the Russian aircaft in the Indian airforce.

All the Nations you list and no doubt others, are waiting for the USA elections. God only knows what might happen but the only thing I am sure of is that whoever wins, those countries will be waiting to make the most of it.
 
Glider said:
I agree with almost everything that you say. The only part where I slightly differ, is the last short sentence 'And they are all working together'.

I know its a slightly different take but I would suggest 'They are all taking advantage of each other' By this I mean for example. China was pretty stand offish, until Russia saw an opportunity when Ukraine were going to be short of ammunition and equipment. Then Russia threw everything they had at Ukraine and China saw the Russia had a chance of making significant advances. Only then did China give Russia almost they wanted, but its costing Russia in low oil prices and a certain amount of control on what they can do on the field of battle. China needs the West for its economy which isn't doing well at the moment and would not respond well if Russia was to do something stupid against a western NATO country. Its worth noting that some Chinese Banks under the threat of sanctions are stopping any transactions with Russia. If the Chinese Government were confident enough, I am sure they could lean on the Chinese Banks to resume transactions with Russia, but they haven't.
Korea suddenly were needed by Russia (and how they must have enjoyed that) and is supplying ammunition in vast quantities, but its costing Russia a pretty penny in reduced oil and technical help with the Korean Missile programme. No one, even Russia and China really wants a capable N Korean nuclear missile programme. I think I am right in saying that the last time the N Korean saw any serious combat, it was against China and they did pretty well.
India is taking advantage of the low oil costs, but is also trying to turn away from Russian weapons. Pakistan is close to China and has Chinese aircraft in its Air Force and these are at least as good and most of the Russian aircaft in the Indian airforce.

All the Nations you list and no doubt others, are waiting for the USA elections. God only knows what might happen but the only thing I am sure of is that whoever wins, those countries will be waiting to make the most of it.
Click to expand...
Agreed - I believe co-operation is opportunistic, as Glider points out. That said, that doesn't make it any less dangerous
 
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