re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Did Ukraine funding spare the US Army from budget cuts?

The supplemental funding doesn’t just allow the Army to avoid painful cuts in FY24, Travis Sharp, a fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, told Defense News. In fact, it’s accelerating the service’s modernization.

“The Army is getting back equipment that is in some way better than the equipment it gave up,” he said, and “they’re able to get it faster because the demand created by the war in Ukraine has allowed for either an expansion in the industrial base, or the per-unit cost of the systems is coming down because companies are making more.

“Therefore, for a fixed amount of money, the Army can actually afford to buy more systems.”

link has more details and examples of per unit cost reductions for GMLRS etc.

Defense News

Sounds like a wife proclaiming - "look honey, i got it all on sale" lol

or is that misognynistic?

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Does he get paid?

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I think that he gets paid from RT doesn't he?

Along with former CIA guys Larry Johnson and Ray McGovern are interviewed by Judge Napolitano on Judging Freedom about every week or at least every other week.

All of their predictons have been 100% wrong.

It’s a little crazy to say but even with all we have given Ukraine like HIMARS, M777, M109 , Bradleys and Abrams that the one thing that might end up being the most crucial element to their army is a 60 year old vehicle that we don’t even want in our military anymore. The M113 APC. They absolutely love the vehicle for its speed and versatility. It takes their troops to the front, acts as a battlefield ambulance, a mobile mortar system and even as an IFV when they are armed with .50 cal or TOW launcher. Our old scrap metal due to be retired and disposed of or put in long term storage is crucial to their ability to operate. We end up saving money by writing them off and donating to Ukraine saves us the cost of maintaining or scrapping the vehicles.

Vietnam was pretty much helo in then you’re humping it on foot through the jungle. Not great tank or heavy vehicle terrain which neutralized a lot of our military’s advantage. But you’re right, this war seems like just the thing the M113 was made to operate in. It also doesn’t hurt that the Ukes have proven to be incredibly creative to work with what they have.

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We end up saving money by writing them off

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Can the military write off loses on their taxes?

British Defence Intelligence
UPDATE ON UKRAINE 28 March 2023
INTELLIGENCE UPDATE

In recent days, Russia has continued to prioritise an operation attempting to encircle the Donetsk Oblast town of Avdiivka. However, Russian forces have made only marginal progress at the cost of heavy losses in armoured vehicles.

Russia's 10th Tank Regiment has likely lost a large proportion of its tanks while attempting to surround Avdiivka from the south. The regiment is part of 3rd Army Corps, the first major new formation Russia stood up to support the invasion of Ukraine since August 2022.

Numerous open-source accounts suggested that 3rd Army Corps has been particularly dogged by problems with ill-discipline and poor morale. Despite a likely period of training in Belarus, the formation still appears to display limited combat effectiveness. 10th Tank Regiment's losses have likely largely been due to tactically flawed frontal assaults similar to those in other recent failed Russian armoured attacks, such as around the town of Vuhledar.