re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

https://twitter.com/wartranslated/status/1577651529309356034

quote:

---

Rybar's update on Starobilsk (Svatove) direction, says Arab mercenaries arrived to help Ukrainian side.

---

Nothing in this article that we haven't been talking about in this thread for a while now, but good pictures and commentary.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11278851/How-Ukraine-achieve-victory-against-Russia-according-experts.html

quote:

---

'This war began with Crimea and must end with Crimea - with its liberation,' President Volodymyr Zelesnky declared back in August. And, according to military experts, that is exactly what his generals are aiming to do.

Ben Hodges, former commander of American forces in Europe, has outlined what he believes to be the Ukrainian route to victory - going via the cities of Kherson and Mariupol and ending 'when the last Russian soldier crosses the [Kerch] bridge out of Crimea.'

General Hodges, now at the Center for European Policy Analysis, believes Ukraine's main effort will remain capturing Kherson in the south - where a major assault has been underway since early August - with a secondary attack hooking down through the Donbas and towards the city of Mariupol.

When Mariupol falls, he told a CEPA conference last week, those troops would also converge on Crimea - hammering the peninsula with HIMARS rockets and forcing the Russians back beyond the border.

Dr Mike Martin, a visiting fellow of war studies at King's College, also raised the prospect of a third assault with Ukraine using its reserves to split the Russian frontline in two and making it difficult for Putin to move reinforcements around as he gave his own thoughts on Twitter.

Nothing is guaranteed in war, and Putin will certainly do everything in his power to stop Kyiv - from piling conscripts on to the frontlines to possibly using a nuclear weapon.

But, as Ukraine's path to victory becomes clearer, MailOnline examines how it could play out...

---

Defense plant at Camden growing; Lockheed to add missile capacity

Direct Link to the article: https://www.nwaonline.com/news/2022/oct/05/defense-plant-at-camden-growing/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_nwademgaz

This may be behind a paywall so here's the article.

quote:

---

CAMDEN -- Lockheed Martin is expanding its missile production operations in south Arkansas to support increased production of PAC-3 missiles for the Patriot missile system.

Aerospace industry leaders from Boeing and Aerojet, Gov. Asa Hutchinson and state officials, as well as U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano attended an event Tuesday morning to announce the opening of the new All Round Up III facility in Camden.

"This 85,000 square foot expansion supports increased production capacity for the PAC-3 missile segment enhancement, the world's most advanced air defense missile," Camden operations facility site director Aaron Huckaby said.

The PAC-3 MSE program in Camden started in 2014 with the capacity to build 240 PAC-3 MSEs a year, said Brenda Davidson, Lockheed's vice president of PAC-3 Programs Missiles and Fire Control.

"Since that time, our first step increase went up to 350 MSE and this facility is taking us to 500 MSE," Davidson said.

This is the second major expansion at the Camden operations facility since Lockheed Martin announced an investment of $142 million at the Camden site in June 2019 with company executives and Gov. Asa Hutchinson during the Paris Air Show.

That capital investment was intended to support new construction and equipment, improve existing facilities and add 326 new jobs by 2024.

Just over 1,000 employees work at the Camden operations facility now; and 3,125 employees support production of the PAC-3 MSE globally at several Lockheed Martin facilities.

Lozano, who has served as program executive officer of Missiles and Space at the Army's Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., since August, oversees many aspects of space and missile programs, including the PAC-3 MSE interceptor.

"The demand for PAC-3 and our missile defense capabilities is real, that demand is growing especially for the U.S. Army as we work toward meeting our inventory requirements for this advanced air defense missile," Lozano said.

"Our adversaries rely on tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and a variety of aircraft as a way to project their power and cause damage and destruction. These threat capabilities currently on display in certain parts of the world today can be easily found just by turning on the TV. U.S. Army patriot forces having extremely high operational tempo due to the need to provide critical air and missile defense protection and capability to our combatant commanders and to allies around the world."

Generals and other experts have recently recognized Lockheed Martin and other defense manufacturers in the Camden area for building weapons that have been key to Ukraine's successes in its war with Russia.

Davidson said the PAC-3 missile is an asset that is not currently being utilized in the war in Ukraine.

"The PAC-3 missile is the only hit-to-kill interceptor that's on the market today, we have 14 partner nations that have this product, so it continues to be in high demand and we just look forward to the growth, not only here in Camden ... but it is so critical across the world to make sure our war fighters are protected and our critical assets are protected," Davidson said.

"However we have European countries that do use this and are going to utilize it, and they've asked for additional supply based on the threats in Europe," Davidson said.

"The global landscape has changed, the demand has changed and the importance of what is being done in Camden, Arkansas has caught the attention of the nation," Gov. Asa Hutchinson said.

The Camden operations facility manufactures components and performs final assembly for several Integrated Air and Missile Defense and Precision Fires products.

Aerospace and defense industry manufacturing companies employ approximately 7,000 people in Arkansas and of that, roughly 4,000 are directly involved in manufacturing aerospace products and parts, according to the Arkansas Economic Development Commission's 2022 Aerospace & Defense Report.

Aerospace and defense exports comprised approximately 20% of Arkansas' total exports with over $1 billion in goods exported in 2020.

The Camden operations facility produces ground vehicles like the M270 launcher, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System Launcher and the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Transporter.

The facility also produces precision fire products like the PAC-3 missile, Multiple Launch Rocket System and Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System rockets and Tactical Missile System missiles.

The facility first opened in 1978 and is located primarily in Calhoun County.

---

Short thread by Mark Hertling, former commander of US Army in Europe.
https://twitter.com/MarkHertling/status/1577667093071273985

quote:

---

Interestingly, RU State TV now claiming it will take “two months” to get recently mobilized to the front lines in Ukraine.

Great. But will they be able to do anything? No friggin’ way.

RU may be able to train the basics of soldiering in 2 months.

But…
-You can’t “train” combined arms warfare, especially for large formations, in 2 months
-You can’t “teach” Generals, Colonels and new Sergeants the tenets of leadership in 2 months
-You can’t “fix” a supply system that has been plagued with corruption for years in 2 months.
-You can’t “coordinate” tankers, infantry, arty, intel, engineers, air forces & others for battlefield operations in 2 months
-you can’t “counter distrust” soldiers have in RU govt in 2 months
-after 60,000 dead soldiers, you can’t reverse the loss felt by RU mothers & wives
-you can’t issue equipment, uniforms, ammo, food, supplies, spare parts, that aren’t there (sanctions do work) in 2 months
-you can’t/won’t offer advice to a President who doesn’t listen (and who kills those who offer contrarian recommendations) in 2 months.

But suffice to say, any RU State TV commentator or pundit who are saying things will be better - in the winter! - in just 2 months needs to remember just one thing:

You can’t change culture in 2 months.

Doing that takes years, even decades.

Putin will keep losing.

---

quote:

---

Rybar's update on Starobilsk (Svatove) direction, says Arab mercenaries arrived to help Ukrainian side.

---

The irony of this, of course, is that there was a time several months ago when 15,000 Syrians were supposedly going to Ukraine to fight for Russia, and it never happened.

quote:

---

The irony of this, of course, is that there was a time several months ago when 15,000 Syrians were supposedly going to Ukraine to fight for Russia, and it never happened.

---

They were busy killing all the people who had self-determined they didn't want to be part of Syria.

Apparently self-determination only matters if you're Russian.

If I am not mistaken, none of the Baltic States or Poland wanted Kaliningrad in their independence, due almost all Russians who were and are sympathetic with Russia.

quote:

---

Good morning. Ukraine terrorists will lose. Have a nice day.

---

Start waxing your Bikini zone bud.

quote:

---

According to him, the personnel were deprived of the opportunity to equip themselves at their own expense. On the 29th, people were loaded onto a train, which since then (for a week!) has been rolling around the country without a specific purpose.

The most basic problem: the personnel fell ill because they are not allowed to leave the echelon, the ventilation does not work properly, there is no medical support, there is no care from the commanders.

---

It's the new Gulag system. Instead of camps in Siberia, though, they get front line postings.

Ukrainian Armed Forces liberate several settlements in Luhansk Oblast
Wednesday, 5 October 2022, 13:42

Serhii Haidai, the Head of the Luhansk Military Administration, has confirmed that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have liberated several settlements in Luhansk Oblast.

Source: Haidai on Telegram

Quote: "Well, now it's official – the liberation of Luhansk Oblast has begun. Several settlements have been liberated from the Russian army, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already raising the Ukrainian flag there."

Details: He did not specify which settlements had been liberated by the Ukrainian defenders.

Ukrainska Pravda