OT or Not OT: Twilight 2030

[Raellus]

An interesting article on Russian vs. American military procurement policies.

http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/wha...y-t-1540829820

And another, from the same blog, on the possible near-future irrelevance of the modern supercarrier.

http://sploid.gizmodo.com/i-just-can.../+TylerRogoway

I may be coming across as a hater, but I'm not. I greatly admire and root for the U.S. military and I hope that it overcomes the hurdles, some self-inflicted, others imposed from outside, that it faces moving into the next half of this decade. I just feel the need to counter the fanboy "we're invincible 'cuz we won the Cold War" thinking that some of my fellow Americans still cling to. What I like about these articles is they offer solutions, instead of just blithely defending current doctrine.

[Targan]

"Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall."

[StainlessSteelCynic]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I may be coming across as a hater, but I'm not. I greatly admire and root for the U.S. military and I hope that it overcomes the hurdles, some self-inflicted, others imposed from outside, that it faces moving into the next half of this decade. I just feel the need to counter the fanboy "we're invincible 'cuz we won the Cold War" thinking that some of my fellow Americans still cling to. What I like about these articles is they offer solutions, instead of just blithely defending current doctrine.

And I, for one, applaud your efforts for striving for a balanced, more rationale appraisal. It must be quite difficult when your own government is the main generator of this fanboy-ism. There's many of us who were amazed that the US government decided to issue a medal for "winning" the Cold War when it was well known that it was a "war" of economics and influence rather than pure military might (and thus we see the medal as inappropriate because it's a reward that encourages a wholly fabricated ideal of what happened).

In Australia we have a culture of "taking the piss" out of friends and colleagues and so we aren't so eager in our expressions of patriotism (although we do tend to take it too far sometimes and succumb to the "cutting down of tall poppies" syndrome and all the viciousness that that brings). Although we don't seem to fall for the same sort of hero worship that's been manufactured in the US at times, we are seeing some of the same sort of thoughtless/mindless pride in ourselves, the military and the country. It bothers me to see the public of any country manipulated via patriotism and the public too ignorant or apathetic (or both) to question it.

[Raellus]

A 4000-5000 man speed-bump.

http://news.yahoo.com/nato-fast-trac...161436927.html

I applaud NATO for addressing Russian aggression and the threat to the Baltic States, but this seems like little more than a token gesture to me. I don't think that a unit such as the one briefly outlined in the article could realistically stymie a concerted Russian attack on any/all of the its former Baltic republics or Ukraine proper, especially if the U.S. contingent is based in Italy. But hey, it's a start, I guess.

[Raellus]

I hope this assessment is wrong.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulrode...-destroy-nato/

[RN7]

Originally Posted by Raellus

I hope this assessment is wrong.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulrode...-destroy-nato/

I don't think the West or Russia really want to go to war against each other despite Russia's virtual annexation of the Crimea and the eastern Ukraine. You can put any spin on how bad Putin is or could be and how Russian forces have no right to be in the Ukraine, but Putin is far from stupid and he will not be invading the Baltics anytime soon.

On the other hand almost everyone in the West and the rest of the world really does want to go to war with ISIL. ISIL is absolute vermin and needs to be annihilated. I would be happy if the US napalmed every one of their bases, and then sent every special forces team in NATO after them to flush them out of their rat holes with flamethrowers, and then let the survivors fight hand to hand against Gurkha's with Kukri knives and televised it.

[Targan]

Originally Posted by RN7

ISIL is absolute vermin and needs to be annihilated. I would be happy if the US napalmed every one of their bases, and then sent every special forces team in NATO after them to flush them out of their rat holes with flamethrowers, and then let the survivors fight hand to hand against Gurkha's with Kukri knives and televised it.

Word. Snake and nape, whiskey to echo.

[Raellus]

Who'd have thunk it, even 20 years ago?

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-us-...t-line-2014-10

All of this posturing makes me nervous. It'll be interesting to see how Moscow reacts.