TheOldGuy @TheOldGuy@qoto.org
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
Macron, with a map in his hands, states that Ukraine should have the right to strike at military bases on the territory of the Russian Federation, from which missiles are launched
"They have the right to neutralize military sites from which missiles are launched and other military facilities from which Ukraine is attacked. But we must not allow Ukraine to hit other targets in Russia, civilian targets, of course, or other military targets," said the French president during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The Economist demonstrates how complex the full cycle of manufacturing artillery shells is, where another problem has arisen - the shortage of explosives.
ℹ️ In January, the EU admitted that it had not fulfilled its promise to provide Ukraine with one million shells by March 2024. On March 15, the EU additionally allocated 500 million euros for increasing the production of clothing. But the biggest bottleneck is something that until recently no one thought about - the lack of explosives.
ℹ️ The scheme in question is called the 'Ammunition Support Act' (Asap) and three-quarters of the funding, or around €372 million, will be allocated to manufacturers of what will be a boom. Europe needs bushels of fuel to meet its goal of producing 2 million shells a year by the end of 2025. Each artillery shell is filled with 10.8 kg of explosives such as tnt, hmx or rdx. Additional powder charges are also required to launch projectiles. Other weapons require even more explosives: for example, the warhead of the Storm Shadow missile weighs about 450 kg.
ℹ️ The problem is that explosives manufacturers are not confident that production can be scaled up and fear that the specifics of the industry will prevent the dramatic increase in production that Ukraine needs to remain competitive on the battlefield.
ℹ️ The end of the Cold War led to a sharp drop in the demand for weapons, which forced many European explosives manufacturers to reduce production or simply close their shops. Britain, for example, closed its last explosives plant in 2008. The last major European producer of TNT is located in northern Poland. In other countries, many state enterprises were either privatized or mothballed. For decades, their production was designed for peacetime conditions, and not for production on an industrial scale.
ℹ️ Let's take the explosives included in the main charge of an artillery projectile or rocket. Only a few companies still produce high-energy materials according to NATO standards. One of them is Chemring Nobel, which has its plant in Saetre (Norway). The other is the French Eurenco, which has an enterprise in Karlskoga (Sweden). After the invasion of Russia, orders from both companies increased. At Eurenco, it is filled until 2030, and the Chemring plant in Saetre is operating at full capacity.
ℹ️ These companies are currently investing in capacity expansion. But one industry insider notes that building a plant from scratch could take three to seven years. For example, the German giant Rheinmetall is building a complex for the production of explosives in Hungary, but production will not begin until 2027.
ℹ️ Explosives manufacturers also face their own problems, one of which is a shortage of skilled workers. Few young people want to work with explosives after graduation.
ℹ️ Amid these difficulties, some ammunition suppliers are looking elsewhere for explosives. Reports indicate that Indian and Japanese explosives manufacturers are partially filling this gap. Some experts are concerned that the explosives from abroad are of lower quality and therefore could damage the equipment. The rhetoric from European governments is upbeat, and it is true that some progress is being made – by the end of 2024, annual production of projectiles in the EU is forecast to reach at least 1.4 million units, up from around 500,000 a year ago.
ℹ️ When French President Emmanuel Macron laid the first brick of the Eurenco rocket fuel plant in Bergerac on April 11, he defended France's "military economy." According to him, the plant will open in record time - by 2025.
In Factum.
💥Ruzzian tank turret toss world championship entry from Ukraine
How many points would you give from 1 to 10?
North Korea has adopted a new strategy to contend with its southern neighbor: sending floating bags of trash containing “filth” across the border, carried by massive balloons, CNN reported.
The South Korean military began noticing “large amounts of balloons” arriving from the North starting Tuesday night, detecting more than 150 as of Wednesday morning, according to the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
Local governments sent messages to residents in the northern provinces to warn of the “unidentified objects,” and advised against outdoor activities. The packages risk damaging residential areas, airports, and highways.
Jenna may end up doing time. And she can't practice law for a bit.
He is right about it being a conviction if it's less than an hour.
This is one time I agree with Little Donnie
https://www.palmerreport.com/analysis/donald-trump-clearly-expects-the-jury-to-convict-him/56326/
It is an attack. They should respond with artillery
North Korea has adopted a new strategy to contend with its southern neighbor: sending floating bags of trash containing “filth” across the border, carried by massive balloons, CNN reported.
The South Korean military began noticing “large amounts of balloons” arriving from the North starting Tuesday night, detecting more than 150 as of Wednesday morning, according to the country’s Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS).
Local governments sent messages to residents in the northern provinces to warn of the “unidentified objects,” and advised against outdoor activities. The packages risk damaging residential areas, airports, and highways.
⚡️Ukraine, with the permission of Great Britain, has already struck Russian territory with Storm Shadow missiles, adviser to the Minister of Strategic Industries of Ukraine Yurii Sak told Bloomberg.
"We already have a precedent. For example, Great Britain - they have already allowed Ukraine to use the long-range Storm Shadow missiles that they supply. And we successfully use them," he noted.
One of the European countries ordered air defense shells worth hundreds of millions of euros from Rheinmetall.
The European customer ordered 35-mm AHEAD ammunition for the Skynex air defense system, according to a statement from the German company’s press service.
"The total value of the order is in the three-digit millions of euros range. A six-digit number of cartridges will be produced. The Skynex system enhances the protection of the customer's armed forces against aerial threats. This new order once again underlines Rheinmetall's leading technological position in the development and production of high-performance munitions for air defense in Europe.
The Skynex system is based on an anti-aircraft gun and is particularly suitable for close-range protection where guided weapons may not be effective. The use of AHEAD programmable 35 mm ammunition, developed by Rheinmetall for this purpose, is significantly cheaper than similar systems based on guided missiles. Additionally, 35 mm ammunition cannot be affected or countered by electronic countermeasures," the statement said
Ukrainian 26-year-old footballer Artem Dovbyk is now the season’s top scorer in the Spanish Сhampionship. The striker won this title after the completion of the last round, in which the athlete repeated the record of Andriy Shevchenko.
Dovbyk, who spent his first season in the Spanish La Liga, scored 24 goals for the season as part of Girona. He outperformed his main competitor, the Norwegian Alexander Sørloth from Villarreal, by one goal.
As of now, only four countries that have officially joined the Czech initiative to supply ammunition to Ukraine have made monetary contributions, according to Czech Defense Minister Jana Černochová.
Radio Prague International reports that Lithuania recently joined the Czech initiative to purchase ammunition for Ukraine, committing 35 million euros.
Černochová made this statement after the meeting of EU defense ministers in Brussels, where she and her Lithuanian colleague Laurynas Kasčiūnas signed the relevant memorandum.
In total, 18 countries have joined the initiative, but only four—Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, and Portugal—have allocated funds for the purchase of ammunition.
The first batch is expected to be delivered to Ukraine at the beginning of June. Černochová emphasized that Lithuania's contribution of 35 million euros is significant.
"This is further proof that the interest in supporting Ukraine in our region remains very strong," she added.
Ukraine condemned North Korea's attempt to launch a space reconnaissance satellite.
"Ukraine is deeply concerned about another attempt by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to launch a launch vehicle with a reconnaissance satellite on board. We strongly condemn Pyongyang's repeated violations of international law and relevant UN Security Council resolutions. Such actions, as well as the provision of military assistance by the North Korean regime to Russia in the war against Ukraine, significantly deteriorate the security situation in the region and the world. Ukraine calls for increased pressure from the international community on Pyongyang to comply with international law and ensure stability and security on the Korean Peninsula," stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.
The cat opened the game
https://t.me/United24media/22207?single
I am a Democrat who supports Ukraine in their battle against The Russian fascist invaders.
I am a 73 year old Covid hermit who
lives on 10 acres in a sparsely populated area of the Ozarks. I heat with wood that is leftover by the lumber industry. When cutting oak for lumber only the trunk is used.
The largest town is population 2993. The county is 13k people scattered over 713 square miles.
Joined Dec 2022
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