不得不懷疑俄羅斯是一石二鳥: 迅速集結既可恫嚇烏克蘭和北約,又可挾制美國忌憚雙邊開戰,順便敲維尼帝一筆兄弟助盟演出費~
"綜合外媒報導,俄羅斯國防部長蕭依古(Sergei Shoigu)22日宣佈,俄羅斯將撤回集結在烏克蘭邊境的大軍。蕭依古稱俄羅斯軍隊近來動作頻頻的目的只是一場「快速閱兵」(snap inspection)。"
俄羅斯數量不明的撤軍可能暗示著邊界常駐數量增加, 烏克蘭與北約大概也不會樂觀看待.
"These troops would be deployed back to their permanent bases by May 1, defense officials said Thursday.
But an undisclosed number of troops have also been deployed for exercises along Russia’s western border near eastern Ukraine, where a conflict has been festering between Kyiv and Kremlin-backed separatists. The defense ministry didn’t say when they would be returned to base."
英國雖然比北約的德國好太多, 但真要派軍也是有得惦量而只能保守為之:
"The UK has also offered to deploy a Type 45 destroyer, deploy HMS Trent in the eastern Mediterranean, send RAF jets to southern Europe, and double the 900 troops based in Estonia as part of an existing Nato battlegroup."
還真有媒體清點英國皇家海軍主要的幾艘45型驅逐艦, 發現大部分都卡在動力系統改善計畫而難以出戰:
"The initial shoreside support arrangement for the Type 45s was not ideal and relied on a contracting-for-availability approach for the first eight years. This has now been re-negotiated with BAE Systems and the Common Support Model is now addressing poor in-house stores, tools, training and technical documentation issues. The Equipment Improvement Plan (EIP) has implemented design changes to the ships, helping improve resilience and allowing them to deploy on operations all over the world but with some limitations and total power failures are still occasionally experienced. Funding was agreed in 2015 but actual work on the first ship to undergo the Power Improvement Package (PIP) which promises to cure the problem, was not started until five years later."
https://www.navylookout.com/the-royal-navys-type-45-destroyers-status-report/
以不在同一塊大陸上的國家而言, 英美出兵援烏真的是兄弟, 相形之下, 德國堪稱俄羅斯的北約內應:
"北約目前正舉行國防部長會議,英國國防大臣華勒斯(Ben Wallace)在聲明中表示,英國將駐愛沙尼亞的英軍人數加倍,並派遣更多裝備,包括戰車及裝甲車,部隊與裝備將從16日起開始轉移至愛沙尼亞,另外還有1000人待命。
華勒斯在聲明中補充,有四架英國颱風戰機降落於賽普勒斯,即將開始和北約盟國一同執行巡邏任務。另外,派往波蘭的350名皇家海軍陸戰隊大部分都已經抵達。"
英國等於是幫北約盟國先補防禦:
"DSCA指出,這項軍售是希望透過改善北約盟國的安全,來支持美國的外交政策目標和國家安全目標。強調北約盟國是歐洲政治穩定和經濟進步的力量。英國也將利用增強的能力建設其長期防禦能力,以滿足其國防需求。"
今年英國在北約的防禦補得很高哦!
“夏普斯(Grant Shapps)今天在倫敦發表政策演說,期間宣布英國將投入約2萬名軍事人員參加北約「堅定捍衛者」(Steadfast Defender)演習,並扮演領導角色。今年4月是北約成立75週年。”
俄羅斯的反應很像是去遠東找韭國取暖~
"根據《路透》報導,俄羅斯《國際文傳電訊社》29日引述俄羅斯太平洋艦隊消息,「薩波什尼科夫元帥號」在南海執行反潛演習,「薩波什尼科夫元帥號」模擬探測到1艘敵方潛艦後,從直升機確認敵艦目標,發射深水炸彈及魚雷將其擊毀。"