Posted on 01/06/2019 5:38:24 PM PST by Sawdring
A Youtube video presentation from LLL on Russia's geopolitical posture.
Brigadier General Peter B. Zwack | Russia: Resurgent or Declining Power?
Too long, Anyone know what he said?
Their military budget has shrunk 40% since sanctions kicked in for invading Ukraine.
Their demographics are rough for building a military with a stagnant or even shrinking population.
Their kids are draft dodgers or so addicted to drugs or out of shape for their now 1 year of military service.
Their Cold War era equipment is wearing out. Their new stuff is crap or vaporware.
Thanks. That does make me feel safer.
Still 16 TU-160 bombers carrying several nuclear cruise missiles could be deadly.
Even a sick or hibernating bear is lethal.
About half that in running condition.
A huge problem is that their engines haven't been produced in years and there are too few of them to make Kuznetsov open the lines again even if they could.
Too many engineers and workers have fled the former Soviet Union for better money in other countries like China.
Us or them ? .... Sounds like a description both societies!
That bear is about to lose a huge amount of territory.
Russians have been fleeing Siberia and Vladivostok for years and there are over a billion Chinese that need lebensraum and raw materials that they have in abundance around that Amur river basin.
The Russians in fact outnumber us slightly in NEW START strategic weapons count. Not in any significant way, but they have a whole lot more than those 16 TU-160s.
Declining powers can be extremely dangerous. They lash out in one final lunge against their foes.
Battle of the Bulge, or in Russia’s case the unleashing of unspeakable chemical, biological, radiological or IT cyber weapons.
The hardware doesn’t matter because their maintenance is pathetic. Half their chit won’t run. They just don’t have the money or infrastructure to be a real super power. With oil hovering at or below $50 per barrel Russia is one bad wheat harvest away from payday loans.
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