China’s most important asset in potential war with the United States is “mass,” says Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks: “More ships. More missiles. More people.”
To counter that advantage, the Defense Department will launch an initiative called Replicator to create cheap drones across the air, sea, and land in the “multiple thousands” within the next two years.
Cheap drones, of the type Ukraine has deployed to great effect against Russia, can be produced close to the battlefield at much lower cost than typical Defense Department weapons.
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Humans keep trying to make war impossible by making it worse, and it never works. It’s depressing to think of where that leads.
Is that actually true that it doesn’t work though? Has the prevalence of wars amongst similarly armed nations gone up?
I could be wrong but it feels like you used to hear about neighbouring countries having small wars and skirmishes for land all the time and now it’s a relatively rare occurrence.
It’s depressing to think of where that leads.
Also kind of odd to say that when the world wars were both objectively just incomparably bloody with far more civilian casualties than the war in Ukraine and lead to doomsday weapons that can destroy the entire earth … like where else are you depressed to go that we haven’t been already?
Today was a different sort of day, he told himself. Today, I will argue against a sad person’s feelings.
Nothing wrong with feeling sad, just don’t feel sad cause the world is getting worse, feel sad cause it’s been worse for a while
Thank goodness I was there, he thought, that guy was being sad incorrectly. The damnedest part is that he just made fun of me while I improved him for free!
It doesn’t work. It may not be have been US vs USSR but it was several proxy wars. The proxy war we have now is the war in Ukraine. A misunderstanding, or deliberate deception, could lead to a world war. Just look at Vietnam and the reasons the US got involved. Right now I believe the west is using the current war as testing grounds for unproven tech, like the tech used to shoot down hypersonic missles from Russia, but that tech week have to pay for itself one day.
It may not be have been US vs USSR but it was several proxy wars.
But are those proxies wars happening at a higher rate than non-proxy wars were happening before?
I mean by all accounts the only reason that China hasn’t invaded Taiwan at this point is because of how prickly of a target it is (and more accurately how angry of an adversary the US would be if China were to take over the west’s primary computer chip fabrication facilities).
NATO being by far the most heavily armed alliance in the world also seems to be acting as a genuine deterrent in Europe.
In all honesty I have spent most of my life being pretty anti military industrial complex, but the war in Ukraine is what’s making me second guess it. End of the day Russia’s excuses of invading because of NATO aggression are horseshit, they’re just an imperialist expansionist power run by a dictator. What else is supposed to stop them or at least keep them in their place if not weapons that can counter theirs? The war in Ukraine is also demonstrating the limits of strictly defensive armaments … once Russia gained ground suddenly defensive systems are no help in retaking your territory.
I don’t know the rate of proxy vs non-proxy wars so I can’t answer that question. But let me give my opinion on the other points.
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I believe that Taiwan is a part of China. It is officially called the Republic of China. I don’t know the details but I know they lost the civil war against the communist and Taiwan was the island they retreated to. It isn’t recognized as a country by most of the world because of China asserting its claim over it. I think many Taiwanese identify as Chinese and both China and Taiwan consider themselves to be the true China. The situation is complicated, I don’t know all the facts, both sides claim to be China, the US official stance is ambiguous, all I know is war with China is bad.
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With regards with Russia and NATO. NATO has expanded it’s membership and each new member is geographically closer to Russia’s boarders. Russia feels threatened by this because they have NEVER trusted the west. I don’t know the history but this is what I picked up from watching documentaries on WW2 and the Cold War. Adding new members that are closer and closer to Russia was only gonna end badly because we tend to put weapon systems in those new NATO allies boarders. I think this is why Finland and Sweden didn’t join for the longest. It would raise tensions between nations.
Welp for reason’s only Putin and his advisors truly knows they invaded Ukraine and the reason stated is because of NATO’s aggression. I personally think things would have turned out better if Russia was more friendly with their neighbors and tried to established mutually beneficial trade agreements but I don’t know shit about international politics.
Am I presenting the other side to justify their actions? No. I think it is best to see the whole playing field when you are in a conflict.
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The Ukraine conflict is not a proxy war. I don’t give a shit what some old English professor who still thinks it is 1967 told you or what fucker Carlson was paid to say.
Russia launched an unprovoked attack against a neighbor. If you want to shill for russia at least produce some sorta evidence. Show me the details of how the NATO alliance was funneling in resources for an invasion of Russia.
Why does the hard right and Chomsky-tankies agree on so much?
You make a lot of assumptions about me that are all false. I’m not on the political right and never listen to Tucker Carlson. You need to chill the fuck out assuming I’m taking sides.
I call it a proxy war because the US and NATO are not at war with Russia yet they are funneling resources and intel to Ukraine in an effort to help them win this conflict. The other side of the proxy can be anyone assisting Russia. That includes Iran and possibly China.
I assumed you were a Chomsky-tankie and I am not wrong.
I call it a proxy war because the US and NATO are not at war with Russia yet they are funneling resources and intel to Ukraine in an effort to help them win this conflict.
Then you don’t know what a proxy war means. A proxy war is when I get someone to fight for me, a proxy war is not when I give someone the means to defend themselves. Russia was under no threat and started this. Enough with this both sidism.
I assumed you were a Chomsky-tankie and I am not wrong.
Enough with this both sidism.
I don’t know who you think you are but you don’t get to define who I am or what my view should be. I don’t take either side. Why the fuck should I care about what happens over there? What I do know is when the war broke out last year and Africans who were in Ukraine were stopped from leaving as the Ukrainians tried to get them to fight. As someone of african descent I only have sympathy for the victims of this conflict and not the countries involved. And as for this being a proxy war, the US has already been accused of instigating a coup in Ukraine in 2014. The US has a history if involving themselves in the business of other countries to get the government they want in power. Look at all of Central America as an example.
I will never just take one side as fact because all sides will lie and manipulate. I take no side because it has nothing to do with me.
Gotcha another both sidism tankie. Tell your buddy Chomsky that the 60s are over and it’s time to grow up.
Whenever I hear about a swarm of drones I think of Slaughterbots: https://youtu.be/9CO6M2HsoIA?si=W4sUSmVI4wZTghsV
We’re all so screwed.
If I was making them I would make them go for your groin.
A. You will most likely live if you get medical attention.
B. Most people are more scared of their junk being blown off and living compared to just dying.
C. No danger of leading a movement later. What fascist is going to support a person who is a medical incel?
Has anybody seen what the CCP has done during the recent floods, or the fukushima wastewater discharge, or during Covid? The CCP is busy destroying China as it is. Why would western militaries bother?
Because the last gasps of dying empires often involve launching (and losing) new wars of conquest. Look at what the Russian Empire is doing in Ukraine.
Fukushima was Japan not China…
Ah, I misread your post. Ignore me.
The CCP is still raising a huge stink about it. They banned all Japanese seafood
Rumor is they also hacked Toyota over it.
Seriously, they just need to be waited out, they are destroying themselves. especially if their real estate bubble actually pops it’s going to be worse than 2008 for them.
It is an entire country run by and built on incompetence, at this point Papua New Guinea scares me more as a country.
Chinese drones are so cheap because they are very high volume and very low capability. (Compared to normal military gear) Lower wages also don’t hurt. But to domestically make cheap drones, they’ll need to make millions and not let the military feature creep them to death.
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