Thatâs why aircraft carriers have a flotilla of support craft to help defend it, and anti-missile systems to shoot down incoming cruise missiles. In theory.
Also in theory, they are all very susceptible to submarines with torpedoes and a swarm of cruise missiles needs only one to get through. In various war games, we have had air craft carriers âsunkâ by subs. So the US is at least aware of this reality and working to mitigate it.
The Russians donât seem to be following basic military tactics. Some people are calling tanks completely obsolete. But tanks are meant to be supported by infantry who will locate and take out the guy with the RPG/Javelin before they can target the tank. They arenât working like that and they keep getting picked off. Same with your flag ship just hanging out, waiting for a missile to hit it.
But yes, if the Navy went up against a near peer like China in the Pacific, I would expect many losses. They are big targets, and there are just a lot more options for attack than from the days of WWII.
Against a nation that doesnât have an active Navy.
The plot to the next Indiana Jones?
Though I remember some saying about if you put all the pieces of the âtrue crossâ together, you could build a cathedral.
Virtue signalling!
The claim of bad weather being a factor in the sinking was questioned by observers. Mark Hertling, the former commanding general of the United States Army Europe, told CNN: âAs they were towing that ship in, that very wounded ship, into Sevastopol, they claim a storm sank it. Looking at the weather report outside of Sevastopol today the winds were about four miles an hour with 40 degree [4C] temperatures and a little bit of rain.â
Yeah, this doesnât make sense to me. There will always be a need to quickly move big guns around a battlefield, tanks seem like the way to do it.
Well, it was exploded ammunition. Whose?
I am surprised (and not) that there are no reports of casualties.
It doesnât say in this article but in the German press the actual ownership structures of the yacht are being discussed. Itâs interesting to what lengths they go to obscure them and why it has taken weeks to establish the ownership. I am sure if it hadnât been in dry dock it would have sailed away to Dubai or the Seychelles long before the investigation was finished. Also interesting that it always, always, goes back to London. Puts it in perspective next time you hear a brexity MP calling out Germany for its reliance on Russian oil and gas. (Not that theyâre wrong about that, just being hypocritical).
The repair contract was signed by Navis Marine Ltd., Cayman Islands. That company belongs to Almenor Holdings Ltd, a holding company in Cyprus. The shares of that company are held by a Swiss company, Pomerol Capital SA, which in turn is managed by a London trust called âThe Sisters Trustâ, which names Gulbakhor Ismailova as a controlling trust member, who was gifted this position together with many others by her brother in 2017.
London, the Caymans, Cyprus and Switzerland? Shocked!
I didnât have âUkraine deploys brand-new indigenous antiship missile and takes out the flagship of Russiaâs Black Sea Fleet the first time itâs usedâ on my 2022 bingo card. Extra Bonus Points for helping it fuck itself on the very day the Snake Island stamp is issued.
Just to be pedantic, self-propelled artillery may often look like a tank, but itâs its own separate thing, and tactically used differently.
The rumour he mentions sounds very, very plausible with what we know of other instances of Russian graft. From the caption transcript (slightly tidied):
"Now, weâre gonna get to the rumor, because thereâs a rumor that is going along with this and while it is just a rumor makes a whole lot of things make sense. So the rumor says that a lot of these officers had reported that they were funding resistance groups inside ukraine that were loyal to russia and the reality is those groups never existed they were just pocketing the cash.
They were paying off sources that didnât exist and just pocketing the cash this is the rumor and that sounds wild but itâs really not because i mean what it costs to arm a resistance group thatâs a lot of money. Itâs so much money that itâs no longer just money it turns into motive, and itâs cash and if you are under the assumption that thereâs no way putin would be crazy enough to invade ukraine, why not? Itâs not like theyâd ever be used right"
Iâm getting very strong vibes of Sergeant Shadwell and the fake payroll lists of the Witchfinder Army (Gaiman/Pratchett âGood Omensâ):
"Strictly speaking, Shadwell doesnât run the Witchfinder Army.
According to Shadwellâs pay ledgers, it is run by Witchfinder General Smith.
Under him are Witchfinder Colonels Green and Jones, and Witchfinder Majors Jackson, Robinson and Smith.
Then there are Witchfinder Majors Saucepan, Tin, Milkbottle, deceased, and Cupboard, because Shadwellâs limited imagination had been beginning to struggle at this point."
Itâs like something Le CarrĂ© might have written.
And for the second time in a week or so ⊠it also reminds me of something in Operation Mincemeat. The Germans had tried to infiltrate a large number of spies, informants, turncoats etc in the UK in order to report back to Germany about anything of interest. The Brits basically found them all. And then sent back to Germany, for a very long time, a whole load of true but verifiable and easily-discovered-by-other-means information along with a load of disinformation. The Germans bought it all because it was nearly all what they wanted to hear.
Just waiting for South Dakota to end up in the trail.
ETA Link:
Iâm sure NY and Miami real estate are in their portfolios as well.
