Russia announces rearmament plan
Discussion
Tadite said:
Russians can play around all they want. At the end of the day they are a nation in decline. A falling population, devastated economy, and a corrupt political system are all pathways to irrelevance.
They want to waste what little money they have on bombers then be my guest.
sfunny but.....I can see us described thus too you knowThey want to waste what little money they have on bombers then be my guest.
Russia has Europe by the short and curlies with its gas pipeline it really doesnt need to expand its military but if it wants to unite its people against a common foe (we have Osama) and keep them distracted whilst stimulating the economy this is a good way to do it
However if it wants to bring Europe to its knees all it needs to do it switch the gas off come winter
However if it wants to bring Europe to its knees all it needs to do it switch the gas off come winter
The chart on the previous page is way out of date.
With oil at the price it is, Russia is running a very large current account deficit. It's $500bn foreign cash reserves are almost depleted.
As for a new Cold War.....
Russian defence spending isn't even as high as Britain's. Their armed forces are still making the transition to a professional fighting force, conscription, bullying and appalling morale is rife.
As for kit... most of it is going rusty, is near obsolesence or in a poor state of repair. It's fine if your neighbours can only muster 50 tanks to your 500 state of the art.
But NATO v Russia.... a very, very, very different proposition now.
With oil at the price it is, Russia is running a very large current account deficit. It's $500bn foreign cash reserves are almost depleted.
As for a new Cold War.....
Russian defence spending isn't even as high as Britain's. Their armed forces are still making the transition to a professional fighting force, conscription, bullying and appalling morale is rife.
As for kit... most of it is going rusty, is near obsolesence or in a poor state of repair. It's fine if your neighbours can only muster 50 tanks to your 500 state of the art.
But NATO v Russia.... a very, very, very different proposition now.
Invisible man said:
elster said:
Lefty Guns said:
liner33 said:
Cold wars are the best kinds as well , all the expansion with minimal loss of life
Nicely put.
liner33 said:
Russia has Europe by the short and curlies with its gas pipeline it really doesnt need to expand its military but if it wants to unite its people against a common foe (we have Osama) and keep them distracted whilst stimulating the economy this is a good way to do it
However if it wants to bring Europe to its knees all it needs to do it switch the gas off come winter
I don't think this rearmament talk is about expanding it's military. Russia's armed forces are way top heavy (they have about twice as many officers as they should have), it's conscript based and they're using embarrassingly out of date technology. Until very recently they haven't even had enough fuel for training.However if it wants to bring Europe to its knees all it needs to do it switch the gas off come winter
This "rearmament" is actually about a major re-organization of their military, getting rid of lots of senior officers, etc...
There was a good piece about this on Newsnight yesterday. Didn't make it sound scary - was surprising just how behind Russia really is.
liner33 said:
Russia has Europe by the short and curlies with its gas pipeline it really doesnt need to expand its military but if it wants to unite its people against a common foe (we have Osama) and keep them distracted whilst stimulating the economy this is a good way to do it
However if it wants to bring Europe to its knees all it needs to do it switch the gas off come winter
We shall seeHowever if it wants to bring Europe to its knees all it needs to do it switch the gas off come winter
The thread title is accurate now. They certainly do need to rearm after UKR has done a smashing job of depleting it!
grumbledoak said:
Oh look, Russian “concerns over Nato expansion near Russia's borders” over a decade ago.
But, its a bit like criminals dont like the Police really isnt it, Russia was more than likely, going to invade Ukraine one way or another, NATO is just something that gets in the way a bit.NATO exists because of how Russia has been for a long time, and now its gone "Full Retard".
I think I would get an equal amount of pleasure from seeing Medvedev in the dock at the Haig as I would from Putin, closely followed by that witch from RT Margarita Simonyan.
The point made about NATO being like the police because Russia is run by lawless gangsters is exactly right. Putin apologists wilfully ignore this fact.
The point made about NATO being like the police because Russia is run by lawless gangsters is exactly right. Putin apologists wilfully ignore this fact.
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