Image from this article - and much of this thread's preamble adapted from it.
After the most recent failure of Lockheed Martin's ARRW project, which sought to be America's first true hypersonic weapon, the missile prototype is being abandoned. One reason for its failure might have been its unnecessary complication, with many subsystems and thus many points of failure. Another factor may be that these projects are being rushed as China and Russia's advantage grows in this field.
The other hypersonic missile being developed under the USAF is the HACM, which uses a different concept, and is smaller, allowing it to be carried by more types of aircraft. The Department of Defense has chosen the Australia-based company Hypersonix to develop these hypersonic weapons, which could reach Mach 7. The AUKUS alliance thus becomes an even more important one for the United States, with Australia both being a potential source of their first hypersonic missiles, and being a vassal country in the Pacific from which the American Empire can attempt to contain China.
In the meantime, American copium continues to grow over how hypersonic missiles really aren't THAT important, and how Russian ones don't even work as they increasingly batter Ukraine. At the same time, Russian development and production of their existing hypersonic missiles (the Kinzhal, Zircon, and Avangard) continues to accelerate. And that's not even mentioning China's hypersonic missiles, a large advantage against the US's aircraft carrier fleet in the event of a war.
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Here is the archive of important pieces of analysis from throughout the war that we've collected.
April 3rd's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
April 5th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
April 7th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
April 8th's update is here on the site and here in the comments.
Links and Stuff
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can, thank you.
Resources For Understanding The War Beyond The Bulletins
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. I recommend their map more than the channel at this point, as an increasing subscriber count has greatly diminished their quality.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have decent analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: neo-conservative sources but their reporting of the war (so far) seems to line up with reality better than most liberal sources. Beware of chuddery.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the warzone.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Telegram Channels
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
Pro-Russian
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist (but still quite reactionary in terms of gender and sexuality and race, so beware). If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ Another big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia's army.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Last week's discussion post.
Today's Mercouris video: Russian MSM Reporting Bakhmut Capture, UK MSM Admits Ukr Za NPP Debacle; West MSM Rounds on Macron
There's been an unconfirmed Readovka report that the Ukrainian resistance inside Bakhmut has collapsed and they are now trying to break out to Chasov Yar, with heavy losses. Prigozhin hasn't said anything yet, and military news in general remains subdued.
Mercouris has had time to read the leaked NATO documents and believes they are real, and a relatively accurate (casualty figures excepted, which he dismisses) report on the state of the war, or at least what Ukraine's defense ministry thinks is the state of the war. He has heard the counterarguments as to why they might be fake, and doesn't believe them to be compelling.
A number of high-up Russian officials have made statements about the documents and the counteroffensive in general; Peskov says that the documents will be taken into account by the general staff (of course, maybe the Russians were the ones to leak them); Yan Gagin says that if Ukraine launches this offensive then they will suffer colossal losses; Kadyrov says that he's looking forwards to it as it will enable Russia to break the Ukrainian military and capture many prisoners and weapons; Rogov says that the Russians have their defenses organized and ready, and have made up for the lack of natural barriers with formidable fortifications (as this area is pretty much just open steppe, which on the one hand makes it easier for vehicles to quickly advance, and on the other offers no places to hide from artillery and planes, which Russia has in abundance).
Ukraine intends to start electrical exports again soon - while this is being shown off as Russia being owned, it's pretty obvious that this isn't because the plucky Ukrainians have repaired everything, but instead that the damage has been extensive enough that domestic consumption of it has fallen dramatically despite there remaining some energy generation capacity (Russia refuses to strike nuclear power plants for example) and so is selling the excess in order to fund its military efforts.
There's an article in the London Times about the Ukrainian attacks via boat on the ZNPP last year. Mercouris says that at the time, he was so flabbergasted that Ukraine would even attempt them that he thought it was Russian propaganda, and the fervent denials by Ukrainian telegram and the Western media were a point to reinforce that disbelief - but in fact, Russia's story was basically exactly right. I assume whoever was behind those attacks has failed upwards and been promoted.
We have more info about Macron's visit to China, and it's even worse than Mercouris thought. He repeatedly brought up Ukraine, which Xi was getting increasingly frustrated by. Xi stuck to the official Chinese position but Macron just kept going in some attempt to convince Xi to shift from his position. Macron has clearly made a mistake and has lost face with the Chinese. And Burns went off to Saudi Arabia to go lecture them and was presumably coldly received.
Macron is such a prick lmao
I either missed something or am just being a fart-brained dumbass and not being able to come up with what "Ukr Za NPP debacle" means. Can someone help fill me in? Preferably with a brief summary or link in case it is the former?
This article is the one Mercouris is referring to; the attempt by Ukraine to seize the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant via boat landings in October last year, though I remember there being several attempts. The article is extremely favorable towards the Ukrainians and hilariously cope-y towards the Russians, though:
, for example. Clearly the West isn't quite ready yet for the narrative that Ukraine was shelling the ZNPP, but they are at least willing to admit that Ukraine launched purely infantry attacks on it.
To summarize the article: "Oh, how deeply unfair that we, the honorable Ukrainians, must be forced into such limited attacks whereas those barbaric, undisciplined, stupid orcs are allowed to do whatever they like - use the plant as a barracks, put fortifications around it, torture the workers inside, even shell their own power plant for the fun of it!" In a better world, people would read this nonsense and decide that this newspaper isn't even worth wiping their ass with, but as we all know, westerners are the most brainwashed people on the planet.
Gotcha. Whew!
Thanks.
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