❗️Just now: Asked about the "devastating" consequences that he said Russia would face if Navalny was killed, President Biden says that they have already faced devastating consequences with their losses in Ukraine.
This is not very encouraging.
"We're looking at a whole number of options, that's all I'll say right now." He adds, when asked about additional sanctions.
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ATACMS. What is it? Why does it matter so much? How many are there? How many will Ukraine get? Every question you could possibly have, answered. It's the thread you've all been waiting for... 🧵 (1/72)
I can't TL;DR this. You're going to want to read all of it, but the key takeaway is, 🇺🇦 needs ATACMS to destroy time sensitive targets & reduce expenditure rates of Storm Shadow/SCALP-EG. Without it, certain high value Russian assets are largely safe from destruction. (2/72)
The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is a quasi-ballistic, manoeuvring tactical missile. It is a product of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Assault Breaker program, which began in the 1970s and sought to develop new deep strike capabilities. (3/72)
"The US has found it has more ATACMS in its inventory than originally assessed, the two officials told ABC. The serviceability of the rediscovered stockpile is not yet clear, nor which specific type of missiles it contains."
Lmao did they forget about their expired inventory?
I really don't know what to make of this reporting right now. So many different emotions. I'll just say that nothing is final until the Drawdown announcement is made. I'm away on travel right now but hope to be able to publish my ATACMS thread next week. Stay tuned.
US military aid to 🇺🇦 will determine the outcome of this war. Congress has already appropriated & authorized significant sums, but the Biden Admin has continuously slow walked & rationed every major weapon system delivered. Let's review the past, and then look forwards. 🧵(1/24)
This thread will focus on Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows delivery of equipment from US stock to meet Ukraine's immediate needs. Congress has authorized $32.2 billion in PDA since the invasion began: $14b in FY22 & $18.2b in FY23. (2/24)
🇺🇦 hasn't received $32.2b worth of equipment though. At the end of FY22, Biden allowed $2.1b worth of authority to expire. To make matters worse, the Pentagon was overvaluing equipment by using the replacement cost, instead of the depreciated value. (3/24)
Because there haven’t been enough of them already...
Cluster munitions: a thread. 🧵
Yes, I know, I know. I’m going to address some big picture issues here though. Pro Kremlin groups like Human Rights Watch don’t want you to see this!
1/22
US federal law prohibits the sale or transfer of cluster munitions (CMs) with a dud rate that exceeds 1%, however the President can waive this restriction. The DoD’s own policy, dating back to the Bush Admin in 2008, is to phase CMs w/ a dud rate exceeding 1% out of service. 2/22
This policy was reversed in 2017 by the Trump Admin, & has remained under Biden. Consequently, the DoD maintains an inventory of CMs that exceed this 1% standard. The US is not actively procuring new CMs, so as old inventory hits the end of shelf life, it is decommissioned. 3/22
🚨BREAKING: Details of the $2.85 billion PDA package for Ukraine!
❗️ Pentagon confirms that M109 Paladin SPGs will be provided.
127mm Zuni Rockets, 4 of which are carried and fired from the LAU-10 rocket pod, will be mounted on existing Ukrainian aircraft. These will likely be unguided (there is a APKWS like guided version), and can be utilized the same way Ukrainian helos fire Soviet S-5/S-8 rockets.
Huge development today on enhancing 🇺🇦 air defences, this time out of 🇬🇷, where @pronewsgr reported statements made by Def Min Panagiotopoulos on 🇬🇷 S-300s. I've been promising this thread for a while as a follow up to the one I wrote on 🇧🇬. This is even more significant.
🧵1/11
In my thread on 🇧🇬 I outlined the Soviet systems that they have which Ukraine needs and could immediately put into operation. Most importantly are their S-300s. Slovakia already provided theirs, Bulgaria isn't budging, but Greece is now willing.
2/11
In November @NedosVassilis reported for @Kathimerini_gr that the US had again proposed to Greece the replacement of their S-300s and TOR-M1 SAMs, so that these systems could be provided to Ukraine. This was previously proposed in the Spring, but not accepted.
3/11