๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ๐ท๐บ Russia has suffered nearly 800,000 casualties in Ukraine. ~Unclassified estimate from US European Command
Read through the thread below to see what else General Cavoli shared in his written testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. ๐งตโฌ๏ธ
1/10
Losses:
๐ฅ3000 Tanks
๐ฅ9000 AFVs
๐ฅ13,000 artillery systems
๐ฅ400 air defense systems
During the hearing he actually said 4000 tanks, which is closer to OSINT tallies; 9000 AFVs is likewise a conservative figure; 13,000 arty must include mortars; 400 AD looks about right.
2/10
He states Russia "is on pace to replace all [losses]", but this is missing important context. They aren't producing new vehicles in any large quantity, but rather refurbishing vehicles from storage. Once those stocks are exhausted production will plummet. ๐ฅ via @hizzo_jay
3/10
Russia's ability to replace all their air defense losses (especially advanced radars) is highly questionable as well. Russia's difficulty in scaling production of air defense systems such as S-400 is well documented.
Russia's ability to produce 250,000 artillery rounds per month is impressive on paper, but we must remember that this is inclusive of 152mm & 122mm calibres, and possibly mortar bombs as well. Western production of 155mm & 105mm ammunition will likely match it by year end.
5/10
โ ๏ธโฃ๏ธโข๏ธ "Russia also maintains *robust* chemical and biological weapons programs", this is stronger language than what was written in the Department of Defense's 2023 Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction.
๐ท๐บ๐ฐ๐ต Cavoli reaffirms the extent of known Russian-DPRK cooperation: millions of artillery shells; various missiles and weapons systems, with 13,000 containers delivered in the last year. "Russia is almost certainly transferring missile technology to Pyongyang" as payment.
7/10
๐ท๐บ๐ฎ๐ท Cavoli discloses that Russia has received over 400 short range ballistic missiles from Iran. The last publicly reported estimate I saw was from the Ukrainians: ~200 Fath-360s.
SAG-U has delivered $66 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. For context, ~$30 billion in PDA from the US has been committed to date, though not quite all delivered. USAI deliveries are probably somewhere $5-$10 billion. So SAG-U deliveries are about 50% US origin.
9/10
I'll conclude with a statistic Cavoli offered about FMS:
Of the $118 billion in total Foreign Military Sales in FY24, $68 billion, or 58%, was to Europe. From FY17-FY21 it averaged just $11 billion annually, so its up 600%.
๐บ๐ธ๐บ๐ฆ As President Joe Biden serves out his final weeks in office, he still has the opportunity to correct his past mistakes, and put Ukraine on better footing as we start the new year. Here's what should be done. โฌ๏ธ
๐งต 1/9
If you want to read beyond these highlights, check out my latest for @InsiderEng, which explores this in more length. I also touch on the question of what we might expect from the incoming Trump Admin and the new Congress in the US.
โ๐บ๐ธ๐จ๐ณ "US Army and Joint Electronic Warfare (EW) forces in the
Indo-Pacific are outnumbered, outranged, and outpowered by those possessed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA)." -Army Science Board White Paper on EW
Let's see what else it has to say?
๐งตโฌ๏ธ 1/14
"there is no executive agent or proponent [for EW] designated at the highest level of the Army to ensure appropriate resourcing of critical functions, equipment, training, and staffing."
A Deputy Assistant Secretary for EW, reporting to ASA(ALT) could be created for this.
2/14
"The PLA's space capabilities closely match or exceed those of US Army Pacific (USARPAC)."
"The Army makes operational and resourcing decisions based on analytical data that supports value to the warfighter, but its EW discipline lacks this analysis capability."
In 1 week, at the end of Fiscal Year 2024, $5.925 billion in Presidential Drawdown Authority is set to expire. If this happens, it will cripple the US' ability to support Ukraine. We've seen this story before. Will Congress and the Biden Admin manage to avert disaster?
๐งตโฌ๏ธ 1/20
This is a summary of my latest piece for @InsiderEng, please do check it out. This thread will also include some additional details that have been learned since the column was posted.
If you want additional context before proceeding, read my previous thread quoted below. I will have a second research thread on this topic coming in the future that will provide additional information and make corrections to this previous thread.
๐บ๐ธ On Friday, the State Department hit RTX (Raytheon) with a $200 million penalty for committing 750 violations of Arms Export Control Act & its associated International Traffic in Arms Regulations, including unauthorized exports to ๐ฎ๐ท๐ฑ๐ง๐ท๐บ๐จ๐ณ. The details are shocking. โฌ๏ธ
๐งต 1/18
The Arms Export Control Act (AECA) and International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) govern the export of defense articles via commercial transactions. Any company involved in any aspect of the defense industry is very familiar with these lengthy & strict regulations.
2/18
RTX is the third largest defense contractor in the world and the second largest in the United States. They have three main operating divisions:
Better to ask for forgiveness than for permission: Ukraine's Kursk Operation has outmanoeuvred both Russia & United States.
The Biden Administration has been boxed in and forced to give tacit approval to an operation they didn't know of & are still reticent about.
1/22 ๐งต
If you want my full analysis on Kursk, check out my latest piece for @InsiderEng. It was submitted a week ago, so it predates the latest news. This thread will focus on the key grand strategic outcomes; no tactical or operational analysis here.
Since the beginning of the war, Ukraine has been fighting two fronts: Russia on the battlefields and intransigent western governments in the halls of power. Fear of escalation has severely limited the quantity and quality of weapons willingly provided to Ukraine.
Last month Kongsberg (๐ณ๐ด) unveiled their new Mobile, Short Range Air Defense System (M-SHORAD): NOMADS.
Germany is already considering procuring it for Ukraine.
Here's what NOMADS has to offer.
๐งต 1/21
๐ก๐ข๐ ๐๐๐ฆ: ๐กati๐ขnal ๐ aneuver ๐ir ๐efence ๐ฆystem, has been developed following a 2019 contract with the @FMateriell (๐ณ๐ด) to fulfill a mobile, short range air defense requirement for the Army. 6 vehicles were ordered with 3 already delivered & successfully tested.
2/21
NOMADS is actually a vehicle agnostic module and accompanying Command & Control (C2) suite. While Norway operates it (and Kongsberg markets it) on a FFG (๐ฉ๐ช) ACSV G5, any vehicle that meets the dimensional & payload requirements could theoretically mount it.