About The Ark...

 ... again. Do not idealize Russia, she has problems but those problems, like Middle Asia migration, are being solved. These people are Christians, their kids will become American Russians in no time, they will pick up language with a lighting speed. This is happening more and more... 

Yes, the future for European stock children (and their parents) is in Russia, maybe Hungary if Hungary understands that she will need to join eventually BRICS emerging security configuration to repel inevitable attempts on her sovereignity by kinetic means of NATO/EU. The floodgates are opening as I predicted years ago--the creek will become a river. These people are welcomed in Russia with open arms. Children--they are the true treasure in every respect. They are national wealth.

Larry At The UN Security Council...

 ... Nord Stream-2 investigation. 

 

And What Did They Expect?

To fight Iraqi Army with "monkey models" T-72s which Iraqis couldn't even dig in properly? 

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine has sidelined U.S.-provided Abrams M1A1 battle tanks for now in its fight against Russia, in part because Russian drone warfare has made it too difficult for them to operate without detection or coming under attack, two U.S. military officials told The Associated Press. The U.S. agreed to send 31 Abrams to Ukraine in January 2023 after an aggressive months long campaign by Kyiv arguing that the tanks, which cost about $10 million apiece, were vital to its ability to breach Russian lines. But the battlefield has changed substantially since then, notably by the ubiquitous use of Russian surveillance drones and hunter-killer drones. Those weapons have made it more difficult for Ukraine to protect the tanks when they are quickly detected and hunted by Russian drones or rounds. Five of the 31 tanks have already been lost to Russian attacks. 

In the end, it is the question of reputation--one can push this "Gulf War--The Greatest Thing Ever" only so far, but eventually even the fanboys get the whiff of desperation. Caveats like "we didn't send the latest models because Russians may get the secrets" also work only to a certain extent, after that it becomes a lame excuse, which it is, and the tank warfare undergoes a dramatic overhaul in SMO, with tanks increasingly carrying anti-drone screens and now EW complexes, as Russian Tsar Tank has demonstrated:

And this is just the start of it. I mean evolution of the technical requirements for armored forces which far from getting obsolete, as many fanboys from media rushed to conclude, are getting a serious upgrade and are not going anywhere. You just need to make them good enough for modern warfare, which no Western tank, even their super-duper versions are. That explains also the issue of NATO's AD. We saw what Iran did to Israel and its servants from NATO. Meanwhile--Moscow's Park of Victory is getting ready its exhibition of NATO armor finally making it to Moscow:

   

The exhibition will open for general public on May 1st, it is free. 

They are still adding the exhibits.

How To Put It In Simpler Terms...

... regarding this thing: 

The US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, will allow Ukrainian forces to target Russia’s Crimean Peninsula “more effectively,” the New York Times has reported, citing senior Pentagon officials. Washington secretly sent Kiev an unspecified number of longer-range ATACMS missiles last month, US officials confirmed earlier this week, after several outlets claimed that Kiev has already begun using the new weapon against Russian targets far behind the frontlines.

Ah yes, the water is wet, the fire is hot, and Biden Administration lives vicariously through Kiev regime. Russia gives the number of new delivery of ATACMS to be around 100 and most of those will be used in a desperate attempt to damage the Crimean Bridge. This is as far as Pentagon's military competencies extend, but what you are going to do? Simple: more of 404 will be taken by Russia for creation of a buffer (or cordon sanitaire), as Peskov quoted Putin today (in Russian). So, that means a complete removal of 404 cannon fodder from the left bank of Dnepr and, possibly, some territories on the right one. Which ones? It is for the General Staff to decide. Maybe 404 can ask Pentagon to provide those oil rigs with missiles and float them on Dnepr to deter Russian Army? Great operational thinking it will be. I am sure this plan will stun Kremlin and General Staff. 

To demonstrate, however, how "principled" combined West is:

MONTREAL/OTTAWA, April 23 (Reuters) - Canada has granted Airbus a waiver to allow it to use Russian titanium in its manufacturing after becoming the first Western government to ban supplies of the strategic metal in its latest package of measures triggered by the war in Ukraine. The move gives Airbus flexibility in its Canadian plants and is expected to allay concerns that its core operations could be hit by effectively banning the import to Canada of its European-built jets that rely most heavily on lightweight titanium.

You see, those people still live in la-la-land in which they do not recognize that in Russia they are looked at as lowlifes (not Airbus, the governments) and Russia merely sticks to contract obligations across the whole spectrum of industries, from oil, gas to titanium and other goodies, such as uranium, among many others. Combined West simply cannot declare war on Russia. No, not just for military reasons--only graduates of Top Gun: Maverick school of advanced military studies believe in the US military might--for economic ones, because that would make any contracts null and void and the "transition" from Russian energy to primarily agrarian and touristy societies in EU is not completed yet. The US tries to avoid such fate. Of course even the US is being forced to live on what it earns, but that will come slightly (very slightly) later. This activity by Russia is merely upholding her renomee as a reliable partner in any endeavor. 

 

Speaking of which, Evgeny Super and Nataliya Kirillova speak (sadly only in Russian) with people from one of the Russian companies which produces fully all components for controls of CNC machine centers. 

Remarkably, as it turned out, Russia produces all necessary hardware for both CNC and other multi-axis manipulators (aka "robots"). Russia is now in pursuit of her own fully independent software which will be on par with the best Western analogues. It is all about cooperation, because Russian firms in general have most of those constituent parts already available. Well, remember who Russia's PM Mikhail Mishustin is--he has a graduate degree in design of machining complexes. This is what "Titanium" firm makes:

The brains of machining centers (up to 6-axis). Well, it is not the first time for Russia to go it alone, and she usually succeeds.

Now to a very serious situation: two lowlifes who wore the uniform of Russian Army, evidently committed atrocity by executing seven people in three of the villages in Kherson region. The shells at the places of execution matched shells which those two used, they already admitted the guilt. They have been arraigned and transferred to Military Police, the investigation is ongoing and we may know more details as times passes. Remarkably, one of them has been... imprisoned twice before: once for manufacturing and distribution of drugs and second time... for murder. Do I sense a putrid stink of Wagner? (in Russian). Now comes the second issue--this all is a belch of a liberal Criminal Code pushed through by West's agents of influence, including moratorium on death sentence, in 1990s and of the practice of organized crime group aka Wagner recruiting criminals from prisons: Prigozhin loved his own kind. But let's wait for more details. These two murderers should face a firing squad, or be hanged in one of the villages they committed this crime.

And When I Thought...

 ... that they buried one of the most stupidest military ideas ever... they come back with even stupider one.  

The sheer idiocy is such that it almost beats the idiocy of Russia-Kyrgyzstan transport corridor through... Caspian Sea. But then again, those military and geopolitical thinkers are still stuck in a wonderful diesel-punk (or paleo-future, if you wish) world as seen in a wonderfully stupid but visually delightful Sky Captain And The World of Tomorrow.  

What's next? Return to 1950s and Goblin?
 

Somebody, tell these guys that it is 2024 and US Air Defense and Air Force have about zero experience of fighting anything serious. Maybe that is why they constantly go back to halcyon days of America's industrial and financial prowess which allowed to waste resources on all kinds of stupid projects. Vietnam destroyed those illusions pretty fast.

Nima And Me...

 ... yesterday. 

 

Finally!

For years I was trying to find proper professional naval English analog to Russian бухтиноватость and lo and behold, my love of the channel Battleship New Jersey delivered--it is Oil Canning! 

Here it is--not bubbling, not whatever else, but Oil Canning. Here it is on modern ships:
 

Here is Peter the Great showing oil canning. 

This is a feature, not a bug. Albeit naval architects do have distinction between low and high oil canningness. Here is USS Zumwalt showing a rather elevated level of oil canning. 

So, now I know and I thought I should share this happy fact with you.