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Pentagon Fears It’s Not Ready for a War With Putin

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  • Pentagon Fears It’s Not Ready for a War With Putin

    Pentagon Fears It’s Not Ready for a War With Putin

    The U.S. military has run the numbers on a sustained fight with Moscow, and they do not look good for the American side.
    A series of classified exercises over the summer has raised concerns inside the Defense Department that its forces are not prepared for a sustained military campaign against Russia, two defense officials told The Daily Beast.

    http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...ith-putin.html

    http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/pen...ion-1724226952
    "There is never enough time to do or say all the things that we would wish. The thing is to try to do as much as you can in the time that you have. Remember Scrooge, time is short, and suddenly, you're not there any more." -Ghost of Christmas Present, Scrooge

  • #2
    Of course. It's hard to argue for increased funding with a study that says "US military already pretty well positioned to take on any other world power, or combination thereof".
    "Nature abhors a moron." - H.L. Mencken

    Comment


    • #3
      Making a mountain out of a molehill here. The authors have no idea what the objectives or parameters of the "classified tabletop exercise" were.

      Is the objective to invade and occupy Russia or just repulse a Russian invasion of NATO? If it's the former, I would agree that the US military isn't setup to pull off such a stunt, nor does it have any need to be. If it is the latter, the European NATO members could throw back such an advance without the US lifting a finger.

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      • #4
        “One of the things we learned is the logistical challenges we have in Eastern Europe. For example, Eastern Europe has a different gauge railroad than Western Europe does so moving supplies is more difficult. So we are learning great lessons like that”

        ... wow. Well, with that kind of statement we're not talking lack of sustainment capability.

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        • #5
          Trucks.Lots of civilian trucks and plenty of good roads.You can move anything anywhere within days.Railroads and air mobility... not so much need in wartime.
          Those who know don't speak
          He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

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          • #6
            Originally posted by Mihais View Post
            Trucks.Lots of civilian trucks and plenty of good roads.You can move anything anywhere within days.Railroads and air mobility... not so much need in wartime.
            Tanks
            No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

            To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

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            • #7
              Trailers.
              Those who know don't speak
              He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Mihais View Post
                Trailers.
                Speed
                No such thing as a good tax - Churchill

                To make mistakes is human. To blame someone else for your mistake, is strategic.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Good roads in Eastern Europe? Your avenues will be restricted to something like five routes for the whole line between Baltic Sea and Black Sea coming in from Germany/Austria/Italy/Greece.

                  Also, even with only 25 brigades up East we'd be talking 100,000 tons to move every week. That's pretty much the equivalent of the entire wartime assured-access transportation assets of the German government. For civilian supply.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Doktor View Post
                    Speed
                    Security.
                    Those who know don't speak
                    He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by kato View Post
                      Good roads in Eastern Europe? Your avenues will be restricted to something like five routes for the whole line between Baltic Sea and Black Sea coming in from Germany/Austria/Italy/Greece.

                      Also, even with only 25 brigades up East we'd be talking 100,000 tons to move every week. That's pretty much the equivalent of the entire wartime assured-access transportation assets of the German government. For civilian supply.
                      Keep counting roads.And available trucks.
                      Those who know don't speak
                      He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        If I remember from the cold war days, we were not prepared for a SUSTAINED war with the USSR. Even with all the PrePo stuff on the ground.

                        IIRC we had about 15-17 days from the start of the war for the supply convoys made it from the States to Europe. After that we either threw rocks at each other or we went nuclear.

                        Are we assuming that the Russians have the logistic capabilities to pull off a sustained conflict?

                        The question should be "Why would we get into a sustained war with Russa?

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                        • #13
                          Forget supplies.Back then the life expectancy of a division was 2-3 days.
                          Today we're far more lethal and we're counting btn's instead of Div's.
                          Those who know don't speak
                          He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one. Luke 22:36

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            It does bring a question to mind. What makes the authors think Russia is 'ready' for a conventional war with the US? Whatever logistical issues there might be on the American side of the table pales into insignificance in comparison to the current state of readiness of Russia's armed forces in general - at least in terms of a their capacity to wage a sustained (read months long) military campaign in western Europe or the Russian far East.

                            For that matter Russian public opinion is every bit as sensitive as the Wests to casualty reports within their still largely conscript armed forces. As autocratic as he is even Putin couldn't justify the massive causality lists that would result from a war of aggression in Europe. A border skirmish along a limited frontier is one thing, a full scale war with NATO is another. It might be different if it was the West launching an offensive into the 'Rodina' but that is never going to happen - in our lifetimes at least.
                            Last edited by Monash; 24 Aug 15,, 00:43.
                            If you are emotionally invested in 'believing' something is true you have lost the ability to tell if it is true.

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                            • #15
                              Originally posted by Gun Grape View Post
                              The question should be "Why would we get into a sustained war with Russa?
                              IMHO, the only answer to that question should be "A Russian invasion of a NATO member".

                              At this point, only Comrade Putin appears adventurous enough (read: "stupid enough") to make that happen.
                              “He was the most prodigious personification of all human inferiorities. He was an utterly incapable, unadapted, irresponsible, psychopathic personality, full of empty, infantile fantasies, but cursed with the keen intuition of a rat or a guttersnipe. He represented the shadow, the inferior part of everybody’s personality, in an overwhelming degree, and this was another reason why they fell for him.”

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