My read on what he and others were concerned about was that DA Origins introduced an aesthetic of low fantasy, dark and medieval themes. Many felt, including him, that the new characters felt like very generic MOBA-style designs that didn’t feel particularly at home in the DA world they hoped to see. Since some channels have gotten to play the game now the outlook seems to be changing with some creators saying the trailers and released material did a poor job of showing the overall art direction. Also, it seems fun, that helps. Keep in mind, a healthy concern over Bioware is very warranted these days.

The key here is that this funding is for Ukrainian defense industry, it already has weapons systems capable of striking deep behind Russian lines. The US simply isn’t going to budge on allowing western weapons to be used, their policy is looking towards relationship reset following the end of hostilities, they don’t want Russia to lose since that could start a more prolonged cold war and period of instability. Ukraine will need to use it’s own systems, fortunately it is becoming more and more capable by the month.

This is from memory so don’t take it as fully accurate, but I believe Ukraine was something like the world’s 6th largest arms manufacturer prior to the 2014 invasion of Crimea. They know how to make things go boom.

Huh, looks like falling out of a window might be a more legit way to go for Russians than I thought.

Definitely one of the Russian platforms that had proven effective in it’s intended role. The KA-52 fleet has taken a lot of casualties fortunately.

Statistically unlikely, there are very few in the country and they are being prioritized for air defence. Missions like this are far more high risk and after the early loss of an F-16 there will be no rush to expose them to front line conditions.

The US are using their influence to prevent it. France and the UK had already given permission for SCALP-EG/Stormshadow to be used. According to articles quoting a state department source, the US told Ukraine they could compromise aid if they used another nations weapons, regardless of permission. That article pointed out that the US policy doesn’t allow for a defeat of Russia that would make a “reset of relations” difficult. This slow political pressure is needed to more publicly isolate the American position and force concessions.

Unfortunately I can’t find the article again, I believe it was in Forbes. It was mentioned in a Military & History update on Ukraine.

It’s a tremendous idea for Ukraine to deploy Gripen. It is much better suited to the logistics and distributed operations model being used currently. It also has integration with Stormshadow and Meteor missiles, which the F-16 doesn’t. Obviously Stormshadow is already in the Ukraine inventory and Meteor would be a very powerful addition to extend out past the reach given by F-16 and AMRAAM.

Shucks.

Targets like this are unlikely to ever be serviced by drones like Baba Yaga. This looks like multiple 1000lbs glide bomb hits, the Baba Yaga can carry 33lbs. By the time you have built the capacity to deliver powerful explosive force like this remotely you’ve already crossed from cheap drones to ballistic and cruise missiles. Most of the long range drones in use by Ukraine are carrying 40kg warheads. Cheap solutions just don’t have the hitting power, and by the time they are scaled up, they’re just the old expensive solutions.

That is actually a very meaningful order. I had to check, did they mean launchers or batteries. Looks like 17 batteries. That’s pretty big, IRIS-T is very modern kit.

I really can’t wait for this marketing fad to sputter out like NFTs etc.

I think this is pretty accurate. It would also be understandable if the US wantt a very active partner in the very obvious crimes against humanity. The overall colonial land appropriation that Israel is built on, and the general apartheid system Palestinians are subjected to is one thing. The emergency transfer of munitions which will be used to commit war crimes within days is way more acute. It’s tough to watch.

Based on the other bridges taking bomb strikes, perhaps we can say… soon?

This would be pretty straightforward. Anyone who takes them up would be admitted as an asylum seeker under international law. Fleeing warzones is a common cause for people to seek asylum in another country.

Yea, that’s definitely looking like HIMARS lol

I’m not 100% sure this is HIMARS. Due to American restrictions they may want to use their own MLRS, they have a Ukrainian system with similar capabilities. Mainly I’m not seeing the signature radius of fragmentation that the GMLRS rockets produce.

They likely have started as they fall away from the pylon. The Stormshadow, and other cruise missiles, use jet propulsion and don’t usually have a very visible exhaust. The reason ground and ship launched versions have the smoke trail is because they use a solid fuel booster to push them up to speed initially for the jet to start. Air launched missiles already have speed and altitude, so you don’t need a booster.

I think it will be a slow rollout. Justin Bronk did a good interview that helps to set expectations. Times Radio Interview

The basic summary is that the introduction of F-16 is helpful, but not game changing.

I have seen that is one of the types under consideration, but I have a few reasons to think it is poorly suited to the stated goals of the procurement as I have read it.

• It is a coastal defence boat, it is roughly 1/2 the tonnage of the KSS-III type from Korea. This limits it’s capabilities in the large patrol areas Canada is looking to operate. Being designed to operate primarily in the Baltic and other bodies of water off European coasts, it is less well adapted to the large expanses of the Pacific, where Canada will be looking for deployments.

-While the technology transfer is a positive value for the potential contract, my understanding is that Korea is also open to this type of structure. More importantly, from my reading of the procurement, the goal is to focus on an “off-the-shelf” approach. The focus will be on acquiring vessels rapidly from the existing manufacturer with minimal specific changes for Canadian service. Hanwa Ocean, the builder, has moved over the past months to begin working with Canadian partners to get the process underway https://babcockcanada.com/babcock-and-hanwha-ocean-sign-a-technical-cooperation-agreement-for-the-canadian-patrol-submarine-project/ . This readiness to move quickly could shave years off the time needed to get the first hull in service.

-Due to it’s smaller size and coastal defence role, the type 214 does not have VLS on board. This is a significant miss in capability, I have some armchair geopolitical reasons for that which I’ll blather about in a moment, but generally this limits the mission types the submarine can accomplish. It would likely lead to Canada deploying ROK developed cruise and ballistic missiles giving the boats a whole new mission envelope that would allow greater impact if supporting shore defences against landing for example.

Into the “just my opinion man” section, or the even more of my opinion I guess! We are at a transitional state in Canada, and it’s a state we share most closely with our allies in the Pacific. It isn’t possible to ignore the recent SCOTUS ruling in the US. After listening to federal lawyers, and seeing the dissenting views from the justices, America is only a democracy insofar as nobody is currently using the unrestricted personal authority granted by the highest court. Continuing to base our sovereignty and continued liberal democracy on the support of a nation in that political situation is very shortsighted. ROK and Japan are two other nations that may be feeling a similar concern. Without a large entity and a geographical cluster like the EU to rely on, we are nations that have over-relied on the US for protection, that always has come at a cost of policy pressure and whatnot, but how will that pressure be wielded going forward? As a platform, the KSS-III type allows for options in the future which may seem very far away or outside of the Canadian mindset. Ultimately, it is a stealthy patrol submarine, which in a geopolitical pinch, can provide Canada with the only continuously effective deterrence known to prevent loss of sovereignty. Canada helped develop nuclear weapons, and operated them until 1984. In my opinion the world is moving in a direction that could leave us very alone and vulnerable to multiple larger authoritarian states, we could ramp up and spend billions to equip more units and build defences, but none of that brings us to parity. Citizens in ROK recently responded to polling indicating a majority support the development of nuclear deterrent there. Obviously I don’t think this will happen, but I do think that Canada would be very wise to acquire systems going forward that diversify our sources away from potentially untrustworthy nations. Also, keep options open. Shit’s not going well.