Lone Candle
Champion of Truth
“Germany’s naval chief said on Tuesday that several of Berlin’s warships were sabotaged.”
…
“German authorities have repeatedly suggested that Russia is the prime suspect but are still investigating many of these cases.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/germany-said-warships-were-sabotaged-043336363.html
What do we know about China’s new ‘6th generation’ fighters?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPM67JZuPjA
“The new orders prevent transgender people from openly serving in the military, greenlight the process of developing a missile defense shield to protect the U.S., and reinstate service members that voluntarily left or were forced out of the military over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
Trump also penned an expected executive order that would “abolish” every diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) office within the DOD and Department of Homeland Security, the latter of which houses the U.S. Coast Guard.”
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-signs-4-executive-orders-125635519.html
The U.S. is facing ship-building delay after ship-building delay, and they need these ships soon for China’s expected invasion of Taiwan.
The industry has a conflict of interest between their obligations to the Navy and their shareholders.
Congressmen care more about announcing orders for their reelections rather than making sure they are carried through efficiently.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msGcQT_WJMo
“China is conducting the largest military build-up seen since that of Nazi Germany during the 1930s, one expert warns, after a new Department of Defense report detailed Beijing’s operations including bolstering weapons and psychological warfare.”
…
“”Now the big difference there, is that he really focused on land power, which frankly is pretty easy to build up pretty quickly,” he added. “Navies are much more difficult to build up. And we are way behind. And not only do we need to catch up, but we also need to modernize our nuclear weapons, and we need to put a lot of effort into missile defense.”
“They’re massively building up their nuclear arsenal. We expect it to expand to at least 1,000 warheads by 2030, only five years from now. Probably going to be bigger than that,” DeVore said Sunday. “The Chinese Navy, not by tonnage, but by numbers is now larger than the U.S. Navy. China has something like 250 times the ship building capacity that America does.”
The report cites how China has bolstered its People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) arsenal to include 50 new intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), which can strike the continental U.S., raising its total to 400. As far as the report discloses, the DoD says China has added 300 medium-range ballistic missiles and 100 long-range cruise missiles. Their arsenal also now includes more than 600 operational nuclear warheads and is expected to have more than 1,000 by 2030.
The DoD says the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has the world’s leading arsenal of hypersonic missiles, including the DF-27, which as DeVore notes, “are capable of evading U.S. missile defenses and targeting Guam, Hawaii, and Alaska.””
https://www.yahoo.com/news/china-directs-largest-military-build-144406881.html
“Trump has repeatedly said he might use the military to suppress a domestic protest, or to raid a sanctuary city to purge it of undocumented immigrants, or possibly defend the Southern border. Some in the military community say they are especially disturbed by the prospect that troops might be used to serve Trump’s political ends.”
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/01/12/trump-military-immigration-domestic-deployment-00195609
Drunkenness, Women and Wokeness: A Dramatic Confirmation Hearing for Pete Hegseth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eaggDuKTFc
“Sex assault allegations? Blame “left-wing” media.
Issues with drinking? Those are anonymous smears.
No women in combat? That’s not what I said.
Pete Hegseth used a pattern of denials, memory holes and attacking the “left-wing” media at his Tuesday confirmation hearing for Pentagon chief as he sought to counter controversial issues in his past. And that strategy may work for him — along with Donald Trump’s other troubled nominees.”
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/14/hegseth-defense-secretary-hearing-00198214
““The American tankers should act promptly,” he urged. “Their tanks are too thin and vulnerable given the current threats on the battlefield. Protect your tanks urgently to avoid losses in potential near-future conflicts, taking into account our experience.””
https://www.yahoo.com/news/ukrainian-m1-abrams-commander-talks-231521630.html
Unmanned drone technology is not yet able to replace the capabilities of a crewed plane like the F-35. Swarms of small drones have very limited ranges. Large drones will no longer be cheap and swarms would be too expensive. AI cannot yet fulfill the many tasks that a trained human pilot can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-A_aF7lpm4