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JcDent posted:Brothers and sisters, behold! The Avenger is this on wheels, with an M3 .50 and some Stingers. I always thought the gunner's position on the Avenger was neat-looking, very Mechwarrior. Bet it gets hot as gently caress though.
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Aug 7, 2019 11:33
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madeintaipei posted:The Avenger is this on wheels, with an M3 .50 and some Stingers. It is climate controlled. And they just got a brand new heating/AC unit! Along with some less important upgrades.
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Aug 7, 2019 15:08
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 Pakistan has severed trade and reducing diplomatic Ties with India over Kashmir.
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Aug 7, 2019 16:16
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Memento posted:From the OSHA thread https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1158740769374691334 Just fuckin 
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Aug 7, 2019 17:29
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Alaan posted:
That's gonna hurt them more than it hurts India.
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Aug 7, 2019 18:03
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Cat Mattress posted:That's gonna hurt them more than it hurts India. My thought too - though looking through the CIA factbook/googling says that India is already not a big trading partner. quote:The top export destinations of Pakistan are the United States ($3.5B), Germany ($1.9B), China ($1.85B), the United Kingdom ($1.46B) and Afghanistan ($1.39B). The top import origins are China ($15.2B), the United Arab Emirates ($6.95B), Saudi Arabia ($2.53B), Indonesia ($2.46B) and Japan ($2.37B). So given that Kashmir is split between India, China, and Pakistan, could India be worried the other two, allied, could drive them out of their piece of Kashmir?
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Aug 7, 2019 18:16
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China is not going to start things in this current climate. They might ship stuff to Pakistan if Pakistan gets its skull caved in though.
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Aug 7, 2019 18:51
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China mostly wants Kashmir because their slice of Kashmir has one of the only direct national highways between Xinjiang and Tibet.
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Aug 7, 2019 19:07
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Don Gato posted:China mostly wants Kashmir because their slice of Kashmir has one of the only direct national highways between Xinjiang and Tibet. I mean, don't they already have that? What does the rest of it give them aside loads more of non-Hans?
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Aug 7, 2019 19:14
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Raenir Salazar posted:I mean, don't they already have that? What does the rest of it give them aside loads more of non-Hans? Land for Hans and slaves.
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Aug 7, 2019 20:03
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It's mostly about the extremely strategic position more than about any quality of the land itself.
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Aug 7, 2019 22:34
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Raenir Salazar posted:I mean, don't they already have that? What does the rest of it give them aside loads more of non-Hans? The next closest direct road is on the other side of the province, or about 1000km away. Tibet and Xinjiang Garrison's can't support each other without that road, ignoring things like airlifts and the like. As for why they need those provinces, Tibet provides China with most of their water and that is going to only get more important as they keep contaminating the groundwater everywhere else in the country. Don Gato fucked around with this message at 22:49 on Aug 7, 2019 |
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Aug 7, 2019 22:46
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Don Gato posted:The next closest direct road is on the other side of the province, or about 1000km away. Tibet and Xinjiang Garrison's can't support each other without that road, ignoring things like airlifts and the like. Right, most of their water, and the water in Tibet comes from glaciers, and--- Hm
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Aug 8, 2019 00:18
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Don Gato posted:The next closest direct road is on the other side of the province, or about 1000km away. Tibet and Xinjiang Garrison's can't support each other without that road, ignoring things like airlifts and the like. Not it be glib, but can’t they build more roads? Like, if the only road between Texas and California ran through Mexico it seems like the answer wold be “build a road through New Mexico and Arizona” not “annex Sonora”
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Aug 8, 2019 00:27
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Cyrano4747 posted:Not it be glib, but can’t they build more roads? I think there's hella mountains and poo poo around there, though? I mean: control of mountain passes into the Indian Subcontinent is literally why Afghanistan is known as the graveyard of empires rather than being known as a poorer shittier Mongolia, isn't it?  E: Might as well pimp this here, really nice public domain maps: https://www.geographyrealm.com/download-the-equal-earth-physical-map-for-free/  E2: Maps are the canvas upon which Man paints his own history. Schadenboner fucked around with this message at 01:05 on Aug 8, 2019 |
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Aug 8, 2019 00:35
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Cyrano4747 posted:Not it be glib, but can’t they build more roads? Interesting example to bring up.
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Aug 8, 2019 01:12
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Russia exploded some more again. https://twitter.com/BBCBreaking/status/1159411320082587648
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Aug 8, 2019 12:05
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ULA launched the AEHF-5 today, one left to go. One thing that caught my eye in the Wikipedia, though, is that the non-US users are Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands. Britain and Canada are completely unsurprising, but I'm a little surprised the Dutch are in on this. Did they contribute monetarily just for use of the system, or is there some strategic reason why they would be onboard? They're a close ally so it's not like providing access to, say, Turkey, but it still caught me by surprise.
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Aug 8, 2019 13:05
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Cyrano4747 posted:Not it be glib, but can’t they build more roads? Tibet is some of the roughest terrain in the PRC, which is saying a lot. So it's more like building a road through the Rockies instead of through the southwestern desert. Still not an insurmountable problem of course, but for a variety of political and economic reasons they won't or can't build a new road.
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Aug 8, 2019 14:38
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Shooting Blanks posted:ULA launched the AEHF-5 today, one left to go. One thing that caught my eye in the Wikipedia, though, is that the non-US users are Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands. Britain and Canada are completely unsurprising, but I'm a little surprised the Dutch are in on this. Did they contribute monetarily just for use of the system, or is there some strategic reason why they would be onboard? They're a close ally so it's not like providing access to, say, Turkey, but it still caught me by surprise. Doing a quick scan of a 2005 statement by the state secretary of defense (junior minister): There's a structural shortage of capacity at our allies that have their own satelites (France, Italy, Spain, UK, US) which we previously borrowed/rented? So it's been decided to buy a stake in the AEHF program in order to have guaranteed secure access in case of high intesity conflicts. Commercial satelites will still be used for low intensity conflicts. https://www.parlementairemonitor.nl/9353000/1/j9vvij5epmj1ey0/vi3an94t3zzd Diving into the budget, it looks like we're buying a stake worth 132 million euros.
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Aug 8, 2019 14:50
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glynnenstein posted:Russia exploded some more again. WTF is going on with Russia. Seriously. This is two explosions in a week now.
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Aug 8, 2019 15:43
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Shooting Blanks posted:ULA launched the AEHF-5 today, one left to go. One thing that caught my eye in the Wikipedia, though, is that the non-US users are Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands. Britain and Canada are completely unsurprising, but I'm a little surprised the Dutch are in on this. Did they contribute monetarily just for use of the system, or is there some strategic reason why they would be onboard? They're a close ally so it's not like providing access to, say, Turkey, but it still caught me by surprise. Netherlands is an F-35 customer. As are Canada (will soon be) and England. Maybe something in here is related?
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Aug 8, 2019 15:45
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EvilMerlin posted:WTF is going on with Russia. Seriously. This is two explosions in a week now. Russian government issues statement: "CAN WE MAYBE BE A LITTLE MORE CAREFUL WHEN CARRYING EXPLOSIVE THINGS?!"
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Aug 8, 2019 15:50
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This one might be a little more interesting since they updated that story.quote:'Brief radiation spike' after rocket engine blast in northern Russia  I have no idea.
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Aug 8, 2019 16:00
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Cyrano4747 posted:Not it be glib, but can’t they build more roads? That is one of the roughest and least inhabited parts of the planet, and the road would be thousands of kilometers long. They might do it someday, but not for a long time, and it would be a decades long project in any case. They also finally just finished paving the existing road. It was a huge prestige project for the CPC not only because of the engineering involved, but also because it firmly puts Chinese roots down in Aksai Chin, which is one of their oldest disputed regions, and one they actually fought a war of sorts to lay claim to. It honestly probably isn't that important militarily/strategically, but I'm sure it is a big element of the PRC's plans for economic growth in the west.
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Aug 8, 2019 16:05
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glynnenstein posted:I have no idea. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik
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Aug 8, 2019 16:10
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Nebakenezzer posted:Right, most of their water, and the water in Tibet comes from glaciers, and--- About that https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/researchers-tibetan-glacial-melt-threatens-billions
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Aug 8, 2019 16:10
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bewbies posted:That is one of the roughest and least inhabited parts of the planet, and the road would be thousands of kilometers long. They might do it someday, but not for a long time, and it would be a decades long project in any case. The Qingzang rail line connecting Tibet to the rest of the country wasn't completed until 2005, because they had to figure out new techniques to build railways on the permafrost. The passenger cars use special oxygen-enrichment equipment and carry extra oxygen supplies in case of emergencies.
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Aug 8, 2019 16:18
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 says they were planning a test to poke the US for making GBS threads on them about violating the INF treaty and blew themselves up in the process.
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Aug 8, 2019 16:24
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Rent-A-Cop posted:
"Unlimited range" has the smell of  about it to me.Skyfall is a p.  reporting name, tho?
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Aug 8, 2019 16:26
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Schadenboner posted:"Unlimited range" has the smell of Then again every ICBM built in the last 60 years also has "unlimited range"
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Aug 8, 2019 16:31
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Rent-A-Cop posted:It's wank but it's probably true if it really is a nuclear powered cruise missile. Yeah, the concept of a "virtually unlimited range" nuclear-armed missile is not a new thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardment_System
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Aug 8, 2019 16:37
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BIG HEADLINE posted:Yeah, the concept of a "virtually unlimited range" nuclear-armed missile is not a new thing: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fractional_Orbital_Bombardment_System Project Pluto is still at the top of the list for "craziest Cold War ideas" that I'm aware of. Bad enough that the US just shut it down early in development due to being too provocative.
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Aug 8, 2019 16:56
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Shooting Blanks posted:Project Pluto is still at the top of the list for "craziest Cold War ideas" that I'm aware of. Bad enough that the US just shut it down early in development due to being too provocative.
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Aug 8, 2019 17:02
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Rent-A-Cop posted:Also massively overcomplicated and impossible to safely test. It was always just a fallback in case ICBMs didn't work out. Also completely horrifying such that it makes "normal" nuclear war with cities and people getting vaporized instantly seem humane in comparison quote:After delivering all its warheads, the missile could then spend weeks flying over populated areas at low altitudes, causing tremendous ground damage with its shock wave and fallout. When it finally lost enough power to fly, and crash-landed, the engine would have a good chance of spewing deadly radiation for months to come.
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Aug 8, 2019 17:07
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glynnenstein posted:This one might be a little more interesting since they updated that story. And then there was this in 2017, although Russia still denies it. quote:But through multiple pieces of evidence, the researchers have concluded that the most likely source for the plume of radioactive ruthenium that traveled across Europe in late September and early October 2017 was a fire or explosion at the Mayak production plant in the Ural Mountains of Russia https://cen.acs.org/safety/industrial-safety/caused-plume-radioactive-ruthenium-Europe/97/web/2019/07
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Aug 8, 2019 17:18
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I was about to say...
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Aug 8, 2019 17:18
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Several years into the Russian push of throwing money at wacky nuclear deliver systems I still am scratching my head at WHY. Leaning into your nuclear forces that are kind of a fixed cost that isn't going anywhere any time soon makes a certain sort sense. Even if your conventional forces suck there is only so much anyone can do to a nuclear state. What's Russia actually going to do with an infinite range missile? Sneak it through bumfuck Canada to first strike then die to tridents? Is the point destabilization?
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Aug 8, 2019 17:41
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Alaan posted:Several years into the Russian push of throwing money at wacky nuclear deliver systems I still am scratching my head at WHY. Leaning into your nuclear forces that are kind of a fixed cost that isn't going anywhere any time soon makes a certain sort sense. Even if your conventional forces suck there is only so much anyone can do to a nuclear state. I mean, maybe some of it is stealth space spending? Better satellite launching? Although I don't know if that's a technology with a lot of profit room in it?
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Aug 8, 2019 17:50
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Alaan posted:Several years into the Russian push of throwing money at wacky nuclear deliver systems I still am scratching my head at WHY. Leaning into your nuclear forces that are kind of a fixed cost that isn't going anywhere any time soon makes a certain sort sense. Even if your conventional forces suck there is only so much anyone can do to a nuclear state. I would imagine it's a combination of propaganda and a genuine fear that their legacy delivery systems might soon be obsolete and they will not be able to afford to replace them. ICBM's cannot be sneaky, and the trend over the last 20 or 30 years has been than anything that can be seen can be shot. Rent-A-Cop fucked around with this message at 17:55 on Aug 8, 2019 |
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Aug 8, 2019 17:53
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