Military Thread: “An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.”

[rjshae]

54 minutes ago, kanisatha said:

Yes, now they have a powerful opponent (in Europe) but we don't. So if anything, they should be spending more than us.

Your conclusion does not follow. Germany faces one powerful threat; the USA faces multiple.

[kanisatha]

8 minutes ago, rjshae said:

Your conclusion does not follow. Germany faces one powerful threat; the USA faces multiple.

I specifically said in Europe, because we're talking about NATO spending.

And no, even globally, the only powerful threat to the US is China. No one else.

[rjshae]

13 hours ago, kanisatha said:

I specifically said in Europe, because we're talking about NATO spending.

And no, even globally, the only powerful threat to the US is China. No one else.

Well the politicians would have you believe otherwise, but whatever. Defense spending should be measured against national GDP. In that regard, Poland actually spends more on defence in Europe: 4.12% versus 3.38% for the USA. Presumably it's a response to their eastern neighbors.

[kanisatha]

8 hours ago, rjshae said:

Well the politicians would have you believe otherwise, but whatever. Defense spending should be measured against national GDP. In that regard, Poland actually spends more on defence in Europe: 4.12% versus 3.38% for the USA. Presumably it's a response to their eastern neighbors.

Yes absolutely. Poland is the best, and I give them complete credit for it. And it's not just spending, but what they're spending on. They're doubling the size of their army, making it completely mechanized, and also doubling the number of fighter squadrons in their air force flying 4.5 or 5th gen aircraft carrying long-range missiles. They're doing everything right.

But this is also exactly why I worry they may face a preemptive strike by Putin.

[HoonDing]

The biggest threat to US is ISRAEL. They could literally bomb every ship city and US would never fight back.

[rjshae]

5 hours ago, kanisatha said:

Yes absolutely. Poland is the best, and I give them complete credit for it. And it's not just spending, but what they're spending on. They're doubling the size of their army, making it completely mechanized, and also doubling the number of fighter squadrons in their air force flying 4.5 or 5th gen aircraft carrying long-range missiles. They're doing everything right.

But this is also exactly why I worry they may face a preemptive strike by Putin.

It would be interesting to consider what a preemptive strike looks like with a horde of drones combined with hypersonic missiles. That could be overwhelming. Particularly if Ukraine has fallen, opening up another flank along the polish border.

[kanisatha]

19 hours ago, rjshae said:

It would be interesting to consider what a preemptive strike looks like with a horde of drones combined with hypersonic missiles. That could be overwhelming. Particularly if Ukraine has fallen, opening up another flank along the polish border.

Well, any Russian attack against NATO, whether preemptive or not, and even if the main target is Finland and/or the Baltic states, will surely include an attack on Poland coming out of Kaliningrad and Belarus, because Russia closing off the Suwalki gap will be critical to their having any hope of winning the war. And likewise for NATO, any hope of successfully defending the Baltics, and even Finland, will depend almost entirely on keeping the Suwalki gap open. That's why Poland is positioning its best land forces for the coming Suwalki gap fight.

[HoonDing]

Israel getting a B2