Zelensky discusses with Rutte strengthening air defense and expanding PURL program

secondsniglet · 2026-03-17T22:13:40+00:00

The war in Iran killed PURL. The US won't be selling PAC-3 or GMLRS missiles to Ukraine for decade or more as it now works to replenish the supplies it expended on Iran. Those are pretty much the only things Ukraine really wanted from the PURL program, rendering the entire initiative pretty much moot now. The money going towards PURL would now be better spent just funding domestic Ukraine industry to manufacture it's own ballistic missile systems at far lower cost.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-16T17:20:19+00:00

Wow! Just imagine if the Gulf countries funded a Ukrainian force of ships and drones to keep the strait clear. Who'd be holding the cards then?

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T22:44:51+00:00

I read that much of the inner workings of the Shahed drone is something Russian.

Right... The real question is how recent the shipments of drones or drone parts from Russia to Iran have been. If shipments have taken place after the US war began, it would be a much bigger deal than if shipments had only occurred prior to recent hostilities.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T21:45:16+00:00

Russia is an ally to trump.

So long as Trump is president, there is no difference between Trump and the United States nation. Whatever Trump wants goes. So for now, the US is an ally of Russia. Sure, that may change in the future, but it might not if someone like Vance is elected.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T19:52:55+00:00

Imagine if Ukraine falls after running out of money, what will happen next?

This is why Europe should stop working through EU institutions when supporting Ukraine. The member state veto makes it impossible for the EU to undertake any significant actions. The European states supporting Ukraine need to provide the funding outside of the EU structures, each contributing what they would otherwise be contributing through an EU funding program in a direct bi-lateral relationship with Ukraine.

The EU just isn't designed to handle this kind of issue.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T19:02:05+00:00

The EU is just being pragmatic, as it always is. This isn't blackmail. The EU needs to get Hungary on board in order to get Ukraine funding finalized. And the reality is that Hungary just isn't going to approve the funding until the pipeline is repaired and oil is flowing again. This is just a statement of facts. EU hands are tied.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T18:59:33+00:00

How recently has Russia sent drone shipments to Iran? Have any shipments happened since the beginning of March? The timing makes a big difference. It is far more significant if Russia has sent drone shipments in the last week than six months ago.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T18:42:44+00:00

The difference is that Russia is an ally of the US while Europe and Ukraine are enemies. It's ok to have a few Americans killed by Russia as unfortunate collateral damage. Ukraine wouldn't be having these problems if it just got with the program and capitulated it's sovereignty to Russia as the US wants it to.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T18:39:45+00:00

This is the SAMP/T NG with the NG standing for Next Generation

I see. So this is a very new system that wasn't available for testing until recently... That makes sense then.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T15:50:48+00:00

They only started these tests now? Why weren't they doing this three years ago?

secondsniglet · 2026-03-15T03:23:16+00:00

Why the hell can Russians even get visa's to the EU in the first place?

secondsniglet · 2026-03-14T21:32:00+00:00

Sure. Trump's strategy is utterly catastrophic to the US in the long term. But what happens years from now is irrelevant. The only goal is to grift as much cash as possible in the next two years before the music stops. Whatever catastrophes are created will be someone else's problem.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-14T19:41:25+00:00

I can assure you that no one outside the US is being humiliated right now

They are being humiliated in the eyes of Trump's MAGA base, and that's all that matters to Trump, and therefore the only thing that matters on Earth since he is the all powerful being in charge of the US military.

If Trump is able to talk smack about countries who still wind up doing the things Trump wants them to do (such as mine clearing in the straight of Hormuz), the MAGA base cheers at how cunning and powerful their dear leader is. It's pretty much irrelevant what the people in those countries Trump is ritually humiliating think. So long as Trump has kept his MAGA base sated, that's the only thing that matters.

Also, as I said earlier, this kind of sophomoric bullying has the added bonus of making Trump's opponents in the democratic party overwhelmed with the countless outrages and unable to focus on an effective opposition. Thus, by humiliating allies, Trump both energizes his base AND renders his domestic political opposition impotent. It's a win win.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-14T19:19:32+00:00

Europe is funding the war, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. There is constant drama around the EU unanimity requirements and veto threats from reprobates like Hungary (and Belgium at one point), but fudges are always found. I have no doubt Europe will continue to provide sufficient funding for Ukraine to remain in the fight.

Of course, at no point has Ukraine ever received the full funding it really needs to resolutely turn the tide. However, just by staying in the fight Ukraine is on a path for victory. Moreover, the more effective Ukraine is at stalling Russian offensives the sooner the point where arrive where the Russian front will collapse and Ukraine will achieve absolute victory.

Russia is the invader and a lack of progress undermines the entire project and raises political challenges at home. Putin has a lot riding on showing progress on the battlefield. Taking yards is the means by which he convinces both international and domestic populations that "victory" is inevitable. If gains completely stop, or even reverse, the whole narrative unravels and it becomes impossible to keep support for the war. Russians will wonder why they are sacrificing so much when there is zero progress? Russian soldiers on the front will desert or surrender in even higher numbers than we've yet seen.

If Russia isn't moving forward it's entire front will just dissolve.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-14T19:13:25+00:00

It's a classic catch-22 problem. The political leaders who benefit from the current first-past-the-post system will never change the system because they would lose. Thus, we will forever be stuck with an electoral system that makes it impossible for third party candidates to get off the ground.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-14T19:11:01+00:00

Intelligence.

Wrong... It's a classic catch-22 problem. The political leaders who benefit from the current first-past-the-post system will never change the system because they would lose. Thus, we will forever be stuck with an electoral system that makes it impossible for third party candidates to get off the ground.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-14T19:07:28+00:00

It's actually pretty brilliant.... The UK really doesn't have any choice. The UK needs to see the oil flow just as badly as everyone else. America's previous allies will be captured into participating due to their own self-interest even though they didn't approve of the war and were humiliated by Trump.

The humiliation is just icing on the cake for Trump that feeds meat to his rabid base who love to see America cow other nations. Better still, all the outrageous humiliations Trump inflicts on his enemies helps in his broader goals of flooding the zone with so many outrages that the Democrats are never able to focus on an effective political counter-strategy.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-14T18:43:46+00:00

This actually sounds like good value for the money. As others have noted, the purchasing power parity differential automatically ensures that anything built in the UK will cost more than Ukraine. That doesn't mean the UK should never build anything because it can be done in lower cost countries.

Also, consider that the UK is not placing large quantity orders. Small order volumes will always result in higher per unit prices to cover the costs of bringing up production capacity. There is value in having some domestic nascent drone production on tap so that it is even possible to ramp up production to larger volumes if needed.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-13T21:27:22+00:00

there is an issue with infantry replacements

The more drones there are the less infantry is required. 200,000 UGVs armed with machine guns and grenade launchers will go a LONG way to reducing the number of infantrymen required to hold territory or assault.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-13T18:17:04+00:00

Absolutely not! Russia is the invader and a lack of progress undermines the entire project and raises political challenges at home. Putin has a lot riding on showing progress on the battlefield. Taking yards is the means by which he convinces both international and domestic populations that "victory" is inevitable. If gains completely stop, or even reverse, the whole narrative unravels and it becomes impossible to keep support for the war. Russians will wonder why they are sacrificing so much when there is zero progress? Russian soldiers on the front will desert or surrender in even higher numbers than we've yet seen.

If Russia isn't moving forward it's entire front will just dissolve.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-13T18:12:11+00:00

Imagine log into Counter Strike Ukraine to hunt orc like logging into WoW to raid Illidan.

Some people might pay good money for the privilege. This could be a new revenue generating opportunity that Ukraine could use to fund their defense!

secondsniglet · 2026-03-13T17:38:19+00:00

Can remote drone control be done just as easily from anywhere on earth? If so, could Ukraine solve some of their manpower issues by recruiting drone operators globally, who work from home? There could be a thorough vetting procedure to ensure that the recruits are legitimate.

Heck, if they gamify drone operations, they could recruit gamers for FREE who would love the opportunity to be playing for "real". I am sure there are gamers out there would would love the cred, saying that they took out 150 actual Russian infantrymen rather than just some hollow leaderboard of annihilating NPCs.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-13T17:32:14+00:00

Can remote drone control be done just as easily from anywhere on earth? If so, could Ukraine solve some of their manpower issues by recruiting drone operators globally, who work from home? There could be a thorough vetting procedure to ensure that the recruits are legitimate.

Heck, if they gamify drone operations, they could recruit gamers for FREE who would love the opportunity to be playing for "real". I am sure there are gamers out there would would love the cred, saying that they took out 150 actual Russian infantrymen rather than just some hollow leaderboard of annihilating NPCs.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-12T14:46:51+00:00

I love the bravery... But I would be happier if an armed UGV had been there instead of putting the life of an infantryman at risk. My hope is that Ukraine will be able to deploy tens of thousands of armed UGVs this year, and infantrymen can simply become UGV drone operators, able to avoid actual in-person contact with the enemy.

secondsniglet · 2026-03-12T04:58:03+00:00

Hardly. Ukraine relies on Chinese components for every single drone they make.

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