US support for arming Ukraine soars According to a Reuters/Ipsos survey conducted this week. 1,000 respondents spoke out, including about 400 Democrats and Republicans and about 200 independents.

About 65% are in favor of sending US weapons to Ukraine, That’s a nearly 20 percentage point increase from just one month ago, when 46% approved. That includes 81% of Democrats, 56% of Republicans, and 57% of independents.

This equates to 59% support for arming Ukraine. That’s according to results released this week by a pollster at the Reagan Institute. Again, Democrats were far more willing to send arms to Ukraine than Republicans, with 75% of them in favor of sending arms to Ukraine, compared with 50% of Republicans. defense one‘s Sam Scove reported on Sunday.

Worth noting: context makes a difference. When asked if the aid sent to Ukraine was “worth the cost,” 50% of Reagan Institute respondents said yes. However, (1) the aid given was only 3 percent of the U.S. military budget, (2) Ukraine still controls most of the territory, and (3) the war has reduced Russia’s combat capabilities. The number of respondents who approved of aid jumped to 64% when they were told that it had dropped significantly.

“Republican interests were greatest. After being given additional information, 59% believe the money spent on military aid was well spent,” Scove wrote. Please see here for the detail.

By the way, the Pentagon announced on Tuesday that it would provide Ukraine with another $500 million in arms. This includes numerous artillery pieces, Patriot air defense missiles, radar-detecting missiles, anti-tank missiles, 30 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 25 Stryker armored personnel carriers, as well as “weapons of destruction and obstacle clearing systems”, unspecified Includes demining equipment. , more.

For Ukraine, “providing more anti-mine countermeasures would improve the situation, but it would not solve all the problems.” 1 officer I have written on Twitter on Wednesday. That’s because “different types of mines require different permits,” he says. And Russia sows the ground with various types of mines.

Inexpensive Surveillance Effectiveness: “In previous wars it was easier to approach the enemy without being easily detected,” he wrote. “However, the element of surprise has been greatly reduced because there are always drones that can easily detect the approach of demining vehicles.”

“It takes an extraordinary level of coordination,” he says, to effectively clear a mined path. Air defense, electronic warfare units, engineers, engineers, artillery, reconnaissance units, etc., are among the forces most modern armies have not experienced in recent large-scale operations. “

But there are also psychological implications. So what is a truly safe place? The reason, similar to the US military’s experience with IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan, is that “even after the minefield should have been cleared, the remaining mines create lingering suspicion and impede the rapid movement and maneuvering of military units.” Body.

So what’s the best way to deal with the multi-faceted threat of a mine-crowded battlefield? It’s hard to say for sure, but he makes his case by enumerating several approaches. However, constant communication and multi-layered coordination, such as those provided by experienced Allied pilots, will almost certainly help.And this kind of achievement is difficult even for the most well-funded militaries like the United States.

UPDATE: More than a dozen US and NATO-trained brigades have returned to Ukraine for a counteroffensive. And the US plans to train more Ukrainian troops in the coming weeks and months. defense one‘s Sam Scove reported on Tuesday. The trained 12th Brigade, which has returned to Ukraine, is expected to play a major role in the ongoing counteroffensive.

So far, 67,000 Ukrainians have been trained by allies outside our borders. And a European Pentagon official said this week that the U.S. Army is still “not at its training limits” and may step up its efforts.

Note: Kiev is not all-in yet. “Ukrainian main reserve forces, including most of the brigades recently trained in the West and equipped with the latest NATO tanks and armored vehicles, have not yet been used in the counterattack,” the paper said. financial times Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov reported this week.

At least 10 killed by Russian missile strike at a pizza restaurant At least three teenagers were reportedly among the dead in the eastern city of Kramatorsk on Tuesday evening. 61 others were injured, according to the Associated Press.

The venue, the bar “Rear Lounge,” was a spot frequented not only by locals but also by journalists. Including Colin Freeman Telegraph, was called by Ria for an interview at another location in Kramatorsk, minutes before the missile strike. “By the time we returned to the site of the bombing, rescue workers had pushed their way through a huge mound of smoking rubble, carrying the dead and wounded out on stretchers,” Freeman reports.

The United States has just imposed new sanctions on Wagner-related companies working to develop gold mines in Africa. The four companies are based in the Central African Republic (Midas Ressources and Diamville SAU), the United Arab Emirates (Industrial Resources General Trading) and Russia (DM Limited Liability Company), the Ministry of Finance announced on Tuesday. . Andrei Nikolaevich Ivanov, a Russian national living in Mali, was also sanctioned. Click here for details.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will make his first visit to the United States at the Pentagon this afternoon. to meet with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. “The main purpose of the visit to the United States is to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Russia and how to keep Europe and NATO secure as the war drags on,” Pistorias said. new york times It was reported in Preview Wednesday after interviewing Mr. Pistorius in Berlin.

Pentagon civilian number three Colin Carl met with German civilians on Tuesday The building will also host discussions on Europe, NATO and Ukraine, as well as “Indo-Pacific strategy” and “Germany’s newly announced national security strategy,” the Pentagon said in a readout. .

Karl also met with Turkey last Friday in Washington ahead of the NATO summit in Lithuania in about two weeks. The Pentagon said Tuesday that the two sides discussed “the need for Turkiye’s military modernization and the importance of welcoming Sweden into NATO immediately.”

White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan also reminded Turkey that Sweden needs to join NATO soon. The White House has provided a little more detail about Tuesday’s call.

Additional resources:

• “Wagner’s Prigogine was planning to capture Russian military leaders.” wall street journal reported on Wednesday.
• “Russian general knew about mercenary chief’s rebellion plans, US official says” new york times It was reported Tuesday that U.S. intelligence officials said several Russian scholars, such as Rob Lee, Mark Galeotti) openly skeptical.
• “Wagner’s ex-convict returns from war, Russian villages live in fear. Then he kills again,” the Associated Press reported Tuesday from Estonia.
• “Berlin and Paris are ‘lacking action’ due to the EU’s lack of defensive leadership, a report says,” Reuters reported Wednesday from the Munich Security Conference. Find that report here.
• And don’t miss “Russia’s new troubled times: Moscow is 1604, not 1917,” written Wednesday by Vladislav Zbok of the London School of Economics. diplomatic issue.

Welcome to Wednesday’s edition of The D Briefprovided by Ben Watson Kevin Barron. On this day in 1919, The Treaty of Versailles was signed outside Paris, officially ending the war in Europe, although fighting had stopped six months earlier.

Outgoing Marine Corps chief General David Berger has just criticized the service for not having a joint modernization plan. Berger said Tuesday on the first day of the Modern Ocean Expo in Washington, D.C., that while the Marine Corps is accelerating its Force Design 2030 efforts, the entire joint force has common goals and timelines for modernization. said missing.
“I’m not in a position to judge the relative speeds of other services. But I think the joint force’s speed and common goals for the future are what’s missing right now,” Berger said. “In other words, we have no equivalent of designing a joint force to be where we need it in five, six, seven years. We have no common goals. doesn’t have the speed or velocity to get there,” he added.
Why it matters: The difference in modernization priorities is evident when looking at spending in the service sector. The Marine Corps must regularly defend to the Department of Defense’s Office of Cost and Program Evaluation how they wish to spend the program’s budget. Because this mission has undergone a greater transformation than the others. defense oneLearn more about Kaitlyn Kenny in

In preparation for a possible future war with China, The US Air Force is working with Boeing to develop augmented reality powered by drones, AI and 5G. This speeds up some basic maintenance tasks and reduces complexity. defense one‘s Patrick Tucker reported on Tuesday.
what happened: At Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, members of the Air Force’s 15th Maintenance Group last May tested a new method of conducting maintenance operations. The idea is to use autonomous drones for routine inspections of aircraft, looking for things like corrosion and damaged rivets. .. and let the maintainer know. These drones could significantly reduce the time and complexity of inspections, which can take up to six hours to inspect just the tail of a C-17, Tucker writes. Read more here.
U.S. and Japanese defense officials met Monday and Tuesday at Whiteman Air Force Base in Missouri. During these talks, officials conducted tabletop exercises and “shared assessments of the regional security environment, the prospects for strategic arms control and risk reduction, and the development of conventional nuclear and nuclear capabilities that contribute to regional deterrence.” We have reviewed the nuclear capabilities of the United States,” the Pentagon said in a joint statement with Japanese officials. .
Related books:

And finally, science news is developing that will reportedly affect missile navigation. For advanced militaries around the world. In other words, the earth’s axis is moving, that is, it is “starting to go wrong”, but it seems to have started around the year 2000. new york timesciting new research on this subject.
Big picture considerations: “Earth’s axis has not wandered enough to affect the seasons determined by the tilt of the planet,” writes The Times. “But the fine patterns and variations in planetary rotation are very important for satellite-based navigation systems that guide planes, missiles, and map apps.”
So what is driving these changes? Probably not what you’re expecting. I don’t want to spoil your surprise. Then continue reading from here.