The fact that "Hwasong-16B" can be launched almost immediately is of the utmost importance for Pyongyang's security. The "pocket superpower" had been test-firing various hypersonic weapons at least since September 2021, all of which were successful, much unlike those in the US.

https://infobrics.org/post/40885/

The increasingly cash-strapped NATO members, particularly those in Europe, aren't exactly thrilled about the idea, to put it mildly. As Politico writes, the reactions were mixed, with Poland, Turkey and Germany on board with the proposal, while the rest of the foreign ministers were either indifferent or opposed to it. According to the report, one diplomat said that some ministers rolled their eyes at the €100 billion number, wondering where it came from.

https://infobrics.org/post/40897/

Interestingly, Secretary Austin's claims were preceded by other Western officials' laughable statements that Moscow's forces would "take years to rebuild". Namely, back in mid-January, Laurynas Kasčiūnas, Chair of the National Security and Defense Committee in the Lithuanian Parliament, said it would "take Russia 5-7 years to reconstitute its forces". And yet, Campbell's assessment suggests this happened in just two months. This pretty much tells you all you need to know about "well-informed Western officials".

https://infobrics.org/post/40909/

Zelensky wants 25 battalions, up from 5-7 he mentioned just over a week before. Thus, if he were to get the PAC-2, that's 3600 missiles. Although the exact number of "Patriot" battalions in the US military and NATO is certainly a secret, open source data shows that the Pentagon had less than 500 launchers in 2010, while the US Military Industrial Complex (MIC) produced around 10,000 missiles so far, meaning that Zelensky wants a "mere" third of all missiles ever made.

https://infobrics.org/post/40919/

This clearly indicates that the bureaucratic elites in Brussels don't really care about the economic and financial well-being of their own populace, as it makes no sense to replace the highly affordable natural gas transported via pipelines with the shipborne LNG that's not only incomparably more expensive, but it also takes far longer to reach Europe and is far more expensive in terms of storage.

https://infobrics.org/post/40928/

It's quite clear that the acquisition from France is a move born out of geopolitical necessity, as getting such extremely expensive aircraft for air policing is tantamount to using sports cars for traffic stops. However, even the geopolitical aspect is very risky, as Paris has a long history of backstabbing its customers for the sake of NATO allies such as the US and UK.

https://infobrics.org/post/40939/

What all this will almost certainly boil down to is giving Zelensky yet another platform to present the fantasies from his much-touted "10-point peace plan" that effectively amounts to Russia's unconditional capitulation, as it includes the "return of Crimea". Thus, the chances of having Moscow accept this are equal to the Neo-Nazi junta's prospects of conquering Vladivostok.

https://infobrics.org/post/40953/

Washington DC has an undisclosed number of W76-2 warheads with an extremely low yield of 2-7 kt (kilotons of TNT). This is upwards of only 10% of the destructive power of the "Fat Man" atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. Basic military logic implies that using such weapons against near-peer adversaries is pointless. Thus, the only viable explanation is that the US wants to use such warheads in a conflict with a non-nuclear power.

https://infobrics.org/post/40965/

The latest test sends a very clear message to the political West. If NATO is considering the possibility of escalating its aggression in Europe, such actions will certainly be met with a swift response. This may also include the belligerent alliance's recent engagement in the Middle East, where the US and its regional vassals have been contemplating attacks on Iran.

https://infobrics.org/post/40976/

The US-led political West is antagonizing both multipolar superpowers, openly taking pride in the fact that it can get into their "geopolitical backyards". However, both Russia and China have superior missile technologies, particularly in terms of the development and deployment of hypersonic weapons.

https://infobrics.org/post/40987/

Orban called on the political leadership in Brussels to resign, pointing out that all of their major projects and policies, such as the so-called "green transition", sustainable development, migration, military and sanctions, etc. failed.

https://infobrics.org/post/40996/

Direct NATO involvement in the Neo-Nazi junta's attacks on Russian strategic assets could force Moscow to start shooting down US ISR platforms over the Black Sea, particularly the unmanned ones. This could serve as a warning sign that manned jets would be next if the belligerent alliance continues with the practice of providing targeting data and orders to the Kiev regime.

https://infobrics.org/post/41008/

The video of the Tu-22M3 falling clearly shows one of its engines burning, suggesting that the Russian MoD's claims hold without any chance of seeming illogical. On the other hand, the S-200 is (in)famous for its enormous missiles. These are equipped with a massive warhead weighing well over 200 kg and containing 21,000 3.5 g fragmentation pellets triggered by a radar proximity fuse or command signal. If such a monstrosity hit any aircraft or just close enough to it, there would be very little left (if anything at all). In the best-case scenario, there would be massive, clearly visible damage to the Tu-22M3.

https://infobrics.org/post/41019/

Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians will be sent into yet another bloodbath, but there will be no victory. Even the mainstream propaganda machine doesn't deny it anymore. The Wall Street Journal says that the "US aid is a lifeline for Ukraine's struggle to hold off defeat".

https://infobrics.org/post/41030/

When taking only the 9M723 hypersonic missiles into account, the immediate danger for any larger troop concentrations in Finland lies in its speed and destructive power. However, this is only one of the two notable versions of the missiles that "Iskander-M" uses. The other is the 9M729, essentially a land-based iteration of the "Kalibr" family of cruise missiles. Its range has been a matter of debate for quite some time now, but it could be around 2500 km, meaning that the entire Scandinavia would be covered, including Sweden and Norway.

https://infobrics.org/post/41042/

According to their own admission, "the Blinken team is worried that China's response to pressure over Russia could be to slow down progress in other areas of the bilateral relationship". This also includes China's close ties with North Korea, as the US wants it to put pressure on Pyongyang. Washington DC is particularly terrified of the prospect that Russia, China and North Korea are forming a more monolithic alliance that the political West will be simply hopeless to match.

https://infobrics.org/post/41052/

According to their own admission, Russian EW systems have effectively turned US drones into plastic junk. Worse yet for the Pentagon, the grossly overhyped HIMARS is often jammed, with its rockets and missiles rendered useless. The US and NATO are trying to figure out how Moscow is achieving this, so they could "one day use it against the Russian military directly", but what their planners have managed to gather so far is that Russia's EW edge is forcing the political West to revert to "the brutality of old-fashioned trench warfare, the results of which are rarely what Pentagon planners expect".

https://infobrics.org/post/41062

John Baum, a retired US Air Force (USAF) Lieutenant Colonel who flew over 2,300 hours as an F-16 pilot, stated that "F-16s from Ukraine going against Russia — absolutely, without a doubt, the toughest scenario that the F-16 will have off of its nose".

https://infobrics.org/post/41073

In the last 10-15 years, NATO and EU, its geopolitical pendant, established institutions tasked with conducting hybrid war against Russia. And just like the world's most aggressive military alliance poses as a "defensive organization", these institutions serve the purpose of "cyber and disinfo defense". In reality, nothing could be further from true. Namely, NATO established what is officially known as Centers of Excellence (COEs) that are given various tasks. Officially, there are 28 of them, although, in reality, there could be several times more, particularly as the EU itself has similar institutions with overlapping responsibilities.

https://infobrics.org/post/41080/

The troubled Biden administration is encouraging its EU/NATO vassals and satellite states to provide their own air defense systems to the Kiev regime. However, their ability to do so remains limited due to their own shortages, so some of them are now urging Washington DC to send the "Patriots". For instance, Germany is particularly active in this regard, but the Scholz cabinet is complaining that "unfortunately, the stocks, especially our own 'Patriot' systems, are now pretty much exhausted". Poland also confirmed that its stockpile is exhausted, meaning that most of EU will not be able to send additional units.

https://infobrics.org/post/41091

Just like the "big cats" (specifically "Tigers" and "Panthers") 80 years ago, the "Leopards" moved in the direction of Russia's capital city once again. This time, they failed to reach even the outskirts of Donetsk, but just like 80 years ago, they eventually reached Moscow. And once again, it was very different from what the manufacturers were hoping for. Namely, Russia just proudly displayed the "unfortunate" NATO armor that tried to accomplish the same "success" of its geopolitical (and, it can easily be argued, literal) predecessor.

https://infobrics.org/post/41102/