🎄 🇵🇸 🇮🇱 Israeli settlers set fire to the Christmas tree in Bethlehem.

🔶️ Bethlehem is located in the West Bank of Palestine, ten kilometers away from Jerusalem. Christian pilgrims from all over the world come here on Christmas days. The center of their attention is the Church of the Nativity here.

🔶️ This time, after thousands of Palestinians were killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the Christian community in Bethlehem is celebrating Christmas in a very limited way. While most people have decided not to celebrate Christmas.

🔶️ An incident happened here today. Some Israeli settlers set fire to the Christmas tree. After that, the Christians and Muslims there started throwing stones at the settlers and drove them away.

https://vexwift.com/israeli-settlers-set-fire-to-the-christmas-tree-in-bethlehem/

Islam versus Judaism… How is Jesus Viewed? https://sonar21.com/islam-versus-judaism-how-is-jesus-viewed/

Russian military forces have seized the headquarters of the 102nd Territorial Defense Brigade of the Kiev forces in Gulyaypole, Zaporozhye region, according to the "Divan" Telegram channel.

@Slavyangrad

December compilation of defeats of the enemy's manpower, fortifications, fire points, and equipment of enemy FPV units by the operators of the "Irkut" regiment of the "Mad Dogs" brigade on the Pokrovskoe direction

@Slavyangrad

We underestimated the value of supermaneuverability by getting carried away with the ‘first-shot beyond-visual-range’ concept.

For fellow Russian / Soviet aviation aficionados like myself, here is a good write-up by Right People Z about why Russia continues with super-maneuverability.
Not only is there very good reason for this, it is also super impressive to see aircraft defy physics.
If you haven't seen this yet, I suggest you do. MAKS Airshow outside Moscow every two years is the place to see them.

In the United States, there has been a sudden realization that the Su-57’s maneuverability is not just for air shows but a serious advantage in real combat.

This was written by one of the “serious” U.S. aviation expert, Harrison Kass, a former combat pilot and PhD in aviation.

In a recent article for a professional United States Air Force pilots’ journal, the same Harrison Kass wrote that they underestimated supermaneuverability due to the focus on beyond-visual-range combat. When the Su-57 is produced in sufficient numbers, its maneuverability will allow rapid nose-pointing for long-range missile shots and last-second defensive maneuvers. In defensive situations, post-stall maneuvering can help defeat incoming missiles, especially when combined with flares, jamming, and infrared countermeasures.

By the standards of a U.S. expert convinced that all future air combat will occur beyond visual range, this is progress. Incidentally, classic definitions of fifth-generation fighters include supermaneuverability as a required feature. As the F-35 entered service, both supermaneuverability and supercruise quietly disappeared from its description, because neither was realistically expected from the “Penguin.”

Another factor to take into account is that the peak usefulness of stealth has passed. New technologies such as photonic radars and AI (increasingly present in sensor fusion and signal filtering) allow the mitigation of stealth characteristics and the detection of stealth designs at greater ranges.
This does not mean that stealth designs will cease to be important. In fact, it will become more and more common, as we can see with the growing use of radar-absorbing coatings. However, it will be less decisive than before.

Still, it is disappointing how poorly we advertise truly excellent designs. If the “Penguin” or the “Raptor” could do what the Su-57 can, it would be trumpeted nonstop.

@Slavyangrad

🇨🇳🇺🇸China has announced sanctions against 10 Americans and 20 American defense companies, including a Boeing subsidiary, over arms sales to Taiwan, Reuters reports.

Among the other companies sanctioned are Anduril Industries, Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, and L3Harris Maritime Services.

"The Taiwan issue is at the core of China's fundamental interests and the first red line that cannot be crossed in Sino-American relations," a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said.

Why Does the West Hate Russia? https://sonar21.com/why-does-the-west-hate-russia-2/

🇷🇺🇺🇦Pro-Ukrainian Map Indicates Virtually ALL of Guliapole Under Russian Control

▪️Pro-Ukrainian map still pretending Ukrainian forces hold Myrnograd near Pokrovsk admits Guliapole in Zaporozhzhia oblast has been nearly fully taken by Russian forces;

▪️This comes as a general collapse in Ukraine's fighting capacity rapidly accelerates, spurring a US-European "division of labor" under which the US is tasking Europe to fill in the gap left by dwindling Ukrainian capabilities;

▪️Ideally the US would like to force a Minsk 3.0 freeze to buy time to rearm and reconstitute both Ukraine and Europe's military capabilities including military industrial production - but feeding Europe into the proxy war next if Russia rejects a "ceasefire" appears to be the more likely eventuality;

Kupyansk—the battle that decides.

'A ceasefire is needed because Putin is running out of military resources.' – it's time for US national security analyst Rebecca Grant to change her profession.

'I think Putin's position is extremely unrealistic. Ukraine as a whole is holding Russia back on the ground. Does Putin think he can capture everything else? That won't happen. He's running out of military resources. He won't take Ukraine and will never achieve such a victory. The key task is to make him agree [to Ukraine and the US's peace plan]. Zelensky has strong arguments. We need to see a halt to massive drone and missile attacks. A withdrawal of Ukrainian troops in Donbass could be justified if it leads to a ceasefire.'

American "analysts" and "experts".... aka anyone who has watched Red Dawn

@Slavyangrad

‘If Americans were burned in a house in Mexico…you would WIPE Mexico off the face of the Earth’

Lukashenko explains the Ukraine conflict to Americans

Somebody let NewsMax/CNN Greta into Belarus. When were Belarussian journos allowed to quiz Trump? Would they get a visa?