The Mess

[Speaker to Animals]

Maybe stick with gamechangers like supercavetating nuclear torpodoes, hypersonic missiles, and low-band radar to target stealth.

[heydaralon]

The Russians are dining out on the arsenal of the Soviet Supermen, but Russia is not the Soviets anymore.

So in a couple of decades, unless something changes in their economy, they are up shit's creek without a paddle? I believe their GDP is like 1.5 tril or something close to that. I'm not sure what percentage of their budget goes toward defense, but I know that they have been reeling economically the last few years. I think the US put sanctions on them as well.

No, they are transitioning to the NATO model, they are copying NATO now, so they will get smaller, but much more high tech, and they will make up the difference with nukes.

They can last a long time, if America doesn't put any pressure on them.

How do you view Putin overall? In America, he is viewed as a Boogeyman at the moment. On some level, I think he wishes he had the influence CNN credits him with. Do you think his position is secure? Are you impressed overall with his stratagem? I view him as a run of the mill strongman with above average political savy. But I know little about Russia, so it would surprise me if he ended up out of power in 5 years either. I've read stuff that put him as one of the richest men on Earth, because supposedly many of his assets are hidden via dummy corps and overseas. I think he did quite a bit of looting once the Wall fell.

[Speaker to Animals]

Frankly, I don't think really anybody is in charge over there. It's different people in different parts of government calling the shots, with Putin like the little swan statue on the hood of the car.

[Smitty-48]

His position is secure for now.

The problem is that there is no peaceful transfer of power.

He's not Gorbachev.

If Putin goes down without a fight he will hang like Saddam Hussein.

Thus the moment Putin is not secure, we got a problemo, at the strategic thermonuclear level.

[Smitty-48]

Right now Putin is preparing to fight a limited theater thermonuclear war.

The objective end state is to stave off an overthrow while forcing NATO to sue for peace.

So for example they are building a lot of NATO style SSKs

Because they are cheap and plentiful.

But they can still launch cruise missiles.

They don't need long range deep diving nuclear powered submarines, to fight a theater war.

[heydaralon]

His position is secure for now.

The problem is that there is no peaceful transfer of power.

He's not Gorbachev.

If Putin goes down without a fight he will hang like Saddam Hussein.

Thus the moment Putin is not secure, we got a problemo, at the strategic thermonuclear level.

Who would hang him? Hasn't he already purged his enemies? I was under the impresion that the Russian people liked him.

[Smitty-48]

His position is secure for now.

The problem is that there is no peaceful transfer of power.

He's not Gorbachev.

If Putin goes down without a fight he will hang like Saddam Hussein.

Thus the moment Putin is not secure, we got a problemo, at the strategic thermonuclear level.

Who would hang him? Hasn't he already purged his enemies? I was under the impresion that the Russian people liked him.

The Russian people are fickle. They can turn on you at any moment. This is why Putin doesn't play nice.

Putin is the Czar now. He's not Gorbachev. Putin cannot afford to be taken alive.

If Putin is going, everybody is going with him.

And he has Dead Hand.

The Russian deterrent is not like the American deterrent; Crazy Ivan is actually crazy.

The Soviet Superman arsenal, is truly a doomsday device.

[heydaralon]

Right now Putin is preparing to fight a limited theater thermonuclear war.

The objective end state is to stave off an overthrow while forcing NATO to sue for peace.

So for example they are building a lot of NATO style SSKs

Because they are cheap and plentiful.

But they can still launch cruise missiles.

They don't need long range deep diving nuclear powered submarines, to fight a theater war.

What do you mean by this? The NATO nuclear powers aren't going to give up their H-bombs. If everyone has nukes, thats always an option even if we did come to some kind of agreement. What is his ultimate endgame? To take back some baltic areas and Poland? To get NATO out of his backyard? What does Putin want most?

[Speaker to Animals]

They might as well stick with the supercavetation at this point. The spent decades developing those things and even lost a submarine with all hands testing it. Plus one of those could essentially exterminate an entire carrier group.

Low-band radar is baked into the cake because our government stupidly invested in all this stealth tech. They have to carry on the legacy began by their Serb cousins.

Hypersonic missiles are the future of air power no matter what. Everybody has to develop those. That's why we need the F-15X (since an F-35 can't even load them).

[Smitty-48]

Right now Putin is preparing to fight a limited theater thermonuclear war.

The objective end state is to stave off an overthrow while forcing NATO to sue for peace.

So for example they are building a lot of NATO style SSKs

Because they are cheap and plentiful.

But they can still launch cruise missiles.

They don't need long range deep diving nuclear powered submarines, to fight a theater war.

What do you mean by this? The NATO nuclear powers aren't going to give up their H-bombs. If everyone has nukes, thats always an option even if we did come to some kind of agreement. What is his ultimate endgame? To take back some baltic areas and Poland? To get NATO out of his backyard? What does Putin want most?

The game is to provoke NATO into a war, in order to incite the Russians to rally around the Kremlin.

When Putin comes under pressure, he escalates to make America into a menace at the gates.

The ultimate end game is to live to a ripe old age and die in his sleep, even if Ukraine is a nuclear wasteland.