I hope the US can get its catharsis now so we can have some sanity again in 4 years.

nickapos :clubtwit:

@Natanox @m @nicolexyz Europe can not defend themselves, never mind Ukraine. Most countries have tiny armies and face political and financial problems. Putin already controls some countries/parties.
Building military capacity takes time and money. I don’t see it happening any time soon.
European politicians for the past 30 years have served their own interests instead of thinking about the bigger picture, assuming they could always rely on US to save them.

Natasha Nox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

@nickapos @m @nicolexyz I don't see it that bleak in regards to defense. For most countries the attack on Ukraine was a wake-up call, there have been huge investments in defense in every EU country for a few years now. We also got a strong domestic weapons industry and Russia, despite all the propaganda, got nothing that our weaponry wouldn't literally shred into pieces (including the Eurofighter, Russia is currently going backwards in regards to weapon tech).

Politics are a problem though.

🌸🇪🇺 Dreamy Mia 🏳️‍⚧️🌸

@Natanox @nickapos @nicolexyz

Russia is fighting with literally museum tanks and since Israel destroyed Irans Drone factories they are also severely limited in this regard.

Natasha Nox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

@m @nickapos @nicolexyz I concur. If Ukraine had unfeathered access to European military gear (even without the US) Russia would already be toast. Poland alone is gearing up like there's no tomorrow, by now they probably could hold their ground against Russia on their own.
Sorry, I'm somewhat pissed right now and want the Kremls ass to get kicked.

nickapos :clubtwit:

@Natanox @m @nicolexyz

Even though Europe has advanced weapon systems and production lines, i think the countries themselves do not have the inventory to supply a multi year war at the moment. In addition to that the defence companies do not have the production lines to produce all the weapons Ukraine needs right now. That is why US is so important, because all these countries combined may have enough capacity to produce what is needed, taking into account the NATO compatibility agreements 1/2

nickapos :clubtwit:

@Natanox @m @nicolexyz as it is if US withdraws then there is going to be a significant gap. In addition to this the EU countries want to be able to arm themselves so a large part of that capacity will go to domestic supply and not to Ukraine. Generally speaking unless EU and US producers allow Ukraine to hit critical Russian targets with long range weapons any time soon, i dont see this ending well for Ukraine unfortunately 2/2

Natasha Nox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

@nickapos @m @nicolexyz They already do that, HIMARS are hitting targets within Russia and there have been reports of Leopard (2) tanks around Kursk. Generally the blockade ended a while ago to my knowledge. Could it be that you're behind on info?

nickapos :clubtwit:

@Natanox @m @nicolexyz yes i could be behind in info, but i think that there is another version of HIMARS with longer range that Ukraine does not have or is not allowed to use. But I might be wrong, I am not an expert. Also I did not know that Germany allowed their weapons to be used in Russia

Natasha Nox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

@nickapos @m @nicolexyz You're indeed right, the US send them the slighty lower range "export" variant. If I remember correctly they do not sell the highest version in general.

@hannah You're more up-to-date with the nitty gritty. Could you give a short summary regarding the current situation of the mentioned topics (especially regarding Ukraine)?

nickapos :clubtwit:

@m @Natanox @nicolexyz yeah i know. for some reason they have not used more advanced weapons much. Either they dont have them in numbers, or they are keeping them just in case NATO gets involved. Also the whole situation about recruiting N. Korea soldiers seems desperate. I do hope they collapse soon so Ukraine can start rebuilding and the rest of world focus on more important stuff than Putin.

Natasha Nox 🇺🇦🇵🇸

@nickapos @m @nicolexyz Russia, or rather the Kreml / Moscovia, indeed is desperate. They're desperately trying to hold on while their people are more pissed by the minute, another round of forced recruitment could push them dangerously close towards the edge. Meanwhile they're scrambling to find enough supply to further their invasion. While the west ramps up production of modern tech Moscow even once sent a World War 1-era "war train".

Advanced weaponry indeed is mostly held back for NATO.