Hello everybody!
Still busy with private affairs and ‘other work’, so not much to add to what Don has collected and prepared over the last week.
…with, perhaps, one exception…
You know it by now: Colonel Yurii Ihnat, the Head of the Public Relation Service of the Ukrainian Air Force & Air Defence Force (PSZSU; I’m usually shortening this further to ‘PSU’) has admitted it publicly: the service did not shot down even one from six Russian ballistic missiles fired at Kyiv during the night from 3 to 4 July.
Can’t but wonder about all those ‘still wondering’ why’… as if that would be so extremely hard to figure out…
But OK, here you have it, once again: principal reason is what I’ve mentioned repeatedly since February: lack of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) - especially FIM-104 Patriot (for PAC-2/3 SAM-systems) and Aster 30 Block 1/1NT (for SAMP-T SAM-systems). Ukraine’s stocks of SAMs were critically low already back in February. Indeed, the PSU run out of Asters by the end of March. We can all safely bet our annual income the situation in this regards didn’t get better ever since.
….nor is going to get better any time soon (simply because the production was not ramped-up on time, which is a process taking two-three years, and both the US- and European-stocks are meanwhile ‘too low for purposes of self-defence… plus that of holy Israel, of course’).
Additionally, and that’s also something observed repeatedly at least since June-July the last year, the Russians are getting ever better in mapping the PSU’s air defence network, and then coordinating their missile- with their strikes by attack UAVs. Means: they ‘pull the PSU by the nose’ (busy it with attack UAVs, nowadays from multiple different directions), then ‘hit it in the guts’ (strike with ballistic- and/or cruise missiles).
Is the only logical result of both official Kyiv and its ‘western Allies’, ‘doing something’ for three (plus) years, ‘modelling the outcome’ (preferably one where Russia does not get defeated, instead of developing strategy how to defeat Russia, work-up the industry and then arm Ukraine ‘to the teeth’… and thus offering the Russians ‘all the time of the World’ to learn their lessons.
…because…sigh… well, you know the reasons by now: ‘what if we lose our business connections to Pudding?’ - and/or (though the most idiotic excuse of all): ‘what if Russia is defeated and then falls apart’…?
How good, they’ve all spent three years diligently working on developing one of most sophisticated and strongest air defence systems for Kyiv… and are now neck-deep into constructing arms factories all over Ukraine.
…if I try stop rolling over my eyes, I’m going to fall off my chair. Thus, better to hand over to Don.
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Kursk/Sumy
Russian drones attack the trenches 1500 meters east of Tyotkino, then Russian infantry clear them out. The Ukrainian defenders did not observe or fire on the approaching Russian infantry, which was suicidal. 500 meters away, Ukrainian drones attack advancing Russian infantry.
A Russian airstrike on the woods near Khotin. This airstrike is 2300 meters further north. Russian drones on patrol near Korchakivka find sensors and logistical vehicles.
On June 30, a strike on a command post in Korenevo killed General Gudkov. Seven other officers were killed, four were missing and nine were wounded. Gudkov may have revealed his position with an insecure radio call. Ukraine had been tracking his movements across Russia and the May 30 attack in Vladivostok was probably an assassination attempt. Ukraine’s ability to track him speaks to their collection capabilities and Russia’s failure to protect their information. The commander of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade, that killed and beheaded Ukrainian prisoners, was also killed.
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Vovchansk
Ten kilometers north of Vovchansk, on the Russian side of the border, a chemical plant was hit by a drone.
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Milove
The Russians came across the border at Milove and Stroivka, advancing up to three kilometers at both locations.
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Kupiansk
Russia shells Ukrainian positions north and south of Kindrashivka. Russia built a simple bridge over the Oskil river by Dvorichna before a drone destroyed it.
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Terny
In a conventional rotation of personnel the relieving force meets the retiring force at the position so there is constant coverage. Ukrainian troops must have noticed that at one location, the retiring force left before the relieving force arrived, and that they left behind a machine gun with no one around. So the Ukrainians took it.
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Siversk
Some graphic images of drones attacking Russian infantry, then a drone controlled by radio communication tries to attack a vehicle inside a building in Lysychansk 15 km away, followed by a drone with fiber optic cable attacking that same vehicle.
Russians trying to advance south of the quarry are harrassed by drones and artillery.
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Toretsk
For those who might have not noticed it by now: check the map below. As should be obvious, the Russians - in close cooperation with Syrsky & Buddies in Kyiv - are meanwhile on the best way of creating a ‘super cauldron’ in the Kostiantynivka area. Wouldn’t it be for the ZSU almost certainly losing lots of troops and equipment in the process of extracting out of it, it would be ‘funny to watch’…
A Russian casualty is evacuated on motorcycle by Dyliivka. Ukrainian positions are hit by Dyliivka and the Russians advanced 1500 meters.
Russians moving north from Novoolenivka are attacked by drones. Two Geran/Shahed drones hit houses in Yablunivka. Russian drone attacks in the Yablunivka area have been intense.
A Russian ammo dump was found in Khartsyzk, 60 km from the front. A Russian drone is intercepted west of Kostiantynivka. A drone broke the track of an M113, immobilizing it.
Artillery from the 28th Brigade targets Russian infantry. The 28th Brigade infantry have excellent defensive positions with overhead protection on elevated terrain overlooking a canal and they’ve held these positions for over two years. While they held their ground, the Russian push through Toretsk on their immediate right was a threat to force them from their excellent positions for a while. Then the Russian advances west of Kostiantynivka 26 km away became a threat. Now the Russian attacks towards Dyliivka are making it difficult to sustain their defensive line while threatened on their right flank.
A 28th Brigade M109 155 mm self-propelled gun has a range of 24 km and is probably located southeast of Kostiantynivka about 10-15 km from the front lines. There are very few enemy vehicles in range. The Russians used their tanks like artillery from 14 km away. The gun crew also hasn’t conducted counter battery fire against enemy artillery in a while so most of their targets are Russian infantry in small groups.
A towed artillery piece would be stationary in a defensive position but the self-propelled gun is in a pit deep enough so the top of the turret is just below ground. It moves a few meters forward to fire and then returns to the deeper part of the pit when its fire mission is complete. An overhead scaffold camouflage net is built on top to provide cover and concealment from drones. The front of the position has a ramp that enables the gun to back into the pit and the entrance to the pit is protected by two nets that open horizontally and vertically.
The ammo is stored in a different pit several meters away and connected by a tunnel that bends at a 90 degree angle to somewhat reduce any blast from one pit from reaching the other pit. The living quarters is a safe but close distance away and is fully underground and has overhead scaffolding with a tarp and dirt for protection from enemy attacks and rain. The commander receives targeting information in this location. Once he calculates the direction and elevation of the gun and how many powder charges are needed, he relays the information by radio to the chief of the gun crew.
***
A 35 minute video from six months ago follows a Azov drone team that was operating Vampire (Baba Yaga) drones. It shows how difficult it is to supply the front line in the presence of enemy reconnaissance drones. With the Russian advances west of Kostiantynivka it is now much harder because there are fewer places to drive.
They depart in the evening twilight because it is harder to be seen with drone visual spectrum optics and it is not the optimal temperature for thermal optics. Even when not under attack, bomb craters in the dark can destroy a car, or shrapnel from previously exploded bombs can flatten a tire. If it’s far enough from the front line you can change the tire. If it’s too close there isn’t enough time to change a tire and you have to keep driving or abandon the car.
When word arrives that a Russian reconnaissance drone is in the area, they turn around and find a secure location to hide. When they are told that the recon drone departed, they resume the mission. Unloading supplies has to be done quickly. They combined supply drops to other positions with drone team rotations to minimize the number of logistical runs.
Kamikaze drones are deployed on one-way missions. The Vampire drones return and their batteries need to be recharged. Front line generators that the drone teams use to power their position are not big enough to recharge Vampire drone batteries so batteries are charged at deployment locations behind the forward drone teams.
The basement position of the drone team is 1500 meters from the front. They could hear the artillery shells 3-4 seconds before they landed. The KAB glide bombs sounded like a low-flying jet.
If a drone loses its signal and crashes close to the front line the drone team tries to recover it since it costs at least $10,000. They carry 10-22 30 round magazines for their rifles. Their living/operating quarters are in a different location from the munitions in case the munitions location was hit. Moving from the quarters to the munitions to the launch point is a high risk action due to enemy drone surveillance.
The drone team cannot conduct operations without mechanical and human communication. This was six months ago, but they reported trying to conduct operations without Starlink and found it difficult. They also rely on targeting information from their commanders that provide them with a coordinate and an image of the target. And since they were not using fiber optic cable, they are sometimes hit by friendly EW fire when fellow Ukrainian troops turn on a jammer to block Russian drones that use radio waves but also block friendly drones that use radio signals.
Turning jammers off to conduct offensive operations but leave you vulnerable defensively is an issue for both sides and is fought on an increasing number of wavelengths. Fiber optic cables bypass that issue with the trade off of cables breaking in a forest environment or other terrain and limiting the size of a warhead because of the weight of the cable.
One mission they had was dropping razor wire in the road, and when Russians moved the wire, attached munitions would explode. This was particularly effective against Russian motorcycle assaults.
They depart on the return trip during morning twilight, which provides some small amount of protection from enemy surveillance drones. They see another vehicle with its headlights on, and not just headlights but high beams and fog lights on, as well. At first, the driver wonders if it is a civilian but then realizes it was just Carl, someone from his unit. He used several words to describe Carl: Immortal, idiot, dumbass, deadbeat, and f-ed in the head.
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Pokrovsk
In this area, and after nearly a year of bitter assaults, the Russians are now in the process of creating yet another cauldron (‘obvious’ by them focusing on assaults on flanks, either side of Pokrovsk).
Russian airstrikes on Novoekonomichne and Pokrovsk (purportedly deploying UMPKs on FAB-1500M-54s). Three kilometer advances at Novoserhiivka and Koptieve continued to put the slow stranglehold on Pokrovsk.
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Komar
A Russian column was discovered by a drone and cluster munitions stopped the vehicles and eliminated the troops that dismounted. Russian troops in Komar were attacked. Two Russian vehicles were destroyed 5 km from Velyka Novosilka. Russian infantry and equipment around Shevchenko are targeted.
The Russians crossed the Vovcha river and entered Dachne. A Russian airstrike damaged a bridge in Iskra and another airstrike hit what’s left of a house in the village. Airstrikes in Voskresenka and up to 3 km north of the village, and more airstrikes in the woods north of Myrne.
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Zaporizhzhia
Russian soldiers clear the basements in Kamianske. After several months of fighting, they took what’s left of the city. The basements provide some measure of protection against shellfire and observation from drones, but if you are spotted entering the basement the enemy infantry can throw grenades down the stairs and fire into it and you cannot defend yourself. A drone will either kill you or collapse the entrance and bury you. This is true for both sides.
The 65th, 128th and 110th Brigades were named as the first three units of the XVII Corps, ZSU. The 128th Mountain Assault Brigade was raised in 1922, making it the second oldest brigade in the army. It began the war in Melitopol and was pushed back 75 km to the north where it’s been fighting since April 2022. Some of its battalions were sent to fight in the Luhansk region and the counteroffensive to liberate Kherson.
The 65th Brigade was activated in April 2022 and was fighting in the Zaporizhzhia region eight months later. It also took part in the 2023 offensive. They were considered one of the top 20 effective brigades in the army and their commander was just promoted and rumors say he might be given a corps command.
The 110th Brigade was formed in March 2022 and sent to Avdiivka, where it held out under very heavy pressure. When the US Congress failed to authorize new aid, the shortage of artillery shells directly contributed to Russia overrunning the city in February 2024. After rest and refit, it took part in the Kursk invasion before being pulled back. On the morning of July 1st, the brigade commander and several other brigade officers were killed, including the deputy commander, and more than 30 wounded after a Russian missile strike on their headquarters in Huliaipole in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, 70 km from the front line. The reason for the massed gathering or the details of the security failure were not reported: probably ‘under investigation’, as usual in the ZSU under Syrsky…
On June 26th, HUR sabotaged the rail line 16 km east of Tokmak. After the track was repaired they sabotaged the rail line again on July 1st near Chemihivka. It is unknown how quickly or how effectively Russia will adjust to these attacks.
Russia has four armored trains that patrol rail lines and defend repair crews (specialised troops: each of VSRF’s has one railway brigade). Three operate in the Eastern, Southern and Central Military Districts in Russia and one operates in Ukraine.
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Kherson
A drone repair facility was identified and eliminated with three small diameter bombs. A Russian 152 mm gun damaged by a drone is temporarily abandoned.
The human safari continues with a fire engine responding to an earlier attack, known as a double-tap attack, and a gas station. Imagine being caught in an open field with your child when a Russian drone flies overhead.
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Odesa
Five were injured when a drone hit an apartment building.
Crimea
Radars are always located at Tarkhankut because of its geographical location by the Black Sea and they are protected by EW systems. But aerial drones launched from naval drones attacked three Nebo radars.
A Russia air defense system and radar were attacked near Kurortne. FIRMS showed fires south of the village.
A Pantsir air defense system was destroyed after missing an approaching drone, other radars were hit, and at Saky airbase, an Su-30 was attacked. The drone attacking the Su-30 probably landed short of the aircraft which may or may not be damaged.
Satellite imagery confirms that a Pantsir and three helicopters were destroyed at Kirovske airbase on June 28th.
Three drone operators died when the car they were in exploded near the village of Strilkove, 150 km from the front lines. They were involved in the testing and operational deployment of drones and EW equipment.
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Occupied Territories
A former Russian-appointed mayor of Luhansk was killed and three others wounded in an explosion at the door to a residential building.
The 8th Combined Arms Army headquarters was hit in Donetsk on June 30th and again on July 3rd. The chief communications officer was killed on June 30th but other details of the two strikes were not reported. The 20th Motor Rifle Division headquarters was also hit.
Small oil storage tanks are hit in Luhansk. A metallurgical plant in Donetsk was hit.
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Baltic Sea
Germany and Sweden will identify and crack down shadow fleet vessels breaking maritime regulations by asking passing vessels about insurance coverage. Germany will not stop vessels for inspections. Irregularities could lead to sanctions. Denmark reported a shadow fleet tanker but did not detain it due to its concerns about legalities. Ships escorted by Russian military assets have not been stopped.
Shadow fleet tankers are avoiding the English channel unless they have a Russian escort because they are required to broadcast their location. They sail around the UK instead. They have also lied to Danish authorities, sailed through Estonian waters at night to avoid detention, turned off their Automatic Identification Systems, and another has been drifting outside the English Channel for two weeks while it either waits for a Russian escort or reflags its ship.
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Russia
A water pipeline that served the home base of the 155th Guards Naval Infantry Brigade was damaged in an explosion. At the same time, a gas pipeline that served that base and other facilities was damaged by an explosion and a large-scale fire.
The Kupol plant in Izhevsk produces Tor anti-aircraft systems 1,000 km east of Moscow. There was a large fire after the drone attack that destroyed a 60 x 23 meter section of the building and three people were killed.
An oil refinery in Saratov was attacked by Ukrainian UAVs. The oil depot at Borok was attacked, too: that’s 1300km away from Ukraine, but there was no word on damage. An electrical substation near Moscow was hit and a nearby factory that produces warheads for drones was hit. The Azov Optical and Mechanical Plant in Rostov was hit. It creates optical, laser, spectral and thermal imaging equipment. Two drones set an electronics factory in Cheboksary on fire 975 km from Ukraine.
Borisoglebsk air base was hit. Su-30, Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft are based there. Besides FIRMS and a single image of a fire, unconfirmed reports indicate a depot for bombs, a training aircraft and possibly other aircraft were hit. The fires burned for at least 24 hours. The first satellite images suggest that drop tanks for the fighters were hit.
An Su-34 crashed in Nizhny Novgorod and the navigator died.
For the fifth time in 2025, a tanker carrying Russian oil suffered an explosion. The Vilamoura was the last ship hit while it was off the coast of Libya. Its engine room was flooded and it is being towed to Greece.
A pro-Ukrainian Russian group hacked ten gigabytes worth of data on Russian EW systems. The includes specifications, test reports, names and addresses of personnel, architecture, production, supply, architecture and more.
The vice president of the oil pipeline monopoly Transneft committed suicide by falling out of the window of his home. He lived on the 10th floor but jumped out of the 17th floor just to be certain. Suicide by defenestration was the choice for 16 of Russia’s powerful businessmen and other enemies of the state. Other methods were also used, such as a colonel that shot himself five times in the chest. Here is the list of 71 suspicious deaths in the gangster’s paradise since January 2022.
There are an estimated 4600-8000 foreign mercenaries fighting for Russia.
A ship loading ammonia in Ust-Luga suffered an explosion that breached its hull and list to the left. No one was injured and ammonia explosions have happened in peaceful circumstances.
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Ukraine
Andrew Perpetua helps with fundraising and explains that some equipment is barely functioning, but, the brigades keep using it because the government won’t replace it. The government won’t supply some equipment and they won’t place it on a list for foreign allies to send it. For some brigades, 5% of their equipment comes from private donations that the government will not provide. Some brigades don’t have a private donation program and simply do without.
A fuel tank in a commercial facility was hit in Kyiv.
Shortly after a phone call with Trump, Putin launched the largest attack to date on Kyiv. About 550 drones and 11 missiles arrived over the capital in an eight hour period. One person was killed and more than 20 were wounded. Trump said he was very disappointed with his conversation but wasn’t disappointed enough to provide new aid to Ukraine, resume the flow of old aid, penalize the entities that are violating sanctions, or impose tariffs on Russia like he has on the rest of the world. His disappointment didn’t prevent him from diverting 20,000 rockets to the Middle East even though they were promised to Ukraine. Trump’s disappointment with Putin still isn’t deep enough to sell Patriot systems to Ukraine but Germany is trying to convince Trump to let them buy the systems on behalf of Ukraine as well as resume shipments of previously approved aid.
The III Corps ZSU is testing the Impulse digital system that will reduce the time needed to report, collect or analyze personnel data, allowing them more time to plan and conduct operations. The corps is also creating a drone regiment and will establish a professional non-commissioned officer corps, having trained over 500 of them in 2024. They’re also expanding the anti-aircraft unit from the 3rd Brigade to create a regiment for the corps.
The SBU arrested an officer of the PSU with the rank of major - for collecting coordinates of potential targets. They also arrested the leaders of a battalion in Odesa for taking money from locals to avoid conscription and selling military fuel on the black market.
Eric Schmidt worked at Google for 19 years and was its CEO for ten years. He also headed the US Defense Innovation Advisory Board and was a member of the National Security Commission on Artificial Intelligence. He spent millions of dollars in Ukrainian startup programs for drones and in 2025 plans to deliver cheap, mass-produced drones with AI, with interceptor drones being the priority.
When Ukraine repairs the damage caused by missiles and drones, they often take the opportunity to improve on the Soviet-era construction. Instead of an old consolidated energy system they create multiple decentralized and smaller facilities. Buildings that are repaired or rebuilt have better insulation and multiple-glazed windows to reduce heating costs. The layout of streets are changed to create bike lanes, pedestrian amenities and more public transport to reduce the number of cars on the road. They are also increasing access for disabled people, especially with the rise of injuries from the war.
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Diplomacy
According to the Pentagon, the US has everything it needs to conduct any mission, anywhere, anytime, all around the world. Yet, the Pentagon policy chief, who is focused on the Chinese threat, partially halted aid allocated for Ukraine because he believes stockpiles of artillery shells, air defense missiles and precision munitions were too low. Senior military officials found the aid package would not jeopardize US ammo supplies. Both Democratic and Republicans that support Ukraine criticized the move and explanation. All the munitions sent came from US stockpiles with money allocated to replace them, or came directly from the factories paid for with money earmarked for Ukrainian support. This is the third time Hegseth stopped Ukrainian aid without coordinating with the White House, State Department or Congress. The other two times occurred in February and May and were reversed in days. The White House is now publicly defending the action.
On the other hand, US aid to Israel will only be threatened if Israel doesn’t halt Netanyahu’s trial.
Since the consolidation of the US military industrial base after the Cold War it has been unable to produce enough weapons to sustain a near-peer conflict, in this case, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The US has not taken any steps to significantly increase its production capabilities. 550 PAC-3 missiles were annually produced in 2024 and a new plant would increase it to 650 missiles by 2027. An alternative to increased US production is licensing production in other countries for profit. Japan and Germany are licensed to produce PAC-2 missiles but they are not as effective as PAC-3 missiles. Poland will build 48 Patriot launchers for themselves, but it takes 12 months to build a radar and 24 months to build the components for the radar.
The foreign minister of the People’s Republic of China frankly told the EU that they don’t want Russia to lose in Ukraine because the US would then focus on them. Putin is travelling to China in September.
The US will determine by the end of summer or early fall how many of their 80,000 troops in Europe they will withdraw.
Germany is considering spending $29 billion to buy 2500 GTK Boxer armored vehicles and 1000 Leopard 2 tanks that would equip the seven new brigades it promised to build in the next ten years.
A Czech company is accused of sending missile components to Russia. A Turkish company sends 99% of its deliveries to Russia. And a German steelmaker that said it exited the Russian market is still operating there.
In May 2024, Moldova and the EU signed a security agreement. Since Russian drones and missiles violated Moldovan airspace, the EU promised to send air defense equipment of some type at some point in 2025. Moldova will update a 2012 law with clear procedures for intercepting aircraft and drones.
Ukraine now has four minesweepers that the UK and Norway donated but Turkey won’t allow them to enter the Black Sea until the war is over, citing the Montreux Convention. Turkey also said they won’t allow ships of nations not on the Black Sea to pass through the Turkish Straits, nor any warship they believe that can be pulled into the war. The minesweepers transferred to Romania have also been denied entry. While they are biding their time, the minesweepers are taking part in a NATO exercise.
The EU is providing €76 million to construct the Eurorail line between Lviv and the Polish border.
Trump lifted sanctions against building a Russian nuclear plant in Hungary.
35% of Poles support Ukraine’s entry into the EU and 42% oppose it. 37% supporting Ukraine joining NATO and 42% oppose it. Discuss in the comments.
The Trump administration extended the Biden-era sanctions against Russian banks and energy. Trump lifted sanctions against Syria which removed Russian banks, companies and individuals connected to those sanctions. Trump has not issued new Russian sanctions (he issued 280 against Iran), which are important to counter activities that avoided the older sanctions. That is especially important with the gaps created by lifting the Syrian sanctions. Biden issued an average of 170 new sanctions a month from 2022 to 2024. 130 companies in China/Hong Kong are advertising the sale of restricted chips to Russia. A chip from a Hong Kong company that was incorporated nine months ago was in a Kh-101 missile that killed ten civilians in Kyiv. That company is linked to four other companies that were established within the last three years. An economist said that with sanctions, you need to run just to stand still. Trump is not ‘running’ and the gaps created by lifting the Syrian sanctions have him walking backwards. Three Democrats are investigating the five-month pause on new sanctions.
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Equipment
‘The Drone Coalition’ seeks to aid Ukraine with increased production and technological advances of drones. Latvia and the UK head the coalition, and Belgium and Turkey just joined. The other nations in the coalition are Ukraine, Australia, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Estonia, Italy, New Zealand, Canada, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Türkiye, Germany, and Sweden. They committed to providing €2.75 billion for drone projects this year and have delivered €180 million so far.
Drones started off by dropping grenades. The munitions grew in size with the Vampire drone being reported to have a lift capability of 15 kg, the weight of a 120 mm mortar shell, and could carry 10 kg for 20 minutes at 40 kph. Ukraine says the Vampire drone can now carry 122 mm and 155 mm artillery shells. A 122 mm shell weighs 22 kg and a 155 mm shell weighs 45 kg. Ukraine modified drone-dropped RPG rounds to reduce weight. There were no details about Ukraine modifying the artillery rounds.
Ukraine approved a 5.56mm round that fragments without damaging the rifle barrel and provides a greater chance of hitting a drone with multiple fragments. At 100 meters, the fragments spread into a 25 cm diameter. Soldiers will be expected to carry a magazine of anti-drone rounds on them to use when threatened. Anti-drone rounds of other calibers are being developed.
The Raven air defense system from the UK has been operating in Ukraine for two years. 400 missiles have been launched and 70% hit their target.
The Wild Hornets are delivering interceptor drones and anti-aircraft FPV drones. A video in May showed an interceptor drone catch up to a Shahed drone at high altitude.
China detonated a hydrogen-based bomb that created a fireball of 1000 C for more than two seconds, which is 15 times longer than a TNT blast. When a silvery powder (magnesium hydride) is activated by conventional explosives it undergoes rapid thermal decomposition and releases hydrogen gas that is ignited. They created a plant that can produce 150 tons of magnesium hydride a year. Binding magnesium to hydrogen requires high temperatures and pressure. Exposure to air during the manufacturing process can lead to an explosion. The precision of the explosion makes it useful for directional weapons and could be used to power submarines. China is also developing electric-powered warships, hybrid-powered tanks and electromagnetic space launch systems.
In 2023, the US spent $784 billion and China spent $723 billion. The US just passed a bill that cut 56% of the $9 billion National Science Foundation funding and reduced staffing and fellowships by 73%, which will impact future generations of scientists. For every dollar the government spent on research over the last 75 years there’s been a 150-300% return on investment.
Alexander Kovalenko notes 1391 Shahed-type drone strikes fr the first week of July and that was not a record. So over 5000 a month and growing. Quite a lot….
Thank you both, once again. An impressive, detailed and essential analysis, if harrowing!