And the UK has now signed for the Aster 30 block 1 production with the full ABM upgrade. There is about 30+ years of history to get to this place. Big stuff coming down one's funnel very fast at a steep angle has long been a worry.Basically, no.
Ukraine started the war with a variety of medium & long range surface-to-air (SAM) missile systems that were ex-Soviet. The longest range of these was the S-300 system, specifically the S-300PT, S-300PS, S-300PMU, S-300V1. If you look at the wiki article (link below) and study the family tree of the development of the S300 family, you will note that these are all earlier models in the S-300 with technology that is typically ex-1980s era Soviet. If you then look at the performance table you will appreciate that there is little or no utility against ballistic missile targets. And Ukraine does not have many of them. And at best the 'bubble' that might be defended by one system is maybe 20km or so radius. Therefore in practical terms Ukraine has somewhere between negligible and no defence against ballistic missiles.
(They have done some re-generation of their S300 systems since the Russian invasion of 2014, and some rather good indigenous upgrades, but the primary focus has been on anti-aircraft/cruise missile, not anti-ballistic missile).
Even the media-darling the Patriot system is not perfect, nor is the European equivalent (PAAMs with Aster 30). These are very costly and sophisticated systems and it is going to be a very big decision if the West starts selling these to Ukraine. Personally I think it more likely that the West would first sell things like F16/etc than these things. Such aircraft would give Ukraine a real opportunity to first gain localised air control, then go after the Russian launchers, in a much more cost-effective manner. Anyway here are some further links to give you a flavour.
Is the SAMP-T (Aster missile) better than the US Patriot surface-to-air missile? Which is better than the other?
Answer (1 of 5): Both surface-to-air missile systems are inherently different and difficult to compare, but are incredibly capable within their own right. The MIM-104E Patriot PAC-2 GEM-T will be used for the analysis since the PAC-3 is a whole other beast. TLDR, The Franco-Italian system is a m...www.quora.com
ukdefencejournal.org.uk
www.bbc.com
www.france24.com
I see the call for F16s a lot but there is a significant problem with this. The planes are relatively easy to fly and Ukrainian pilots could literally use Digital Combat Simulator (DCS) to get 3/4s of the way there with transition training. The problem is in supporting the hardware. The Eastern Block and US mentality on hardware design and support is radically different. You can work on a Mig/SU with a hammer, screw driver and adjustable wrench (I have) if needed. They were literally designed to be very robust and to be worked on by any farm boy conscript. The US hardware is a completely different animal and a real PITA to support both from a technical level and a maintenance hour per flight hour standpoint. It will not be plug and play and would likely take giving Ukraine access to US depot level service and support in Europe.
www.svt.se
My Swedish is rustyDon't remember seeing this in the thread:
And this assessment is shared by the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces (in Swedish):
ÖB ser risk för storkrig: Delar bilden av en förskräcklig situation
Rysslands anfallskrig i Ukraina kan eskalera och Nato kan bli indraget. Den oron gav Natos generalsekreterare Jens Stoltenberg uttryck för i en intervju med NRK tidigare i december. Nu bekräftar även Sveriges överbefälhavare Micael Bydén att han delar Stoltenbergs uppfattning i SVT:s 30 minuter...
This in nothing unique for Sweden in any way. Very similar political processes have occurred in both Denmark and Norway X amount of years ago. Sweden is just lagging behind for various reasons. There are also a similar party in the Netherland for example. But in both Denmark and Norway both the parties that are similar to the Sweden Democrats have since lost in popularity...
And these countries including Sweden aren't the US. And the issues in Sweden as an example aren't the same as in the US. For one thing Sweden is a mostly secular country when it comes to ethnic Swedes. Everything religious is for the most part unanimously and openly ridiculed. Think Monty Python's Life of Brian but on steroids.
Except for Islam of course as John Cleese explains pretty well...
John Cleese blasts political correctness
Speaking to Bill Maher , the legendary comedian said he used to make race jokes about nationalities such as the French and Australians - but if he mentioned Mexicans it was deemed unacceptable.www.dailymail.co.uk
...which in turn has been illustrated several times in incidents like these:
So what are the issues in Sweden? The main ones are Crime and Economics.
Crime
Sweden election: Gang shootings cast shadow over vote
Violent crime is a top issue for voters going to the polls on Sunday.
Criminal 'clans' challenge Sweden's law enforcement - France 24
Criminal 'clans' challenge Sweden's law enforcement
The 4(?) people convicted for this were all residing in Sweden.
Not directly linked to the 2010 plot above. 5 were killed and 14 seriously injured:
Here's an 'incident' where Sweden was VERY, VERY lucky. That bomb only killed the terrorist but would have killed some 80 people and seriously wounded another ~200 if it had worked. Only pure luck prevented that mass murder...
Hard to find good sources in English about this, but unfortunately this is another huge problem. The links are about Norway and Germany, but the same basic problem exists in both Sweden and Denmark for example.
And then there's stuff like this:
And there are unfortunately a lot more honor killings than just those two...
Economics
This far immigration in Sweden has been a substantial cost to the Swedish economy. One part of that is probably that very few people (if any) can speak Swedish when they come here. If English was Sweden's official language that would most likely help...
Full disclosure
I've never voted for the Sweden Democrats myself. But that doesn't mean that I don't understand that there unfortunately does exist very real problems here...
And
Now please... You were the one that brought up Sweden and for whatever reason made me feel compelled 'to make certain corrections'... If you are going to continue posting about Sweden I suggest you start some other thread and continue there instead. If you link to it from this thread I'll see it. Not saying I'll continue to respond though...
Don't remember seeing this in the thread:
And this assessment is shared by the Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces (in Swedish):
ÖB ser risk för storkrig: Delar bilden av en förskräcklig situation
Rysslands anfallskrig i Ukraina kan eskalera och Nato kan bli indraget. Den oron gav Natos generalsekreterare Jens Stoltenberg uttryck för i en intervju med NRK tidigare i december. Nu bekräftar även Sveriges överbefälhavare Micael Bydén att han delar Stoltenbergs uppfattning i SVT:s 30 minuter...
Azerbaijan is not in the CSTO.
Well yes. Yes I think that's about overdue.Azerbaijan is not in the CSTO.
The Azeris were in from 1994 (a couple of year's after Russia set up the CSTO) until 1999 (when the Azeris left). The Azeris left in 1999 at the same time as Georgia and Uzbekistan. The reasons were obvious and the evidence was not very far along the Caucasus. See OSCE if you are unsure of background.
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Can I gently suggest the USA-colleagues please stop trying to explain European socio-politics to the rest of us, especially to the many of us who actually live here.
Azerbaijan is not in the CSTO.
The Azeris were in from 1994 (a couple of year's after Russia set up the CSTO) until 1999 (when the Azeris left). The Azeris left in 1999 at the same time as Georgia and Uzbekistan. The reasons were obvious and the evidence was not very far along the Caucasus. See OSCE if you are unsure of background.
I agree but we need your input as well as other Europeans recognizing that there are many points of view. For example I have extreme difficulty getting my mind around Israel issues without my biases toward Jewish history and people. We in the USA need to learn from not only you but others in Europe that may disagree. I say this with all admiration for the Nordic States
OK.
but over the years I've lived many places, and I am not a stranger to Israel either.
I would add, 'to the world'. That in no way alters the reality that Russian military targets within Russian borders are explicitly legitimate under international law. Russia is the aggressor, but destroying cultural patrimony is a bad idea and illegal even though the Russians are doing that. The actual cause is that following the Mongol example ends out with extreme prejudice. Keeping those attacks strictly military works.
