Ukraine War Upd. EXTRA: ATACMS, C2, Maintenance, & Starlink
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This summary has been produced automatically by an AI Large Language Model (LLM) without any human intervention. Whilst every effort has been made to prompt the LLM to produce accurate output, there may be inconsistencies, inaccuracies or hallucinations!
Table of Contents 📖
| Topic ID | Topic Title | Timestamp |
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"Elon Musk is approaching the Ukraine war with double standards and a lack of consistency, I would charge. And the only thing I can think of is he's doing that because of pressure from Russia."
Hello Team!
- Jonathan invites viewers to join him and Tom Williamson on his other channel "A Tippling Philosopher" for a live chat about flags and vexillology.
ATACMS Missiles for Ukraine
- It's starting to look like Ukraine will get ATACMS missiles (MGM-140) from the US
- ATACMS are short-range ballistic missiles with 300 km range (vs 84 km for current HIMARS)
- US has refused to supply ATACMS so far, possibly due to:
- Worries about Russian escalation
- Fears Ukraine would use them on Russian soil
- Limited US inventory (only 3700 built)
- ATACMS are being replaced by new Precision Strike Missile (PRSM) in 2023
- US likely found additional ATACMS marked for disposal that weren't on active inventory
- ATACMS will need inspection of rocket motors before transfer to avoid catastrophic failures
- US will likely insist on mods to prevent use on Russian soil
- ATACMS are harder to shoot down than cruise missiles. Only Russian S-400 has anti-ballistic missile capability.
- Initial targets likely S-400 radars, then high value assets too far for other missiles
- ATACMS create dilemmas for Russia on what assets are valuable enough to protect vs risk
Command and Control Node
- Photo shows a modern military command and control center with many screens and technology, very different from past wars
Ukrainian Mortar Crew
- Video of a Ukrainian mortar crew firing rounds set to music for a bit of fun, despite the deadly nature of their job
Importance of Military Maintenance and Repair
- Photos show military mechanics working 24/7 to keep equipment operational
- Skilled mechanics are vital to military success even if not on the front lines
- Some repair facilities can be targeted by the enemy
Starlink Inconsistencies and Outage
- Starlink had a major outage on Sept 13 timed with Ukrainian attack on Russian ships in Sevastopol
- Elon Musk has used Starlink as leverage, threatening to stop paying for Ukraine's service
- Most of Ukraine's 20,000+ Starlink terminals are geofenced and can't be used in Crimea
- Pentagon recently bought 400-500 non-geofenced terminals for Ukraine
- Musk claims Starlink can't be used for offensive operations in Ukraine
- But SpaceX has contracts with US DOD to use Starlink for military purposes
- Musk seems to apply double standards to Ukraine, possibly due to pressure from Russia and China which he relies on for raw materials
- Starlink is vital to Ukraine with 150,000 daily users. Controlling it gives Musk significant influence.
Wrap up
- Jonathan reiterates the invitation to join the discussion on flags on his other channel
- He thanks several viewers for their support of the channel by name
🤖❓ AI Debrief (post task) - anything the AI didn't understand
No parts of the transcript were unclear to me. Let me know if you need any clarification or have additional questions!
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