Yes this event was before the US got involved. Even then, starlink currently doesn't work outside Ukrainian controlled territory and there are often issues when there are advances.
I think the US are utter fools for allowing this and space X be controlled by this easily manipulated idiot. But this revelation isn't going to directly lead to anything bar being another in a litany of reasons why he shouldn't and can't be trusted.
Be nice when we see one of them going up like a Belfast bonfire.
So it wasn't protective paint after all, they really are putting tires on their aircraft
I am kind of unsure of the timing (maybe have not followed this closely enough).
I think SpaceX has some contract with the US dept. of defence now to provide Starlink to Ukraine's military, but perhaps they didn't when he was doing his shenanigans of first letting them use it and then cooling on it (edit: article posted by "Putin's raging bile duct" implies that:)
Shotwell, president of SpaceX, also felt strongly that the company should stop subsidizing the Ukrainian military operation. Providing humanitarian help was fine, but private companies should not be financing a foreign country’s war. That should be left to the government, which is why the United States has a foreign military sales program that puts a layer of protection between private companies and foreign governments. Other companies, including big and profitable defense contractors, were charging billions to supply weapons to Ukraine, so it seemed unfair that Starlink, which was not yet profitable, should do it for free.
The real problem here is deeper than Elon Musk's dodgy politics, his dangerous affection for despots and his odd ideas. It is a private company and in the end 1 rich individual having that level of power over the US space programme + how the assets get used (ultimately, I think the US govt. i.e. the long suffering taxpayer has paid for most of it?!).
Wouldn't want to think what's happening to this fella at the moment. Respect.
..
For all the starlink talk, here's a link showing the location of the satellites
You'll notice a couple of "trains" of them heading into their orbit after they were launched earlier this year.
(stolen from here https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121084288/#Comment_121084288)
And as always, you will have Ukraine's best Friend, Russian Corruption, at play. So while the engineers may be producing plans for improving older tank's etc, or designing new ones, ( Armata being one very apt example) the reality coming off the production lines may not quite match up to the plans. They were prepared for literally a 3 day war, and were caught out badly and are paying the price now. There was the case that when the went to take new tanks out of storage, the engines had been removed. I wonder what % of their damaged vehicles have been repaired even? Anything that needed any kind of part from the west is now at the very least hindered, if not downright stopped. Logistics has never been a Russian strongpoint.
i wouldnt be any kind of an expert but id guess that while they may be trying to take a bit more care when theyre building these things the russian mafia havnt gone all suddenly patriotic or anything,they would still be looking for their bite cause the rouble pile has to be re-built so of course the quality of anything thats made will suffer.
Read this article if you lot think I'm making it up
Not sure if serious but it's worrying if you think this way.
He says he just never switched it on, which given it is not normally on in Crimea is not that hard to believe. This is far from the first time there have been issues with Starlink in frontier areas and if you think this is what will finally lead to recriminations for Musk I suspect you'll be disappointed.
Why on earth he is in contact with senior russian officials as he claimed is a different and incredibly serious matter of course.
There was an update to that story that the service was not available in that area and they did not activate it for the operation.
The update also says it was not turned off or deactivated as it was not operational.
He's a military contractor because the US military paid for the starlink service. Switching off the bloody signal in the middle of an operation is breaking a contract all day long. Jesus for all we know he's been handing over information on the Ukrainians to the Russians too. He's in deep sh*t for this.
There might be more care given to production/ refurbishment of equipment in more recent times. This would be balanced with a need for increased urgency and ,as you mentioned, the impact of sanctions. Some of David Axe's articles at Forbes are quite decent as regards the equipment side of the conflict. For example on the subject of T80 tanks. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/02/09/now-russia-is-adding-inferior-optics-to-its-t-80-tanks-too/?sh=460fdb02e95a
Starlink has never been active in Russian occupied areas. Musk is saying they didn't specially activate, the other story is he turned it off mid-mission. All a bit messy though he for sure does not come out of it looking good.
Highly doubt it broke any contract though.
By switching off the satellite link he's broken his contract with the US military who paid for that service. This is a huge deal and I think it will be his downfall. He has no right to interfere in another countries hostilities. US government should take away his citizenship, strip all his assets and deport him. Maybe a few months in Guantanamo bay would help him think about the assistance he gave to a terrorist state.
So would you agree that the sooner the Russian military are eliminated from Ukraine the better?
That's a straight question.
Good account to follow on twitter.
I think he is loved by right wing figures in the USA…. I think he is a scum bag
Would it be an option in future to "accidentally" redirect a flight Elon was on towards Kiev and then let him be a guest to Ukrainian hospitality? In repayment all of his attempts to piss on their efforts to counter the actual war and escalated conflict that Elon's Russian buddies have already waged upon Ukraine?
Elon is such a hateful clown. Not only do very few take him at all seriously, but now he can look forward to the active hatred of the entirity of Ukraine, aswell as from anyone gives a damn about the Ukrainians...which is nearly everyone.
Thanks Elon
Yes! Exactly my point a few posts above, but much more succinctly put.
It's far more likely they are now rushing out tanks with less checks than before.
They may "want" the equipment to be 100% but they "need" the equipment right now.
I'd wager they're trying harder with their renovation efforts of the older Soviet armor now, compared to before they realised that their "3-Day-War" would balloon into a 3-year+ fiasco that would eat away at possibly more than half of their entire mechanised arsenal. Now they know that half-arsing it won't cut it when their tanks are starting to meet NATO gear, I would expect that they're trying harder.
But have they the reasorces or even the energy left to try harder? Possibly not.
Just wondering would the Russian equipment been made now be better quality then before the war? I mean say a tank for example before the war it looked like they were missing some of their armor/heat shields and we're burning up like that. Seemed corruption that they were missing parts to make the tanks 100% with the war going the way it is would there more likely be more checks on tanks etc now that Russia is producing as they literally need their equipment to be 100%. I know over sanctions things might not be 100% but more that can't be helped I just mean in general would their equipment be better made then pre war now?
More sense and reality from Timothy Snyder.
"Ukrainian territorial advances this summer have been sufficient to trigger a barrage of calls for a cease-fire from Kremlin-friendly voices. Given the way or media seems to work, these calls (rather than the events on the ground) sometimes seem to be the news. Pro-Kremlin op-eds smuggle in the assumption that Ukraine is not advancing, when in fact it is. The Kremlin allies make their case in terms of Ukrainian suffering, but never cite Ukrainians, nor the polling data that shows overwhelming support for the war."
"I don’t know any Ukrainians at this point who have not lost a friend or a family member in this war. My friends now tend to have a certain dark circle around the eyes and a tendency to look into the middle distance. And yet the level of determination is very, very high."
Is there anything as deflating as to see two pages of new posts on here only to find it is an over and back session with another hair splitting contrarian.
You bought it up. You are affecting some kind of intellectual tutting that people here would laugh at mighty Russia reduced to dusting off post ww2 equipment. You referred to laughing at "adversaries" as if we here have some kind of personal connection with the conflict. The weird segue is yours
Isn't that growth spurred on by the fact Russia is spending a fortune on this war so on paper the economy will show growth but it's all money and men down the drain will provide them no economic return long term?
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