X-Files

How 'dummy tanks' and decoys in Ukraine war help deceive enemy forces (msn.com)

I'm surprised we don't have a thread on this, and nothing surfaced despite my pathetic search attempts. That said, for all the rest of you knuckledraggers across the globe who took one step forward and served your countries, let us wash away our collective memories of 'The Suck' with copious volumes of alcohol. (Same shit, different continents and centuries - amIright?)

Russian special forces captured modernized Ukrainian tanks near Chernihiv, Russia - Daily News (txtreport.com)

Tennis balls, flintlocks and grenades.

I've been meaning to serenade you!

When US President Joe Biden recently signed off on a $80m (£64.6m) grant to Taiwan for the purchase of American military equipment, China said it "deplores and opposes" what Washington had done. To the casual observer it didn't appear a steep sum. It was less than the cost of a single modern fighter jet. Taiwan already has on order more than $14bn worth of US military equipment. Does a miserly $80m more matter? While fury is Beijing's default response to any military support for Taiwan, this time something was different. The $80m is not a loan. It comes from American taxpayers. For the first time in more than 40 years, America is using its own money to send weapons to a place it officially doesn't recognise. This is happening under a programme called foreign military finance (FMF). The US is quietly arming Taiwan to the teeth - BBC News

China said Thursday its troops were “on constant high alert” after US and Canadian warships passed through the Taiwan Strait, their second joint passage in two months. China on 'Alert' After US, Canadian Ships Cross Taiwan Strait (thedefensepost.com)

Life imitates Art Dagestan: Mob storms Russian airport in search of Jews - BBC News

If folks new to this site are Kriegspielling, check out this thread

I've got a shelf full of AOI related references and have dug into the microfilm Italian archives in DC (did you know there was a complete inventory of small arms taken in 1940?). That said, my sense was that the Commonwealth viewed Mussalini's "One Million Bayonets" as a cheeky move and had been preparing to bitch-slap the Italians under the premise of "why buy what they could take - on a shoestring budget?" since the moment Mussolini dropped gas on the Ethiopians.

This 12+ year old thread is based on OSINT, which if we're creating a wargame some speculation is required about 'what we don't know we don't know'. That said is why we broach rumors (aka RUMINT or Rumor Intelligence). If Beijing has anti-submarine traps in the Taiwan Strait and has actually been 'hoisted on their own Petard', ONI/Pentagon certainly isn't going to let on that they know or HOW they know what happened. So consider that an [? OBSTACLE ?] counter when you're running up your OOB for HARPOON 2024.

BEIJING, Oct 9 (Reuters) - China on Monday warned the Philippines against further "provocations" at an atoll in the South China Sea, saying such acts had violated Chinese territorial sovereignty, contravened international law and disrupted regional peace and stability. The Philippines' territory is defined by a series of international treaties, and the atoll has never been part of its territory, the Chinese foreign ministry said in a strongly worded statement, referring to the atoll as Renai Reef. China urges Philippines to end 'provocations' in South China Sea | Reuters

Watch the 'comedy' video I posted and contemplate.