F16 Swan Song

The weekend of the August 24/25, 2024, containing Ukraine Independence Day, is expected to be one of extreme violence across the skies of that benighted country. A very angry Russia is expected to unleash fury on the remaining, fractured infrastructure of Ukraine as well as hitting government and military targets in and around major cities. Foreign nations have warned their citizens in that country to flee for their lives using any independent means.

This weekend is also expected to see the first (and possibly last) operational use of the outdated F16 fighters provided as a supposedly balancing force for Russian air superiority over Ukraine.

I am not an expert by any means on the prospects of success for either side but it does seem to me to be a situation much favouring the ultra modern Russian air and air defence assets.

Here is a Russian analysis, from earlier this year, of what may ensue…

‘F-16 for Ukraine-use cases and its prospects’ – Arsenal of the Fatherland – June 22, 2024

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We have already seen cuts to services and increases in taxes and user fees, and we can expect a great deal more of that dynamic as central authorities emulate hypothermic bodies. In other words, they will cut off the circulation to the fingers and toes in order to preserve the core. This is of course, a survival strategy, from the point of view of the core. But it does nothing good for the prospects of ordinary people, who represent the fingers and the toes.
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John Michael Greer
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We should live as if we were in public view, and think, too, as if someone could peer into the inmost recesses of our hearts. The Blight which assails us is not in the localities we inhabit but in ourselves. We are more wicked together than separately. If you are ever forced to be in a crowd, then most of all you should withdraw into yourself. Never trust another to do your thinking. Even a maston.
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F16 Swan Song

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