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☆ Wall Street pros reveal their top defense stocks — and the same names keep coming up
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Zavier Ong | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The iShares U.S. Aerospace & Defense ETF (ITA), which tracks the performance of U.S.-listed aerospace and defense stocks, rose 8.8% in 2022 and is up more than 2% this year. He said defense stocks are "one way to protect the other parts of the portfolio that are under pressure." "I'm bullish on aerospace and defense stocks, and I think those are names that should be in a longer-term portfolio. The investment bank described Moog as a "transition story" that will benefit from an "extended defense spending lift." Other South Korean stocks with exposure to the defense sector include Hyundai Heavy Industries and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering.

The potential sale includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), which Kyiv has praised for their battlefield successes such as destroying Russian warehouses and command posts. The package includes 18 HIMARS launchers, 45 of the 185-mile (297-km) range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) missiles and more than 1,000 Guided Multiple Rocket Launch System (GMLRS) rockets. The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the potential sale on Tuesday. In May, Poland requested an additional 500 HIMARS launchers from the United States, but, according to Polish media, Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT.N) said it was possible to offer around 200. In October, Poland signed an agreement to buy 288 Chunmoo rocket launchers from South Korea.

A far-right faction of House Republicans is pushing against continued US aid to Ukraine. Those concerns ratcheted up amid House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's tumultuous journey to secure the gavel last month. Kyiv, for its part, has kept a close eye on Congress' dynamics since the GOP won a narrow House majority in the November midterms. "This GOP House majority will demand more oversight, transparency, and accountability to ensure assistance to Ukraine is used as intended," McCaul said in a statement. "Most Europeans don't think that suddenly the US is going to cut support to Ukraine," Araud said, adding that nobody anticipates Washington will "dump Ukraine."

☆ Fact Check-Comparison of Biden remarks on sending tanks to Ukraine are missing context
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

U.S. President Joe Biden announced last week that the U.S. would be supplying Ukraine with 31 Abrams tanks. The move aligns with the administrations ongoing military support to Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in February 2022. Posts online comparing the move to a statement by Biden in March 2022 saying the presence of American troops and equipment in Ukraine would mean “World War Three” are missing context. Biden announced on Jan. 25 that the U.S. will supply Ukraine with 31 advanced M1 Abrams tanks worth $400 million, Reuters reported (here). Biden’s remarks on sending tanks to Ukraine have been cropped in online memes.

☆ Fact Check-Germany did not 'officially declare war' on Russia in January 2023
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Germany has not actually declared war on Russia, despite posts online characterizing recent German actions and a statement by its foreign minister as a declaration of war. While many users are making the claim figuratively, others appear to question whether Germany really declared war on Russia (here) and (here). The Russian state TASS news agency on Jan. 25 said there was “evidence of premeditated war against Russia” due to comments made by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock a day earlier (tass.com/politics/1567089). A German foreign ministry spokesperson said that Russia twisted Baerbock’s comments for propaganda purposes, according to Reuters reporting on Jan. 27 (here). Germany has not declared war on Russia.

☆ Here’s How Bernard Arnault Became the Richest Person in the World
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tanks in Ukraine: How Abrams and Leopard Tanks Compare to Russia's T-72s As the U.S. and its allies start sending Abrams, Leopards and other tanks to help Ukraine, those vehicles are set to change the dynamics of the war along the front lines. WSJ examines how the tanks that Ukraine will receive from the West compare with Russia’s vehicles. Illustration: Adam Adada

☆ Why America’s Water Infrastructure Is Crumbling
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ Germany, the US, and the UK are sending armored vehicles to Ukraine. Here's how the Leopard 2A6, M1 Abrams, and other NATO tanks compare.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Lara Jäkel | Nathan Rennolds | Business Insider Deutschland | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine has been urging Western countries to supply it with tanks it can use against Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz relented to pressure and agreed to send Leopard 2A6 battle tanks. Here's how the "predator on tracks" compares to NATO armored vehicles heading to or in Ukraine. After months of mounting pressure and calls from other European leaders to act, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz agreed on January 24 that Germany would send 14 Leopard 2A6 tanks to Ukraine. This is how the tank compares to other Western armored vehicles being sent to Ukraine.

"This could slow down [a Russian assault] significantly," said Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Ukraine's former defence minister. This was a major boost for the Ukrainian military, allowing it to destroy Russian ammunition dumps and weapons storage facilities. "We are currently unable to reach Russian military facilities more than 80 kilometres away," said Ukrainian military analyst Oleksandr Musiyenko. Beyond the logistical impact, the addition of a longer-range weapon to Ukraine's arsenal could help shake Russian confidence. Still, said Karako, it is possible the Ukrainians could end up receiving an even longer range weapon in the future.

☆ The Western-made tanks heading to Ukraine are unique — but that creates unique problems for Ukraine's military
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

While most modern tanks run on diesel, the Abrams uses a Honeywell 1,500-horsepower gas-turbine engine that functions best when burning JP-8 jet fuel. Challenger tanks were credited with destroying 300 Iraqi tanks. When Turkish Leopard 2s battled ISIS fighters in Syria in 2016, the results were less than impressive. Leopard manufacturer Rheinmetall has 22 Leopard 2s and 88 older Leopard 1s in its inventory, but those can't be made battle-ready until at least 2024. What matters is how many Ukraine will receive — 31 Abrams and 14 Challenger 2s are not a lot — and how Ukraine's military uses them.

☆ Why Amtrak Service Is Slow in Most of the U.S.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

☆ The US's powerful Abrams tanks are heading to Ukraine, but generals disagree over how hard it'll be to use them on the battlefield
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Sebastien Roblin | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +19 min

The US has pledged to send Abrams tanks to Ukraine, joining a bevy of Western-made tanks. Here comes the M1 Abrams for UkraineA M1A2 Abrams tank fires at a target during an exercise. The same day, word spread that US President Joe Biden would announce he was sending 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine. But Hertling disagreed that withholding the M1 Abrams was a "political decision" and didn't find the examples of non-US Abrams operators persuasive. M1 Abrams: training and sustainmentAn M1A2 Abrams drives into the woods during an exercise in Hohenfels, Germany.

☆ Kremlin welcomes bounty offer for destroying Western tanks in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Summary This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine. MOSCOW, Feb 1 (Reuters) - The Kremlin on Wednesday welcomed a Russian company's offer of "bounty payments" for soldiers who destroy Western-made tanks on the battlefield in Ukraine, saying it would spur Russian forces to victory. The Russian company Fores this week offered 5 million roubles ($72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture U.S.-made Abrams or German Leopard 2 tanks in Ukraine. On Wednesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russian troops would "burn" any Western tanks that were delivered to Ukraine, adding the bounties were extra encouragement for Russian soldiers. The Western-made tanks - far more advanced than anything used by Ukraine or Russia in the conflict so far - are unlikely to arrive at the frontlines in eastern and southern Ukraine for several months.

☆ Tyre Nichols Is Remembered at Memphis Funeral Attended by Harris
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Tanks in Ukraine: How Abrams and Leopard Tanks Compare to Russia's T-72sAs the U.S. and its allies start sending Abrams, Leopards and other tanks to help Ukraine, those vehicles are set to change the dynamics of the war along the front lines. WSJ examines how the tanks that Ukraine will receive from the West compare with Russia’s vehicles. Illustration: Adam Adada

☆ Fact Check-Clip of tanks transported by railway was filmed in Kansas, not Poland
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

A video of tanks being carried by railway in a snowy landscape was recorded in central Kansas. Reuters could not independently confirm when the footage was recorded, but it does not depict tanks in Poland. The Jan. 26 post’s description states the clip was filmed on Jan. 24 in Kansas, “approximately one mile west of Gorham on Highway 40”. The user also shared another clip further showing a line of tanks in what appears to be the same road (here). This clip was filmed in Kansas, not Poland, and has been described in media reports as filmed on Jan. 24, 2023.

☆ News outlets raced to publish Trump’s lawsuit against Woodward. Experts say the suit ‘has no legal merit whatsoever’
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Oliver Darcy | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +5 min

Trump this week filed a $50 million lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, alleging that when Woodward published audio of their interviews in his audiobook it breached his rights by constituting copyright violations. Most legal experts CNN contacted on Tuesday quickly dismissed Trump’s lawsuit against Woodward as meritless. But instead of major outlets pausing to gather this much-needed context after Trump filed his suit against Woodward, most newsrooms simply published stories echoing his complaint. Judge Donald Middlebrooks pointed to Trump’s “pattern of misusing the courts to serve political purposes” as he took note of several other failed lawsuits Trump has brought in recent years. It is also dismaying given the larger discussion among the press over the years about not succumbing hook, line, and sinker for Trump’s stunts.

☆ Rare battlefield footage shows how Ukraine's upgraded Soviet-era tanks are outperforming Russia's upgraded Soviet-era tanks
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Stavros Atlamazoglou | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine upgraded many of its tanks before the war, but Russia also had newer, higher-quality tanks. On the outskirts of a destroyed town, the Ukrainian tank is advances down a road, straight toward the Russian tank. Without stopping, the Ukrainian tank fires a round at its adversary. Ukrainian troops perform maintenance on tanks near the frontline in Donbas on January 18. More victories, better weaponsUkrainian troops inspect a destroyed Russian tank near Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region in December.

☆ Russia's war in Ukraine backfired by uniting NATO, even as cracks emerged over nearly a year of fighting
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( Jake Epstein | John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

When Putin invaded Ukraine, he miscalculated the response from Western countries. NATO has been largely united in its response to Russia's war, consistently providing Kyiv with military aid. Russian President Vladimir Putin has effectively succeeded in remaking the Western bloc, Araud said, adding that "the Western alliance is back." After the Soviet Union collapsed, both Finland and Sweden became NATO partner countries but stopped short of pursuing full membership. Even under the intense pressure of war, the alliance is "holding the way that they have in the past," he said.

☆ Russian business offers cash bounties to destroy Western tanks in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-30 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 30 (Reuters) - A Russian company said it will offer five million roubles ($72,000) in cash to the first soldiers who destroy or capture western-made tanks in Ukraine, after the Kremlin vowed Russian forces would wipe out any Western tanks shipped to Ukraine. Now a Russian company - Fores, a Urals-based firm which makes proppants for the energy industry - is offering cash payments to Russian servicemen who "capture or destroy" German-made Leopard 2 or U.S.-made Abrams tanks. The company said it will pay five million roubles to the first Russian soldier to destroy one of the tanks, and 500,000 roubles ($7,200) for all subsequent attacks. It also said it would pay a 15-million rouble ($215,000) bounty on Western-made fighter jets, should they ever be delivered to Ukraine. Since the start of the conflict, Russia's defence ministry has claimed to have destroyed hundreds of pieces of Western weaponry.

☆ German chancellor's indecision on sending tanks to Ukraine has created a new word in Western war room politics: Scholzing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has faced criticism for delaying the delivery of tanks to Ukraine. Scholz's indecision became the topic of Ukrainian memes that coined the term "Scholzing." "Scholzing" means to communicate good intentions, but find or invent reasons to delay action. As Scholz spent weeks hesitating — and facing international pressure — over sending advanced Leopard 2 tanks to battle Russian forces in Ukraine, his name took on a new meaning. He also insisted the move be tied to a United States commitment to send their own Abrams tanks to the frontlines.

Persons: Валгалли

☆ Crimea is shaping up to be the battleground that will decide the Russia-Ukraine war
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( John Haltiwanger | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

Crimea is poised to be the next big battlefield, and one that could decide the Ukraine war. "The decisive terrain for this war is Crimea," Ben Hodges, a former commander of US Army Europe, told Insider. Ukraine will "never be safe or secure" if Russia retains control of Crimea, Hodges siad. The fight to retake Crimea could be extremely bloody, in a war that's already led to massive casualties for both sides. President of UkraineUkrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pledged to expel Russian forces out of all occupied territory, including Crimea.

☆ Kremlin: Putin open 'to contacts' with Germany's Scholz, RIA reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Jan 29 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to contacts with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz though has no phone call scheduled with him, a Kremlin spokesman told the state RIA Novosti news agency on Sunday. The announcement, followed shortly afterwards by a U.S. pledge of M1 Abrams tanks to Kyiv, infuriated the Kremlin. "For now, there are no agreed talks (with Scholz) in the schedule. Putin has been and remains open to contacts," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti. Putin and Scholz last spoke by phone in early December.

☆ 'Fast-track' talks are underway between Ukraine and Western allies for missiles and planes
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-28 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Ukraine and its Western allies are engaged in "fast-track" talks on the possibility of equipping the invaded country with long-range missiles and military aircraft, a top Ukrainian presidential aide said Saturday. Orban has refused to send weapons to neighboring Ukraine and sought to block EU funds earmarked for military aid. Amid news of the coordinated effort, Russia bombarded Ukraine with missiles, exploding drones and artillery shells. The attacks continued Saturday when Russian missiles struck the city of Kostyantynivka in eastern Ukraine's Donetsk province. In a separate Telegram post earlier Saturday, Kyrylenko reported that Russian attacks in the province killed four civilians in all and wounded seven others in 24 hours.

☆ Wagner Group Designated by U.S. as Transnational Criminal Group
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Mengqi Sun | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

The U.S. took action Thursday against Russian private military group Wagner Group, designating it as a significant transnational criminal organization over its actions in combat operations in Ukraine on behalf of President Vladimir Putin. The U.S. Treasury Department said Wagner Group personnel also are involved in alleged ongoing criminal activity, including mass executions, rape and physical abuse in the Central African Republic and Mali. Thursday’s sanctions come after the White House said last Friday it would designate the Wagner Group as a transnational criminal organization. The Wagner Group has already been sanctioned by Canada, Australia, Japan, the U.K. and the European Union. Representatives for Wagner Group didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

☆ For Ukraine, Western tanks could be a game changer in the conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Holly Ellyatt | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

For Ukraine, the offer of modern, Western battle tanks was a long-time coming; it has requested Leopard 2 tanks from Germany, and asked Berlin to authorize their re-export from other allies, for months. On Wednesday, Germany offered Ukraine 14 of its Leopard 2A6 tanks and said it would allow allies to export their own German-made tanks to Ukraine. watch nowPoland, the Netherlands, Spain, Norway and Finland are among the other countries that have signaled they will, or are willing, to send tanks to Kyiv. Ukraine is certainly focusing right now on the exact number of tanks it can expect from its Western allies. The speed of training of our military, the speed of supplying tanks to Ukraine and the volume of tank support."

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