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Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

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Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#571

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It is true that the EU didn't and still doesn't have deep ammo reserves, though Indeed it is true. But it is also changing, the stockpiles are growing.

Is it true? Most analyses show EU stockpiles overall still falling, especially for precision weapons.

Reporting is messy and due to the EU's fragmented linguistic nature harder to come by than it probably should be.

The balancing act is to increase stockpiles whilst supplying Ukraine which is consuming almost as fast as we're producing. Precision weapons you are right about, those are dwindling, but at the same time this is the one area where Ukraine internal production is beginning to outnumber imports (and their motivations are not so much quantity as 'no strings attached', which is very understandable).

Artillery shell production is up, 2.2 million shells/year or thereabouts, but here too the Ukraine war is consuming them very fast, either way, it is sixfold or so of what it was prior to 2022. Many new factories have been built and opened and are since a few months adding their output to the stream.

I think what held things back for a bit is that the EU was - wrongly - under the impression that Putin would back off but now that it is clear that that is not the case the longer term investments make sense. But it took a while for that to get underway.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#572
post #559

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They are for me.

I perused the links that you provided in another comment. How much of these products are sourced from EU materials? Like is the copper in the wires from the EU? Is the wire made in the EU and coated with insulator there too? Are the motors wound in Europe?

> Like is the copper in the wires from the EU?

Mostly Latin America afaik but copper re-use is so high that it is hard to tell what the original source is.

> Is the wire made in the EU and coated with insulator there too?

Not in the EU but close by.

> Are the motors wound in Europe?

Yes, there are multiple drone motor manufacturers in Europe now. Annual production is in the millions.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#573

Keep in mind that militaries are always preparing for war. They have to. A military exists in large part to always be prepared for the unthinkable. And in the case of countries like Denmark who have few realistic enemy choices, that means they must be prepared for unrealistic invasions, even if the US isn't threatening to invade. Yes the Danes probably spend most of their time preparing to fight the Russians, but alw…

> Keep in mind that militaries are always preparing for war.

There's preparing and there's preparing. They sent soldiers to Greenland with orders to resist an invasion, packing live ammunition, explosives to destroy runways and blood bags to treat wounded.

That's more than a bit of wargaming.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#574

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe it's because stuff gets flagged and deleted. But I haven't really seen it? Unless you equalize 'critical of Israel' with 'antisemitic dogwhistle' maybe.

I don’t.

ok, the I apparently read different threads. Which is very well possible of course.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#575

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true. Even including military aid to Ukraine, EU average defence spending remains at 1.9%. It's also the most expensive region in the world to raise a military.

That was the 2024 figure. In 2025 it rose to 2.1% and this year it is expected to rise further. And that's just the direct allocation, not the under water part including venture funding of some of the defense industry (obvious overlap: anything including AI & drones, it's pure VC bait).

What are you talking about, 2025 defence spending is coming in below 2024

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#576

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it true? Most analyses show EU stockpiles overall still falling, especially for precision weapons.

Reporting is messy and due to the EU's fragmented linguistic nature harder to come by than it probably should be. The balancing act is to increase stockpiles whilst supplying Ukraine which is consuming almost as fast as we're producing. Precision weapons you are right about, those are dwindling, but at the same time this is the one area where Ukraine internal production is beginning to outnumber imports (and their mo…

This is absolute fantasy. Stockpiles are only depleting, production hasn't and won't come close to meeting demand, and until there's a shooting war inside the bloc, it won't.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#577
post #550

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're thoroughly misreading the state of affairs here in Europe.

GP is in Europe afaik. Which makes some of their comments that much more strange.

And I'm a former soldier and current defence advisor. I suspect you'd be horrified of the realpolitik within the EU today.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#578

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Thank God for the French France has nowhere the military power to resist a country like the US. They have not invested in the military for a very long time and most of their equipment is completely outdated.

Ah but alas: have you considered that the US is increasingly run by actual idiots? It turns out even Iran has the power to resist a country like the US.

It's more that "military power" per se is not the be-all-end-all of conflict.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#579

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GP is in Europe afaik. Which makes some of their comments that much more strange.

And I'm a former soldier and current defence advisor. I suspect you'd be horrified of the realpolitik within the EU today.

I know who you are, no worries.

As for the realpolitik within the EU, I'm close enough to the fire that I can see the slow changing trends and I have some hope that once Orban is dealt with we'll see some serious improvements in how the EU is conducting day-to-day business in times of crisis. We simply were unprepared for countries backsliding due to out-of-EU influence. But that cat is out of the bag and now we need to deal with it without alienating the rest of the Hungarian population.

Re: Denmark was reportedly preparing for full-scale war with the US over Greenland

#580

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That was the 2024 figure. In 2025 it rose to 2.1% and this year it is expected to rise further. And that's just the direct allocation, not the under water part including venture funding of some of the defense industry (obvious overlap: anything including AI & drones, it's pure VC bait).

What are you talking about, 2025 defence spending is coming in below 2024

That's straight from the EU figures.

No way we are below 2024, the trend is accelerating, not diminishing.

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