Chris Haarmeijer

@FRHoffmann1 @cameron19460429 Learn from the past…. 🤔

I honestly think that Western decision-makers just had to "salami slice" themselves to this realization. In many ways, it's deeply frustrating that the overly cautious approach that many of us criticized was unnecessary. At the same time, I have some sympathy for the fact that decision-makers found themselves in more-or-less uncharted territory back in the early days.

This is like the 20th time I've seen something 1000km inside of Russia blow up and they didn't retaliate with nukes any of the times. The 2022 and 2023 discussions around long range weapons transfers being unacceptable escalation were utterly stupid in many cases.

@WorkMJ 95% is chasing the same, true. Then again, PE has been messing up in the US selling kit thats too expensive/exquisite/never materialised, etc. Plus: would be really interested to hear real revenue of some of those highly valued US defense startups.

@ChrisHRMR Nah, this dodginess is classic CEE. Most of Europe’s new defense and defensetech wave is utter bs.

Another example of how much of Europe's rearmament is sadly just smoke and mirrors. Many - founders, VCs, bankers, corporates - are just exploiting the war in Ukraine. hntrbrk.com/csg/

@nstr_att Was a great first day. Not super busy…. But good.

@Archivedtactic @gecko ❤️

Sharp entry

@FRHoffmann1 Products are not bought in Defense, they’re sold. In the MOD, everyone’s hair is on fire so vendors need to compete on attention span.

Destinus is a really interesting industrial policy case precisely because it represents exactly what the Netherlands wants, yet the Dutch make no use of it. At any NATO conference I have attended over the last few years, the Dutch delegation reliably outnumbered the German delegation by a factor of 2 to 3, and most small and medium-sized delegations by a factor of 5. Any current or former American representative on the NATO Military Committee will confirm that the Netherlands invests considerable political capital in making its voice heard -- and does so effectively. In many ways, the Dutch have perfected the art of punching above their weight in European defense. Yet the Netherlands is also home to Destinus, a European defense company scaling production of combat-proven weapon systems that Europe urgently needs, and the Dutch Ministry of Defense appears entirely indifferent. I find this very difficult to reconcile.

@ilaffey2 No-brainer. Different big-mac index.

you will not sell ukrainian volumes at american prices

@ilaffey2 One flight and 2 rental cars. It’s that simple.

you can just go to a warzone and learn how the world works. it’s like 48 hours of travel away

Looking forward for Modern Day Marines! @USMC

@eliano Palantir pivot to retail? 🤔

Palantir ➡️ Miami 🌴

@eeldenden Make UKR part of a COCOM focussed on the North/Eastern flank. And southern countries focus in a COCOM on other problems.

🇪🇺🇫🇮 Sanna Marin: We can't rely on Washington. Europe needs unified military forces that include Ukraine

@DylanMalyasov Peace time exercises

This is something Ukrainian artillery crews can only envy—not so much for protecting their backs, but for the ability to operate two large combat vehicles in an open field without the constant threat of being detected by enemy drones and struck by ballistic missiles. Europe still isn’t preparing for a real war.

@Tom_Antonov @klaasm67 Well, to be honest, Florida is missing those also 😏

@klaasm67 It must be quite a shock when a Dutch person encounters a mountain, or even a hill, for the first time.

POV: You live in the Netherlands 🌷

@ZelenskyyUa @RomboutLuc EU 🇪🇺 should kick out Orban, include 🇺🇦. Keeps EU flag the same (efficiency) and fixes security problem 😏

If the United States truly thinks about withdrawing from NATO, then European security will be based solely on the European Union. But not in its current form. I think that the EU is in a situation where it needs more countries. The UK, Ukraine, Türkiye, and Norway. These are four strong countries, which are part of Europe. Together, the UK, Ukraine, and Türkiye have armies that are stronger than Russia's army. Without Ukraine and Türkiye, Europe can’t match Russia. With the four countries on board you can wrest control of the seas, have secure skies and the largest land forces. It’s not about offense, because when Russia makes the decision to have an army of 2.5 million people by 2030, Europe has to think about security and how to preserve its independence. The UK once was a member of the EU. There are concerns about agriculture when it comes to Türkiye. But you can manage all of this if you have a really great economy. But security comes first, economy second. Not vice versa. From an interview on The Rest Is Politics podcast (5/5).

@Mylovanov Force generation is a no-fail mission ❤️💪🏻

Budanov: The army needs human capital. Human resources, due to the fact that the war has been going on for 12.5 years and has been full-scale for more than 4 years, do not really want to go. If people do not go, they will have to be drafted. Or the front will collapse. 5X

Head of Zelenskyy’s Office Budanov: Peace talks are underway, but they are difficult. We are trying to resolve an issue that has been in a heated phase for 12+ years. It is unrealistic to resolve it just like that. But to say that there are no prospects is also not true. 1/

@Ce_Moll @_schuetzt And it’s called…… reinforcing EU’s military hq with a COCOM for north/east, one for south and one for west.

Defence: Europe needs a plan B for NATO with @_schuetzt epc.eu/publication/de…

@cwamidon NATO is the US’s sales channel…… cough FMS cough…. Stationing units overseas is marketing, force projection and great training.

@davidu It’s iconic, and at the same time annoying as it’s slow as hell. IAD being IAD

Cute machines.

@JeffCrusey Many people have difficulty switching from their usual pattern recognition into something new.

I recently joined the DIB Innovators Podcast with Dave Graff where we discussed why VC firms unwittingly applying SaaS investment playbooks to hard tech consistently destroy value and derail defense startups🇺🇸💪 link in comments 👇

@paulg @mattyglesias That….. is marketing. Thank you. 😊

@mattyglesias That is so wrong.