@the_engi_nerd Years ago, I found this article about the German way of war super illuminating for the precise issues @BradDuplessis outlined in his piece.
press.armywarcollege.edu/monographs/370/
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Richard Shimooka
174 posts
Richard Shimooka
@ShimookaR
Senior Fellow at the MacDonald Laurier Institute.
Katılım Aralık 2015
180 Takip Edilen183 Takipçiler
The problem of "all tactics, no strategy" bites a lot of organizations. The military services and the Department of Defense are not immune. Here is an article for your consideration.
Brad Duplessis@BradDuplessis
Shameless plug. My @WarOnTheRocks debut is a rebuttal to Cynical Publius’ war college opinion article. Someone can @ him because I’m blocked. Main points: - Joint force’s main problem is not tactical warfighting, it’s linking military operations to achievement of strategic objectives - Removal civilian faculty + students exacerbates this problem, while denying civilian leaders of the strategic advice they need and deserve - Recommendations do not align w/Secretary Hegseth’s NDS priorities - Removal civ faculty creates gaps in key areas such as AI, cyber, nuclear policy…that cannot be filled by rotating military officers to teach on an annual basis - Mischaracterizes incentives faced by civ faculty at PME institutions vs academia - Any examination of senior military officers should consider the entire ecosystem that produces them — incentives, assignments, PME at all levels — not just SSC in isolation. Thanks to @EvansRyan202 and team for the opportunity. warontherocks.com/2026/03/milita…
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@thomasjuneau We're beyond the Bolton line Thomas - Now its when you lose Doug Feith...
washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…
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When you are even losing John Bolton, it really means this war is heading to a disaster.
John Bolton@AmbJohnBolton
I favor regime change in Iran, but I'm deeply worried that inadequate preparation will prevent that goal from being achieved. There seem to be holes in the strategy, from the lack of coordination with the opposition, to the lapse in preparing the American people ahead of the attack. npr.org/2026/03/11/nx-…
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Question to my US naval friends. Is there a case for keeping NIMITZ in service for a few months, just to see how things turn out?
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Richard Shimooka retweetledi
.@ShimookaR: The good (and lots of bad) in Canada’s new defence industrial strategy
thehub.ca/2026/02/18/the…
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@JJ_McCullough JJ, @BalkanDevlen, Alex Lanoszka and I wrote about this exact phenomena before Christmas - and how its likely to grow in the coming months as the midterms approach. The trend to think about the US as a unitary actor around the president is just lazy.
thehub.ca/2025/12/19/tru…
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I cannot help but noooticing that despite all this stuff you read about how Trump has transformed the GOP into some non-interventionist thing, the vast majority of Republicans still believe in Bush-era theories of the president’s basically unlimited unilateral war-making powers.
Manu Raju@mkraju
In big rebuke to Trump’s Venezuela policy, Senate votes to advance measure that would require Congress to OK further hostilities with that country. Vote was 52-47 GOP Sens. Paul, Hawley, Murkowski, Colllins, Young voted with all Dems
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With all the doom and gloom and the bad news, take comfort in the fact that the Maple Leafs are where they belong - outside of a playoff spot.
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@MidOfficer @PaulCarr70 @heatloss1986 The two things killed the Rhino - the USN's cancellation of conformals, which lost a lot of points on range in the rated component and increased risk. The second was PMA265's refusal to give specific data on Hornet, which made them non-compliant on the downselect.
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@MidOfficer @PaulCarr70 @heatloss1986 Would have lost on cost, vis-à-vis Rhino and then ultimately the F-35 - on acquisition, setup and sustainment (not to mention capability and industrial). I’m pretty sure they gamed this all out and Rhino gave them the best shot at winning.
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🇨🇦 debate on F-35 vs Gripen has descended entirely into amateur technical appreciations, repetition of false facts & figures, emotional appeals & hopelessly optimistic industrial benefit claims.
All in all, 10/10 CAF procurement.
No notes - other than to follow @heatloss1986
Heatloss@heatloss1986
The Swiss ditched the Gripen after finding out that Saab was lying to them about the cost of operations and maintenance and lying about Swiss domestic production being possible The Swiss then redid the competition, determining that the F-35 was the right choice.
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.@ShimookaR: Canada is shopping for new fighter jets—and on the verge of making a disastrous decision
thehub.ca/2025/11/18/can…
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@Ntiffin @TheHubCanada Since I wrote the article, I can say verge is correct - the decision largely rests in the PMO's office, which there's no real clarity on their thinking, or what they plan to do.
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@TheHubCanada @ShimookaR Did you even read your own article, Hub? They are hardly on the "verge" by your own admission. Maybe that word doesn't mean what you think it means.
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Richard Shimooka retweetledi
.@ShimookaR: From Donald Trump to Doug Ford, today’s leaders are living in Ronald Reagan’s shadow
thehub.ca/2025/11/04/fro…
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@mattgurney I have been saying this for years- even the DIA is unlikely to help.
thehub.ca/2025/11/01/can…
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No way the military can spend all that money in anything close to its current form. This is going to require a massively overhauled procurement and services component and a much larger force. We'll probably try harder for the latter, but if we don't do the former, it won't work.
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Richard Shimooka retweetledi
"For decades, Canada has completely ignored warnings by Americans & other @NATO allies about its dangerous lack of defence spending," notes @ShimookaR.
"The focus seems more about playing politics and parochial economic benefits."
macdonaldlaurier.ca/can-the-new-de…
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Richard Shimooka retweetledi
.@ShimookaR: Can the new Defence Investment Agency fix Canada’s procurement problems—or will politics slow that down too?
thehub.ca/2025/11/01/can…
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@irbrodie I can't lie Ian, I've been known to do an interview or two from a tractor: @iamshanehewitt can attest.
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Get that farmer a job in the parliamentary bureau.
Geoffrey Sigalet@GeoffSigalet
The highlight for me was a Saskie farmer calling in from his combine to tell us about how federalism protects the right to have different views of right. I was nodding a lot but he couldn’t see me.
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Richard Shimooka retweetledi
Does #Canada’s defence policy lean too heavily on Europe?
@ShimookaR & @jbmllr argue our scarce resources would count for more in Asia—where #China’s rise poses the bigger threat:
macdonaldlaurier.ca/canada-needs-t…
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A short, Need to Know, by me on the recent submarine announcement. Ottawa faces choice of style or substance on the program: choose a riskier, slower option to build its relationship with Germany or acquire the Korean option rapidly to give the RCN real capabilities with a decade
The Hub@TheHubCanada
Need to Know by @RoyceKoop, Christian Leuprecht, and @ShimookaR: Is the Liberals’ honeymoon coming to an end? thehub.ca/2025/09/02/nee…
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@thomasjuneau While there's a lot of practical issues involved, the distinction has been one that never really made sense to me - going as far back as when AOPS was first announced. Watching how CGs operate in the Western Pacific for the past few decades made the situation anachronistic.
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The Canadian Coast Guard and its fleet of 126 vessels (icebreakers, search & rescue lifeboats, patrol ships, science vessels, hovercraft and others) officially becomes part of the Department of National Defence this week, as a special operating agency.
(about time, in my view)
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@GeoffKoontz @NoahGairn Oh its a significant one in light of our personnel situation. Delays will just mean that more of the specialists will leave the service, resulting in the personnel deficit getting larger. If the Victoria class has to retire early, or 212 is deliver late, it could be serious.
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From the Canadian press, Carney was shown slides with TKMS laying out a submarine delivery schedule with the first sub ready for Canada in 2034, second in 2036 and third in 2037.
I have no idea if this includes gaining a slot from the Germans/Norwegians and Wismar. Either way.
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@NoahGairn By comparison you’re probably looking at 33-34 for the first KSIII deployment availability (based on 2032 first delivery), sustained availability in 37? Full delivery by 44-46.
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@ShimookaR Yeah, I dont like these timelines either. Assuming a sub a year past 2036 that means we aren't truely replacing the Vics until 2038 while a potential twelfth wouldn't be delivered until ~2048.
Assuming an award next year thats almost 22 years from signing to final delivery...
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