Hit ’Em Where Mobility Hurts: Roshel Defense Manufactures 9 Vehicles Per Day, 7 Days a Week
The Western World Begins to Gear Up
What a world we live in.
When I first saw the news that Canadian defense manufacturer Roshel Defense is producing about 250 vehicles per month, my thoughts didn’t go to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Instead, I briefly considered President Biden and his administration. How are they going to stop Putin’s army from heading toward inevitable collapse? Because it’s coming.
Some people think I’m anti-Biden. When it comes to national security, I am critical. It’s a frustrating position, especially since I was one of millions who worked tirelessly in my own way to help elect Biden in 2020. I was the only person who accurately predicted he would win 306 electoral votes. I lived and breathed the data for weeks and months.
So, watching him fumble the global response to blatant aggression is disheartening. It breaks my head.
Allowing injustice to persist sends a dangerous message to future criminals. Over the last two and a half years, the American response has told rogue regimes one thing: if you have nuclear weapons and money, you can do whatever you want. Small-time criminals get crushed, but powerful ones get a pass.
It’s absurd. My support isn’t for any politician but for their policies, and on that front, President Biden continues to fail. His policies failed in Afghanistan, and they are failing the world in Ukraine. I won’t stop holding him accountable.
Russia still holds three key advantages. First, they can still recruit enough soldiers to continue fighting for some time. Second, they’ve acquired millions of artillery shells from North Korea — if they can find enough working barrels to fire them, they could prolong the conflict. Third, they have a steady production of missiles and aircraft to launch them.
However, on the ground, one major factor driving Russia’s steadily increasing casualty rate is their severe lack of mobility. They don’t have enough armored personnel carriers (APCs), and this shortage is compounded by the lack of heavy weapons.
You likely noticed how quickly Ukrainian forces advanced and occupied Russian territory in Kursk. There were several factors behind their success, including intelligence gathering, electronic warfare, precision strikes before the offensive, strong operational security, and stockpiled ammunition. It was a blitzkrieg — speed was the key. This kind of rapid movement is only possible with tanks, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), and APCs.
The presence of drones has made life difficult for tanks on the battlefield. Whatever percentage of tanks used to be in mechanized brigades has significantly dropped in Ukraine. Now, the bulk of the force consists of IFVs and APCs, with fewer tanks, which are often used more like mobile artillery, providing cover from behind as troops advance at the front.
What Ukraine desperately needs are APCs — and lots of them. Roshel Defense has already delivered 1,400 Senator APCs to Ukraine and is now building close to 250 vehicles per month. This production rate addresses one of the critical needs in the fight against Putin’s forces. Of the two major requirements — IFVs and APCs — Ukraine has one covered.
Each vehicle costs around half a million dollars, so 100 units will run about $50 million. Roshel Defense, a private company, has the production capacity, and Ukraine can buy these vehicles with their own funds — no need to rely on Western partners for assistance.
Ukraine’s reliance on the Biden administration for artillery launchers has already been resolved. They no longer need U.S.-made launchers, as Europe and Ukraine are now producing enough themselves. If the U.S. decides to provide additional support, it’s a bonus, but if they don’t, it won’t alter the course of the war.
The dependency on American made artillery launchers has been eliminated, and now the same is true for armored personnel carriers. Next, I need to assess the situation with infantry fighting vehicles. If non-U.S. production is increasing, the odds will shift decisively in Ukraine’s favor.
Thanks for reading. Making critical information on Ukraine accessible is one way to fight misinformation. That’s why I’ve made 275 stories free to the public in 2024, including this one.
