A Philippine Defense Plan
Analysis and Opinion
By Joe America
One of my son’s passions is fighting. Well, not fisticuffs, he’s too intelligent for that. But making war. During breakfast, he pulls up this military campaign or that on You Tube. We watch and comment. We’ve followed Hannibal through Italy, pure genius, and Napoleon through Europe, his ego getting the best of him. We’ve watched Hitler plow through Europe and are now into the US invasion of Iraq. Modern gear which, of course, is now outdated because of drones and, soon, AI.
Some of the lessons are for sure pertinent to the Philippines as she defends herself against a persistent military power from the west and an increasingly bizarre one to the east. What are the lessons?
- Flexibility
- Speed
- Power
- Deception
- Decentralization
Flexibility is predominantly three factors, (1) the ability to upsize and downsize quickly, (2) the ability to combine different capabilities air/sea/ground/alliance, and (3) the ability logistically to support different configurations with food, ammo, and medical care.
Speed is as much intelligence as movement, because you need to know why it is important to get from Palawan to the east coast of Luzon overnight. You’ve read China’s ship movements. And you can do it.
Power is matching the most effective weapons to fighting needs. For the Philippines, where funding is hard to get, this is crucial. I tend to think small weapons rather than large. Anti-ship missiles (portable). Sea drones (purchased from Ukraine). Air drones (surveillance and attack). Stingers and anti-vehicle missiles.
Deception is Hannibal moving 30,000 troops 15 miles through mountain valleys in the dead of night to get in front of the Roman army to ambush them. Or building three mock anti-ship missile launchers for every real one deployed so China has no idea what’s where.
Decentralization anticipates that the enemy cannot take the whole of the Philippines because of its island structure. Regional forces can operate independent of central authority. This is the Magsaysay brothers working in the hills of Luzon and laying waste to Japanese installations to allow American troops to land unopposed. Same idea, with weapons cached all over the place.
There are other things to consider.
- For one, AFP spends a lot of effort fighting rebel movements here and there. I’d suggest leaving that to the police and local governments.
- For another, the Philippines would do well to upgrade its arms manufacturing capabilities. This is much more important than building farm to market roads.
- For another, alliance management is so so valuable for training, arms support, and combat engagement. The Philippines should make sure to direct these resources, not be directed by them
- Critically important is to take down China’s spy rings and technologies (and political loyalists) now in the Philippines. I mean, let’s get serious here.
- AFP needs to understand and use AI, and know how China will use it. I’ll write a separate article about this.
- The most important “need” is a sense of commitment to defense from legislators, and continued crisp, firm leadership like that now being delivered by Secretary Teodoro.
Those are my ideas. What are yours?
__________________________
Cover photo from Max Defense article “AFP & PCG Modernization Resource Portal: the Elbit Hermes 900 MALE UAS of the Philippine Air Force“.
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The Society of Honor by Joe America 
Just a side note, here, Joe…kinda off topic, sorry. I was just thinking yesterday how our POTUS hates intelligence briefings and so I don’t think he has been holding them. One of the lessons of 911 was our lack of intelligence on the ground in places like the Middle East. I’m afraid that we are headed back down that direction w/ our incompetent Command-in-Chief. Our enemies will just wait for the right time to pounce. I was reading about Trump’s first Cabinet meeting and we got a glimpse at his Team of Yes-men/women. He told them point blank that anybody who disagrees with Elon can “get the hell out of here.” I think in your studies about military campaigns you will see that such an approach by a leader signals eventual doom. Trump is leading us up a creek and is tossing out the paddles as we go!
Anyways, back to the Philippine defense scenario.
“For another, the Philippines would do well to upgrade its arms manufacturing capabilities. This is much more important than building farm to market roads.”
On this I would say “try to find a way to do both.”
The last time I said best of both worlds, Irineo coined the phrase” worst of both worlds”.
ahem, I say dont believe in the wiseman, he may have ulterior motive, haha.
Yes, both are important, as is education.
philippines defense plan must also include drafting people of fighting age into the army. it must also be in the president of the day’s standing order to call women once again and form auxiliary corp and take over men’s job in manufacturing ammunition, mining, transport, communication, etc so men can be freed up to fight in the front line.
the young princess elizabeth before she became queen elizabeth the second of england trained as mechanic and ambulance driver during world war two.
coz no matter how remotely the next war is going to be fought with drones and robots and unmanned vehicles, boots on the ground are still needed.
Excellent point.
As a wiseman said, intelligence is an ox and a moron. I mean intelligence is an oxymoron.
trust Irineo, he knows what worst of both worlds is. germany is not in the best frame politically. too many killings of germans by migrants given asylum. plus the emergence of the far right, nah, I will not go there. but Irineo is there, he voted. and germany will get the government it wanted.
a lot of people think an oxymoron sits at the white house whose policy vision smacks of political oxymoron. ahem, him is asking for a mammoth share of those high end minerals found in ukraine, which zelensky dont really have access to, coz said minerals are deep in ukrainian territories currently held fast by russia’s iron claw.
the much anticipated meeting between zelensky and trump ended up in shouting match and zelensky got dismissed, disgraced and accused of being disrespectful for being underdressed in black sweater and black pants when elon musk also is similarly dressed in black Tshirt and black pants.
that zelensky did not thank trump well enough for all that america has done for ukraine, or maybe zelensky did not get the chance to give his groveling thanks because he was dismissed early on.
that america wants payback for the $300+ billions spent on ukraine which zelensky said were mostly in arms and ammunition plus in salaries of americans ace pilots who trained ukrainian pilots how to fly modern jet fighters, etc. still, $100+ billions have not been ratified and yet to be received by ukraine.
With these 2 recent press conferences, the first with UK’s Starmer, and the second with Ukraine’s Zelensky, the world got to see what has become of bravery in the “home of the brave.” Zelensky showed us what bravery was all about. I loved watching his body language during the press conference. Talk about self-control! He could not believe what he was hearing from a supposed ally, a supposed long time enemy of the US!
Zelensky was not disgraced he stood his ground and did not look like a loser in the face of being bullied. He has won respect with a lot of people. Probably not with the kind of Filipinos who are turncoats, probably the majority, who will bow to power as long as it is powerful and disrespect it when it is on its way out. The Katipunan was basically fighting Spain when it was already like old Maradona, not young Diego. People who had kissed the hand of Spanish friars when they were still powerful insulted them on the street from 1896 onwards. Cheap shot. Basically, DDS mindset even before there were DDS, who took cheap shots at PNoy and Mar, descended from sugar barons just like the ABS-CBN bosses, in a time when the power of that old aristocracy had already waned. And replacing them with a bunch of gangsters, haha.
I can’t really say much about the topic of this thread. Ukrainians are clearly a people worthy of freedom. I still have to unsee pictures like below to not rage in topics like this.
It’s easy to rage these days, so many alleged leaders betraying all we’ve believed and dedicated our lives to. People grab easy lies, convert them to beliefs, then filter their inputs to confirm the lies. It really is crazy-making. That’s what Duterte did, now Trump. Hatched the lies and controlled information so people could confirm their erroneous beliefs. First assessment for any election is character but people just can’t get there in the dirtstreams that punish the decent in favor of lies.
That is our environment and the deceptions are getting worse with AI. It’s getting easier to root for global warming to cleanse the place of its monsters.
But putting that aside, rational warmakers do think about it and build the defenses needed to beat the oppressors.
Of course, one indeed has to think of rational ways to deal with unpleasant choices. 😌
Looking at the Trump-Zelensky situation, the Philippines in 1946 had a similar deal to make with the USA and amend the Constitution to allow Americans full “parity rights” meaning, among other things, Benguet Mining digging up the gold in the Cordileras and Marcopper digging up copper in Marinduque. One of the terms of the deal IIRC was preferential access of Filipino sugar to America in the era before Diet Coke, and the President then, Manuel Roxas, happened to belong to a sugar planter family. But one could say the USA did keep it’s part of the deal and even formalized it as an MDT by 1950. It is what Trump refused to do for Zelensky, and of course, he said no deal. Trump thought he had summoned a pushover but was wrong.
As for Philippines defenses, I am still taking stock of how stuff will roll for us in Europe. Might comment tomorrow. As we say here in Germany, the home front always has priority. 🫡
A deal for mineral rights in exchange for security, but to have 20 guys in a room attacking Zelenskyy is ridiculous. Chicken shit bullies.
Nice to have a contact in Germany at this interesting time with the “Allies” (I put it in quotes because I think people are not sure if an alliance with the US still exists) facing a serious threat again and Trump being in the US White House. I just read an opinion piece on the German word for what Trump is doing. “There’s a German word that describes the process the Nazi party used to take total control of all aspects of life: Gleichschaltung, which essentially means ‘bringing into line.’ Much of this process involved violence: the rounding up, beating and murder of perceived and real enemies of the regime. An essential component of Gleichschaltung was cleansing the civil service of all who were deemed to be insufficiently loyal to Hitler, accomplished with incredible efficiency and without mercy.”
I’m interested in the European point of view on what is going on. It may be off topic for this thread, so “bahala na si Joe Am.” 🙂
Absolutely on topic because Europe may be a more reliable ally for the Philippines than the US. Europe is starting to sever from the US. One company will no longer refuel American warships and is encouraging others to do the same. A former UN Ambassador has declared that the US is no longer an ally of Europe. Things will change fast. The best alliance the Philippines could form would be with Ukraine to learn how to fight a more powerful foe, and to purchase drone boats.
Ukraine has been able to hold off Putin’s Russia with its alliances with NATO and the rest of Europe. It is not a member of NATO, but it is allied with NATO nations, including for now the USA. Is there a lesson in that for the Philippines? Will drone boats defeat China’s force? Is that what Taiwan has stocked up on?
Good questions. The goal should be to make it unbearably expensive to get close, which is what Ukraine did to drive off Russia’s fleet. Really hampers the flow of supplies. Cheap weapons sinking expensive warships.
“The goal should be to make it unbearably expensive to get close, which is what Ukraine did to drive off Russia’s fleet.” – JoeAm
Yeah, I recall the Afghanistan war practically bankrupted the USSR. Perhaps the USSR economy was already on the edge of collapse and the war just pushed it over? I can’t imagine that war being more expensive than this Ukrainian war.
My argument in local manufacturing is lack of support from all corners.
Look at the lack of support for Sarao, Francisco Motors, etc.
They were just watched to stagnate for give or take 6 decades.
If incremental improvements happened then we would not even need a jeepney modernization act.
Now we give incentives to multinationals to assemble one, two or three brands which is nothing new. We had Volkswagens sakbayan, Ford Fierrari I mean Fierra, Toyota Tamarraw.
Nothing’s new.
Now thanks to friendshoring, we are allowed to license manufacture.
This is just because Just in time production was disrupted by war. How can you produce munitions if there is a war somewhere without disturbing the global supply chain?
Everybody veered away from vertical integration, every giant stayed away from becoming a monopoly or else they will be anti trusted to death.
Now tarrifs and counter tarrifs abound. Good luck to all of us.
in case of emergency where our national sovereignty is on the brink of oblivion, I think we will get together, band together, differences put aside, and act as one. held as one by dark umbrage, for our survival. we just need someone to be the fall guy also known as leader so the buck can stopped with him or her, laid thickly on, and be held accountable. one who can be sacrificed for the follies that ensued, follies committed and the long lasting follies thereafter, one who can be asked to resign, expelled and exiled, and then forgotten.
at the moment, we cannot even agree what constitute emergency, police chief thinks urgent meeting is emergency and so, laws and ordinance were broken, suspended, just so chief can arrive at the meeting en grande complete with convoy of flashing lights and hangers on not far behind. edsa busway intended only for buses become the chief’s own super highway. zooming allegedly is not good enough, must be attendance in person like in senate inquiry, see how smart chief looks! how suave, how well shaven, how comforting his voice, etc.
when questioned about his self importance, chief’s smooth voice was summat subdued, his answers vague and verbose, but he looks good in his uniform though. meeting may have made chief mincey on word salad, bits and pieces given here and there, the concoction hard to put together. made me look at the video again, in case chief rolled his eyes.
I’d think the Philippines only needs a few projects. Drones, missiles, small boats. Ukraine has excellent water drones. Buy a few. It doesn’t take many to drive a heavy navy away. The small boat capability is here, so upgrade capacity. Where the Philippines gets in trouble is dreaming about submarines and bigger jets.
I know naval mines are dangerous bit in war there is no Mr nice guy. Naval mines are cheaper than subs.
Yes, I don’t like them much and think drones can have the same deterrent effect. Ukraine chased the entire Russian fleet off using drones. They have a factory that can produce more than they need. I’d have small fleets of them around Subic, Manila Bay, Cebu, and Palawan. Transportable as needed. And a whole bunch of dummy ones to move around the country for China’s spies to report. But that’s just my fiction-writer’s thinking.
“But that’s just my fiction-writer’s thinking.”
When a little boy, I loved to draw my fictional Philippine military force….I had fighters and bombers sinking enemy ships, taking down enemy fighter jets, etc. My images were from American battles….I just put Filipino markings on the airplanes!
Anyways, back to earth…. 🙂
Ha, perfect. I can relate. My bother and I would build model airplanes back in the day, and tanks. My favorite plane was the B-25, heroes of “30 seconds over Tokyo”. When we got tired of playing with the plastic models, we’d put an inch-and-a-half fire cracker inside and blow them up. Tanks were the best for that.
I had a model of the B-25 Mitchell bomber by Revell. Revell was the best, but not cheap by Philippine standards. I also had 3 ships, but I can only remember the name of the Bismarck, the battleship. I had a destroyer, I think the name was Fletcher. I also had a cruiser, but I can’t remember the name of that one. All by Revell, which I think I bought at Arcega’s on Aurora Blvd., if that rings any bells to you older folks. I remember the cheaper model brands were just not as good back then. The fun was in building them. After they were built, it was tough figuring out what to do with them. We didn’t have crazy glue back then. We had Duco Cement.
Aurora Blvd? What city? Those were the good old days. Your memory is better than mine, but Revell strikes a bell. And the lovely scent of cement. 🤣😂🤣
Cubao, Quezon City, I guess. Sonny’s home turf. The Araneta Coliseum where the Thrilla in Manila took place in 1975 isn’t too far away as well as the home of PNoy. Aurora also had a branch of SM when it still was Shoemart. Founded by a migrant Chinese shoe polisher (Henry Sy) who also sold shoes. The first mall in Cubao was Ali Mall, which opened not long after the Thrilla – an SM for more than shoes rose beside it in the early 80s before any true SM mall.
Cubao was a place of childhood consumerism and teen escapades for me, the UP kid.
I see, thanks. I’ve been at the Cubao bus station once, rather swarming with people. There is a suburb of Denver, Colorado named Aurora. We used to play them in little league baseball. So my eyeballs perked up.
Yes, that is the Aurora Blvd. of my childhood and growing up years. Still no light rail back then. I remember when the Shoemart was new…kinda tiny, not too many choices for men. Opposite it was Mercury Drug, then a little bit further down the same street from Mercury Drug was the department store Manila COD. I took the bus from Loyola Heights so I remember Stella Maris College. Lots of girls! Before Ali Mall it was a mini-golf place called Green Acres. Played there a few times as a little boy. I go all the way back to when there was an Aguinaldo’s for luxury home items. If ever I went in there as a boy it was to cool off in their A/C environment. I believe a movie theater took its place…much better from my standpoint. Aguinaldo’s was for old people, hehehe
At the corner of EDSA and Aurora Blvd. was Cubao Elementary School. I used to watch the kids there from the bus as I was on my way further down Aurora Blvd. to New Manila. On the way down we would pass the Pepsi Cola Plant, then later the Magnolia Ice Cream plan (which I understand is not gone). I’m so old I can remember when that spot was a vacant piece of land! Then we passed St. Paul’s College Q.C. (more girls). On the left of St. Paul’s was a small corner grocery store called “Golden City.” Right by it was a “Little Quiapo” eatery where I would get halo-halo. As a boy, I would walk there from my house on 4th Street, buy a halo-halo (80 centavos), then enjoy it on the walk back home – cool and refreshing in the tropical heat! New Manila was pretty then – lots of mango trees alone Gilmore Avenue and Broadway. I lived right by the Mt. Carmel Church. The church was under construction during most of my childhood years, so it was a great playground!
¡Recuerdos! 🙂
Agreed. Small can work in big ways
Re models.
I remember my much older cousin assemble the model ships my dad bought for me.
A Joe classic.
https://joeam.com/2013/08/31/the-bee-fleet-2/
My old article where ship building and licensed manufacturing were discussed.
Thanks Karl. Two classics that are background for today. The Navy now has a small-boat fleet. I think they are used mostly to fight smuggling, but I’d think they could be fitted with missiles quite easily.
Kinda like modern version of the old PT boat? I think the only type of war the Philippine military on its own could hope to win or at least fight to a stalemate would be a guerilla type war. I checked w/ ChatGPT on Singapore’s defense system, because I know foreign invasion notably by Malaysia was a major concern of Lee Kuan Yew in the early years of building up Singapore. I was surprised by the answer (pardon the length, but I just couldn’t cut anything out):
Singapore’s Military Defense System
Singapore has one of the most advanced and well-equipped militaries in Southeast Asia, known as the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). Its defense strategy is built around deterrence, technological superiority, and strong alliances, particularly with the U.S. and other regional partners.Key Components of Singapore’s Military Defense
How Would Singapore Stack Up Against China?
Against a superpower like China, Singapore’s military, while highly advanced, is not designed for direct large-scale warfare. Instead, its strategy relies on:
Conclusion
While Singapore cannot directly challenge China in a full-scale war, its advanced military, strategic location, and strong alliances make it an extremely difficult target. The SAF’s focus is on deterrence, high-tech warfare, and regional security, ensuring that any military aggression would come at an unacceptable cost.
In a direct war scenario, Singapore would rely on its allies and international diplomatic pressure to deter or limit Chinese actions rather than fight alone.
Very good insights basically confirming my recommendations. That number 7 is new and excellent. A whole-of-nation engagement in the fighting. Far beyond ROTC as strategy. Thanks for the summary. Excellent lessons.
Oh, speaking of lessons to be learned…how about how North Vietnam defeated USA? Or Afghanistan defeating USSR? Both defeated opponents were nuclear powers, yet they did not utilize nuclear weapons. What is the lesson for a country like the Philippines there?
Not much. The US did not fight to conquer but to try to form a government that was not able to earn the support of the people. The military lesson would be tenacity and decentralization of effort I suppose.
Tenacity and decentralization to defeat nuclear power. I’ve got to dwell on that a bit.
Imagine if they applied those two elements towards the problem of traffic congestion…in any of the Philippines’ big cities. That would be nice, eh?
Well, if they are provoked into nuking you to grab your lands, they’ve failed and you both lose. If they make like Russia to invade this island or that, decentralization and tenacity can do a lot to resist, as Ukraine shows, and as North Viet Nam showed, neither of which got nuked. Or you can capitulate from the getgo and become a province of China’s laboring under-class. That’s fine, too, if you need neither wealth, power, nor self-esteem. Republicans argue that slaves had it good, after all.
Actually, tenacity is also part of the Swiss defense mindset.
The video below shows how they achieve that in their geography.
Fascinating video on Switzerland’s defense strategy. Thanks!
Articles of mine dealing with defense and security.
https://joeam.com/2021/04/09/all-in-the-name-of-national-interest/
Our Securities and Insecurities: A Multifaceted Examination of the Philippines
https://joeam.com/2024/03/16/34704/
It seems to me the Defense Department is pushing along the lines you recommend, just not at a fast pace because of budget constraints. But Secretary Teodoro is sharp, so Defense is in good hands.
I really think your recommendations (and some of ours as well) should be picked up by the brains behnd the movers and shakers in the near and distant future.
And of course I insist that we amend our National Defense Act whole sale and not piecemeal.
https://joeam.com/2022/08/09/amending-the-national-defense-act/
In the the world of intelligence oxymoronism and complexities why not build a military industrial simplex.
https://joeam.com/2018/07/04/here-is-an-idea-build-a-philippine-military-industrial-simplex/
I did not get that miltary-intelligence oxymoronism out of thin air.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08850607.2023.2187191
We have them but without infrastructure, how will we use them?
Another nice to have.
https://idrw.org/former-u-s-advisor-questions-effectiveness-of-philippines-brahmos-missile-acquisition/
Interesting read. The cart before the horse situation. Well, my recommendation would be to go small in all things, and spread them out. Stingers for every LGU, tee hee. And land-to-ship missiles in every port.
I am sure that would work
symbolic gesture apparently, phil buying bramos from india just to gain india’s friendship, support and goodwill. good too if it was in the sales contract signed between our country and india, the sort of the devil in the detail, that india will loan us the infrastructure needed to fully operate the bramos so we can make full use of the bramos in case of emergency. else those shiny and sleek looking bramos will just be collecting dust and rust and nothing else. we got the bullets but not the gun.
no wonder china is more concerned about the american typhoon missiles and want them gone from our shores.
I was thinking, where as defense secretary gilbert teodoro when the sale of the bramos missiles was sealed, done and signed? did he has any objection at all?
Sec Lorenzana signed the contract. Sec Teodoro received them. “During the high-level meeting, Secretary Teodoro welcomed India’s unwavering support for the Philippines’ position on the West Philippine Sea/South China Sea issue.”
https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/india-delivers-first-batch-of-brahmos-to-philippines/article68084161.ece
thanks, joeam. nice to know that defense sec teodoro knows that the bramos may well be the lamest of duck, much like pharmally the very expensive gaffe whose joint ceos were both indians.
what, what, what! US collapsing for any reason! instead of putting america first, trump has put america last – very possible. the way things are going . . . trump will always have a bolthole in russia, with bff putin offering trump to build a trump tower in moscow. a rich man’s asylum for trump and his family to live like royalties once they are no longer of much use to america.
but, no, pbbm should not send back to sender the typhoon missiles, but keep them indefinitely in our shores. double faced china cannot be trusted to leave us alone and in peace. for china may think that once the typhoon missiles are gone, they are issued invitation to invade and claimed philippines as territory.
of immediate concern is when pbbm visits trump in washington sometime in the future, where trump may well ask pbbm to rent or hire the typhoon missiles, or trump will recall those missiles and our alliance will be left floundering. pbbm may as well be on his guard for the visit may well be televised live and pbbm’s minders will have no control over the proceedings, pbbm’s gaffes and missteps will be unedited for all the world to see. and if pbbm is treated like zelensky, trump may even accuse us of causing the rift between our country and china.
I am bemused that, although I am not a fan of the family’s history (i.e. his grandfather was sentenced to death for treason and so quartered), Junior finally reacted and took a stand in the strongest diplomatic terms within acceptable limits.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/national/marcos-dares-china-on-us-typhon-missiles-stop-claiming-our-territory-i-ll-return-the-missiles/
As I said earlier, it is prudent the AFP generals and admirals must explore other options to ensure regional security through alternate alliances, should the US collapses for any reason.
madlang, my reply to you has jumped up. pls see above.
If Trump destroys America ….Milei of Argentina will cry for his dollarization moves
So long as we do not dollarize and do MMT (sorry Micha) we have lots of trading and security partners left.
When one sets history aside, it’s a different framing. Much of the dirtiness on social media comes from assigning past misdeeds to current Presidents. Raissa Robles drives me nuts with that. President Marcos is a good president at the 80% level, the 20% bad being mainly the feeding of corrupt enterprises, like through the budgeting process. He and Secretary Teodoro are definitely in sync on those missiles and using them to remind China that they can get them out real fast if they want to.
raissa robles must have been livid when feb 25 was made special working day instead of it being a non working holiday where workers get paid for not turning to work. edsa anniversary day [feb 25] was quietly removed from the list of non working holidays of 2025 and simply made special working day. pbbm tried to lessen the significance of the day when peoples power ousted his father from power.
I suspect so.
Another wise man told me that original sins should remain at the point of origin.
The home front looks secured, at least Starmer and the other European leaders are now meeting with Zelensky, and the rest I believe will take some time.
Three things I would add to the list above:
1) Cybersecurity. Chinese hackers penetrated German ministries IIRC in 2012. The law for cybersecurity was revised, and measures were put in place to make things more secure. Possibly, China could shut down the government in the Philippines with a flick of a switch..
2) Critical infrastructures. They have to be double protected against hacking. German cybersecurity laws stipulate that every entity taking care of water supply, electricity, power grid, dams, power plants, and more must have a cybersecurity officer and coordinate with Berlin.
3) Monitoring of airspace and sea. Clark air base with all its planes on the runway was destroyed because the planes got an alert and ran out of gas looking for the Japanese in WW2. Airspace is probably monitored well, but does the Philippines have its waters fully covered?
1 and 2. The Philippines is very vulnerable I think. Filipinos help the spies. China controls the electrical grid and knows where the cables run. Can AFP function if everything goes dark? I doubt it. As for 3, I think it’s getting better and I suspect the US helps. But for how long is hard to know.
Easier way to go dark is a sniper hitting a transmission line.
Have 10 of those them boom.
True. Only a librarian would think of that. 🤣😂🤣
The librarian pulled this out from the archives.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack#%3A%7E%3Atext%3DMetcalf_sniper_attack_-_Wikipedia?wprov=sfla1
2013, possibly an insider job. That would definitely put electricity out if the grid can’t bypass that station. Pretty devious.