The Rice Furnace

The 1994 Bophuthatswana crisis was a major political crisis which began after Lucas Mangope, the president of Bophuthatswana, a nominally independent South African bantustancreated under apartheid, attempted to crush widespread labour unrest and popular demonstrations demanding the incorporation of the territory into South Africa pending non-racial elections later that year.[7] Violent protests immediately broke out following President Mangope's announcement on 7 March that Bophuthatswana would boycott the South African general elections.[8] This was escalated by the arrival of right-wing Afrikaner militias seeking to preserve the Mangope government. The predominantly black Bophuthatswana Defence Force and police refused to cooperate with the white extremists and mutinied, then forced the Afrikaner militias to leave Bophuthatswana.

🪖🇿🇦🇨🇩 SANDF casualties reported in latest battle against M23 rebels in the DRC DRC government forces (FARDC) together with Wazalendo militia and SAMIDRC troops bombarded M23 rebel positions in the mountains around Sake – about 30 km from Goma – on Thursday morning, which was followed by a ground assault on M23 positions. The M23 rebels apparently destroyed five SAMIDRC vehicles, and captured an armoured personnel carrier (APC) and a truck. They also bombarded Sake, with at least several projectiles falling on the town, killing a number of civilians. Photos and videos posted on social media show rockets being fired at – apparently – M23 targets, and an SA Army Mamba armoured personnel carrier covered in spent shell casings and with bullet damage to the windscreen and at least one flat tyre. Another photo shows an IVECO truck apparently captured from FARDC or Tanzanian forces. https://www.defenceweb.co.za/african-news/dead-and-wounded-reported-in-latest-battle-against-m23-rebels-in-the-drc/

The research on artillery rounds by Bain & Company, which drew on publicly available information, found that Russian factories were forecast to manufacture or refurbish about 4.5 million artillery shells this year compared with a combined production of about 1.3 million rounds across European nations and the US. On cost, it said the average production cost per 155 mm shell - the type produced by NATO countries - was about $4,000 (£3,160) per unit, though it varied significantly between countries. This is compared with a reported Russian production cost of around $1,000 (£790) per 152 mm shell that the Russian armed forces use. https://news.sky.com/story/russia-is-producing-artillery-shells-around-three-times-faster-than-ukraines-western-allies-and-for-about-a-quarter-of-the-cost-13143224

Pentagon to open new factory in Texas to manufacture munitions for Ukraine — New York Times The Mesquite plant is still under construction, but will soon be churning out 30,000 artillery shells for the 155m howitzer every month, roughly double the US’s current production. To support Ukrainian demand for shells, the DoD set a goal in 2023 of producing 100K shells per month by 2025 which would represent a near tenfold increase compared to a few years ago.

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