I read an article in one of the Western publications, in which the author stated his own opinion with further proof of the preparation of one of the NATO countries for a war with Russia. Well, any person has the right to have his own point of view on absolutely any issue. And this evidence seems to be quite serious.
Of course, any action by the opposing side can be viewed as preparation for war. In fact, this is the case. The economy is being raised - they are preparing to defeat us. They accept new weapons - the same thing. They are putting things in order in their own armed forces - for a reason, for a war! Even new textbooks for first graders can be viewed in the same vein.
But you can't go to insanity?
The world is changing rapidly. The person is improving rapidly.
Remember the famous saying about a fishing rod, which must be given to a hungry person so that he can catch a fish himself?
Tell me honestly, at least for yourself, how many people can, having received this very rod, really catch a fish?
In theory, everything, but in practice?
Therefore, my reaction will be a little frivolous.
In the form of a statement to the police from a vigilant citizen living in rural areas, where few people use the Internet, rarely watch TV, and in general, people live there in an environmentally and informationally clean space.
Let's smile
To the district representative of a rural settlement
Junior Sergeant Vasily Petrov
from the villager's grandfather Matvey Ivanov.
Secret report.
Comrade junior sergeant Petrov, I, grandfather Matvey, a hereditary trackman of railway tracks, fulfilling my duties to inspect these very tracks, discovered an enemy newspaper in an incomprehensible language.
My grandson, also Matvey, a 6th grade student of our school, said that the newspaper was written in German.
Using my own authority among the population of the village, I asked our teacher Varvara Petrovna to translate the enemy newspaper and found there secret material about the impending attack on our country and our village.
And since we have few young people left, there is no one to defend the village, I ask you to inform Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich personally about this fact, so that he send us a soldier and at least some weapon... Better - a few tanks and at least one plane.
Vasya, the Germans ordered maps of our village, and of the country too.
Yes, not simple maps, but some kind of vector!
When do you need cards?
Or when you are going to go somewhere, or when you are going to seize something by military force!
So, in this secret article it is written that I ordered these very vector maps from their Bundeswehr!
The very ones that once roamed our land until they were snatched away from our fathers and grandfathers by insolent mugs to the fullest?
And I am sending you that newspaper too.
Maybe we translated something wrong?
Let the authorities figure it out.
Respectfully yours, lineman grandfather Matvey.
Junior Sergeant Vasily Petrov
from the villager's grandfather Matvey Ivanov.
Secret report.
Comrade junior sergeant Petrov, I, grandfather Matvey, a hereditary trackman of railway tracks, fulfilling my duties to inspect these very tracks, discovered an enemy newspaper in an incomprehensible language.
My grandson, also Matvey, a 6th grade student of our school, said that the newspaper was written in German.
Using my own authority among the population of the village, I asked our teacher Varvara Petrovna to translate the enemy newspaper and found there secret material about the impending attack on our country and our village.
And since we have few young people left, there is no one to defend the village, I ask you to inform Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich personally about this fact, so that he send us a soldier and at least some weapon... Better - a few tanks and at least one plane.
Vasya, the Germans ordered maps of our village, and of the country too.
Yes, not simple maps, but some kind of vector!
When do you need cards?
Or when you are going to go somewhere, or when you are going to seize something by military force!
So, in this secret article it is written that I ordered these very vector maps from their Bundeswehr!
The very ones that once roamed our land until they were snatched away from our fathers and grandfathers by insolent mugs to the fullest?
And I am sending you that newspaper too.
Maybe we translated something wrong?
Let the authorities figure it out.
Respectfully yours, lineman grandfather Matvey.
A little serious
Everything that is written in the "secret report of grandfather Matvey" is true.
According to Western sources, the Bundeswehr actually ordered high-resolution vector maps (1:50 000) of the territory of the Russian Federation. Moreover, since the order was classified, it was handed over to the consortium ARGE VEKHA without any tender.
This company is well known in certain circles for the fact that it collects high-resolution data. For example, it is there, along with other subsidiaries, includes Infoterra, one of the world's leading providers of satellite and radar data and services in this area.
This was reported by the German edition of the World Economy. The publication is respected, but sometimes too timid. What is this small excerpt from the article worth:
“... military maps based on satellite imagery. These images show not only the earth's surface, since work is also carried out in the infrared and radio wave ranges. This means that you can see everything on these vector maps! "
Scary?
You open the map in the tablet, and there is not only the city, but also the streets of this city, houses, roads and even parks and squares! Even motorists chuckled after reading these words. I won't even write about the sailors. They really see everything on the maps. Not only the outlines of the coast, but also the depths, shallows, underwater reefs, currents and more.
For the average user, the card is the card. There are detailed ones, for use, for example, in settlements, and there are less detailed ones, for example, for studying the geography of the planet. And what is it called - no one even thinks about it.
Why it is believed that military maps contain some very secret information, for example, I do not understand. In the modern world, where there are satellites and other means that allow you to see almost everything in someone else's territory, it is almost impossible to see something else.
If you look at the declassified maps of military operations during the Great Patriotic War, then everything will immediately fall into place. Civil and military maps differ only in the coordinate system used for the map data.
The military does not use geographic coordinates, but the Gauss-Kruger coordinate system. Or the transverse Mercator projection, if you look more broadly. Quite simply, then (for not particularly military people) the Earth is simply divided into squares, taking into account the rounded shape of the surface.
The appearance of fears among the layman is often associated with ... a simple misunderstanding of the words that are used in press materials.
Scary vector maps are just a database of map features. Building heights, river speed, wind strength, object names, street widths, and more. It is clear that such cards are a new phenomenon associated with the development of information technologies.
Let's finish with the continuation
It was not in vain that I started the material by mentioning the saying about a fishing rod for the hungry.
Studying the materials of joint exercises, Russian and foreign, especially from Western countries, I periodically come across the same opinion. Soldiers of units of the American or any European army shoot well, work professionally on objects, own hand-to-hand combat, but ...
They are completely lost in the event of emergency situations that make up a real war. The American Ranger can ride almost anything, but in the event of a breakdown, he has absolutely no idea what is under the hood of the car.
They perfectly navigate the terrain, using the most advanced location systems, but the usual compass terrifies them. Roughly the same as the story of the OBZH teacher about the moss on the north side of the tree trunk, as the majority of Russians have. Everyone knows about this, but finding this very moss, and hence the north, is a problem for most.
The development of modern technologies cannot be stopped. Vector maps are modern technologies. This is help for everyone. Including for the military. Everything changes. And it transforms quickly. The example of Syria is a fine example of such changes in military science. As well as the emergence of hypersonic weapons.
So it is necessary to notice any actions, especially by the military of other countries, but it is stupid to panic about every such occasion. Ultimately, the army exists in order to be ready not only to repel the aggression of another state, but to punish for these actions already on foreign territory. This means that soldiers and officers must be prepared for such actions in every sense of the word.
This is the answer to the final phrase of the author of the material from World Economy:
"Point! Maps with such a density of information are of interest only if military operations are planned in the specified geographic area. "