Retired American colonel: Russia is stronger than all NATO countries combined

US Retired Colonel James W. McConnell is confident that Russia's military tactics in Ukraine is "just what the doctor ordered."

"The Russians have begun to destroy the Ukrainian lines of communications — the power grid, bridges, roads and railroads — without which Ukraine's forces can't be resupplied. Once the destruction of the lines of communication is completed, Russia's army, particularly its extensive artillery, will present Ukrainian forces with the unpleasant reality that they are vastly outgunned and outnumbered," James W. McConnell, former member of the New Hampshire House of Representatives wrote in an article published on the website of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity.

The degree of "unpleasant reality" will depend on how far Russia wants to move west, he believes. The most likely option is that the Russians will want to take at least Nikolaev and Odessa regions in addition to the four regions that Russia) has already taken (Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions).

When Moscow achieves these goals, NATO will find itself in a difficult situation, in which the alliance will have to either recognise the victory of Russia, or engage in battle with the Russians, the retired colonel wrote in the article.

The North Atlantic Alliance, despite its undoubted military power, has very little chance of winning the war with Russia.

Russia is a formidable adversary

In support of his opinion — quite unexpected for a career US Air Force officer — McConnell admits:

Russia is the world leader in terms of air defense technology.

Russia's S-400 air defense system is considered to be the world's best system of this class. Turkey, a NATO member, has such systems at its disposal, but Russia has already modernised them to S-500. Moreover, S-500 systems have already been deployed at critical facilities in Russia.

Russia is five years ahead of the US in the field of hypersonic missile technology.

The United States is defenceless against Russian missiles that travel at hypersonic speeds and are capable of manoeuvring during the flight path. The US is still at the stage of hypersonic tests, whereas Russia has already fielded four different hypersonic missiles from its existing families of missile systems — Kinzhal, Kalibr, Iskander and Zircon, let alone the Avangard hypersonic glide vehicle.

"Should NATO enter a war with Russia, the US Navy's carrier task force in the Ionian Sea is an obvious Russian target. How can it successfully defend itself against Russia's simultaneous and probably massive hypersonic and conventional missile attack?" McConnell wonders.

"Should the Russians sink a carrier task force, Taiwan would, for example, have to rethink any illusions it has about the US coming to its aid in a conflict with China and become far more amenable to a soft conquest similar to the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong," he continues.

Pentagon spends too much

McConnell admits that building new aircraft carriers is impossible as "building capable and survivable modern warships is a complex and time consuming process."

Strangely enough, it is 850 army bases that the USA maintains around the world that have crippled America's combat capability:

"Boots on the ground give the US influence of a sort the Navy can't match and are essential to those who see the US as the world's policeman. Inexcusably, the cost of these bases and the extended (and counterproductive) efforts in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and now Ukraine, have come at the expense of the Navy and America's defense," James W. McConnell wrote. 

Based on the above, he concluded:

"For the last twenty years, the Russians and the Chinese have sought to strengthen their armed forces while America's leadership has, on a bipartisan basis, been obsessed with the Middle East. As a result, a persuasive argument suggests the US is no longer unbeatable."