Red China is the big loser in Iran

Red China’s military equipment is as reliable as Acme’s. Meep-meep

A side benefit of the Operation Epic Fury is testing the war materiel of the Russian and Red Chinese military. With little exception, they are failing again as they did in the extraction of Maduro from Venezuela to face prosecution for being a narco-terrorist whose re-election was illegitimate accord to Biden and most NATO countries.

Two days after Maduro’s arrest, the New York Times embarrassed itself by proclaiming, “Trump’s Foray Into Venezuela Could Embolden Russia’s and China’s Own Aggression.

“While both countries were allied with Nicolás Maduro, the U.S. attack could give them justification to use force in other spheres, analysts said.”

Wrong! Russia already invaded Ukraine after being emboldened by Biden’s unilateral and unconditional surrender of Afghanistan six months earlier.

Neither Putin nor Chairman Xi want to mess with Donald Trump. Both have avoided direct aid to Iran and they certainly are not sending troops to fight in Iran.

Mess with No. 47 and find out. In that January 5 story, NYT said:

Russia sent nuclear-capable bombers to Venezuela as a show of force in 2018 and ratified a strategic partnership with Venezuela just last October, looking to the country as a platform for projecting its influence across Latin America. China upgraded its ties to an all-weather friendship when Mr. Maduro visited in 2023 and loaned more than $100 billion to the country over the last quarter-century, largely in a bid for access to Venezuelan oil.

$100 billion—up in smoke just like Ayatollag Khamenei.

The USA destroyed the Russian missiles before they left the ground.

The U.S. military made a joke of Red China’s vaunted JY-27A radar system on January 3. That should cut international sales by 100%. If your radar system cannot detect 150 American aircraft, maybe you should just buy a crate of White Flags online and save money.

And it looks like Red China’s HQ-9B long-range surface-to-air missile system doesn’t work either.

In Venezuela, groundfire struck one helicopter. Despite suffering severe leg and hip injuries from intense fire, the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Eric A. Slover, maintained control of his MH-47 Chinook and delivered his Delta Force team. Weeks later, he received his Medal of Honor as part of Trump’s State of the Union address. This proves personnel matter as much as equipment.

On to Iran we go.

India Today reported, “China is not at war, but its military hardware is being put through a trial by fire. One of the most advertised military exports of Beijing is now under the scanner after its failure in two back-to-back conflicts within a year. The HQ-9B air defense system has reportedly failed again, this time in Iran, amid US-Israel airstrikes. The HQ-9B system was deployed in Pakistan but failed against Indian fire in May 2025.”

Red China’s drones proved as worthless as Chairman Xi’s word.

Iran had successes early on. The New York Times reported the day after Operation Epic Fury began, “Iran Fires Cheap Drones Into Arab Countries, Wreaking Havoc

“It already proved its effectiveness on the battlefields of Ukraine. Now the Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze has been unleashed across the Persian Gulf.”

The story said:

One-way attack drones have several advantages over traditional missiles, notably their cost-effectiveness at roughly $35,000 per drone. They also have a relatively long range of 2,000 kilometers.

Seth Frantzman, an expert on drone warfare, said while the Shahed drones were ineffective compared to other weapons, they can occasionally evade expensive air defense systems, spreading chaos and terror, and can be produced in high numbers.

Sending a million-dollar missile to down a $35,000 drone is less than ideal but when a missile bombs a drone, the missile saves lives and multi-million dollar buildings.

But Forbes reported, “By Reverse-Engineering the Shahed Drone, U.S. Gives Iran A Dose Of Its Own Medicine.”

The short story is the USA got hold of a Shahed fired in Ukraine, sent it to a company in Arizona, which reverse enginered it, and designed drones that are even better.

They have:

• Better reliability and components to meet U.S. military standards.

• Upgraded mesh networking for autonomous swarm coordination.

• Improved navigation in jammed/GPS-denied environments.

• More flexible launch options (catapult, rocket-assisted, ship/vehicle-mounted).

• Roughly the same ~$35,000 cost and delta-wing design, but often described as lighter/smaller with enhanced command links in some variants.

As for Russia, its military is tied up in Ukraine. Putin does not have a bullet to spare. Russia’s aircraft is outdated as well.

Forbes reported, “Russian Mi-28s And Su-35s Won’t Revitalize Iran’s Dilapidated Military.”

I left out Iran’s fairly modern navy. Red China helped build the ships including Iran’s prized IRIS Dena, IRIS Shahid Sayyad Shirazi and IRIS Shahid Soleimani. They are among the 20 Iranian ships the USA has sunk.

The big loser is Red China because Iran will end up with a better government after Epic Fury ends.

Red China relied on Iran and Venezuela for 20% of its oil. That’s gone. That means higher gasoline prices back home and curbs manufacturing.

But as I say, personnel matter as much as equipment. Operation Epic Fury proved to Chairman Xi that America has the military leadership at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue that is willing to remove or kill the leaders of Xi’s allies.

Sleep well, Xi, because you never know which one is your final nap.

—

As you may suspect, Saturday’s Highlights of the News already is loaded with Operation Epic fury items. So today I will post a few to clear space for the rest of the week’s highlights.

ITEM 1: ABC tweeted, “Iranian state TV has confirmed the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following the U.S.-Israeli attack on the country.”

Will Martha Raddatz attend the funeral?

His wife also died in the attack. We really shouldn’t be killing children.

ITEM 2: Visegrád 24 tweeted, “France confirms it’s sending the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier to the Eastern Mediterranean.”

Didn’t say which side it will be on.

ITEM 3: The New York Post reported, “Trump: ‘We were going to cut off all trade with Spain.’”

We’re gonna party like it’s 1898.

ITEM 4: The USA killed the leader of the Iranian unit who was the architect of the assassination plot against President Trump.

Hillary joined the Navy SEALs?

ITEM 5: War Consigliere Secretary Pete Hegseth said, “Last night, we sunk their prize ship—the Soleimani. Looks like POTUS got him twice.”

Everyone wants in on the act.

TWO POLLS TODAY.