Ukraine

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Apr 10, 2022 16:34:25 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Imagine a country, like Belarus, contributing to the Russian war cause, while having hundreds of her citizens fighting against the Russians in Ukraine ... here is the extent of Belarus' involvement in the Russo / Ukraine War from Wikipedia ...

Cheers.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

... speaking of Belarus ...

[Willie Dog]

Looks like Brits are sending Ukraine Harpoon anti-ship systems

[jkr]

This looked like very good news until I got to the end of the video & read the shortcomings. Am I missing something?

[Willie Dog]

Ukraine claims they used their own developed cruise missle to hit the Russian flag ship in the black sea... Russia says it was a fire onboard.

[Willie Dog]

US Sending more weapons

[Willie Dog]

Apr 14, 2022 6:28:18 GMT -5 jkr said:

This looked like very good news until I got to the end of the video & read the shortcomings. Am I missing something?

unfortunately that's what generally happens in war, countries use/supply older tech because they need to use it or its money wasted... IIRC at the start of the war Russia sent in their older tanks...

In the case of Slovakia sending S300 to Ukraine and getting Patriot from US, this is Slovakia getting rid of Russian designed weapons and going with US/NATO designed weapons.

[Willie Dog]

A lot of differing opinions on what was used to destroy the ship but the good news is it was destroyed... The Russians have been pounding coastal cities with impunity, this will make them think twice.


This video says it was a Neptune missle...

Ukraine developed Neptune Missile

[Tankdriver]

Have they been able to confirm it was sunk? I've also heard it was being towed to port.

[HABsurd]

The war in a nutshell. Russia loses their flagship cruiser to a country that doesn't have a navy.

[Willie Dog]

Great work being done by small aid groups

[Cranky]

Apr 14, 2022 7:56:45 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Apr 14, 2022 6:28:18 GMT -5 jkr said:

This looked like very good news until I got to the end of the video & read the shortcomings. Am I missing something?

unfortunately that's what generally happens in war, countries use/supply older tech because they need to use it or its money wasted... IIRC at the start of the war Russia sent in their older tanks...

In the case of Slovakia sending S300 to Ukraine and getting Patriot from US, this is Slovakia getting rid of Russian designed weapons and going with US/NATO designed weapons.

The S300 is a very, very capable system but for obvious reasons, it doesn't integrate with the Patriot system.

In a war theater, you need total integrations otherwise you can have your own missiles attack you. To avoid that, S300 has to be human controlled. The Patriot system can be centrally controlled when it actually can fire at a distinct target while ignoring another target in it's field of view.

Like ALL systems, it's a battlefield weapon that needs secondary support. The Ukrainians already had S300 batteries that were destroyed completely. So will these be. Basically, you need to place them deep into your territory AND have secondary anti-aircraft missiles to protect the missiles. It actually needs 2 extra layers. A short range anti-missile missiles and a point defense like a Gatling gun.

So ALL this whining about from Ukraine to get planes and S300 is great...but they wont last very long. Maybe days or hours. It makes for great optics and PR but in real terms, I rather have a 1000 nlaws for even one S300 or Mig-29. In fact, the cost of one S300 system you can have 10,000 nlaws.

.


BTW....Greeks also have S300 in Crete. Near an military airport and backed by the two layers of defense besides the F-16's. There is also an AA system in Athens and I found out the hard way that I had a room not far from one. One day, I went for a walk up the hill from where I stayed. Ran into a military outpost in front of giant barn style steel door, about 20'x20' which I was pretty sure had either either AA or a stripper bar behind them. There were guys with machine gun and on the trigger. If you came anywhere near the post, they just pointed their machine gun at you and told you to leave....or else.

[Willie Dog]

Apr 14, 2022 15:07:25 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Ran into a military outpost in front of giant barn style steel door, about 20'x20' which I was pretty sure had either either AA or a stripper bar behind them. There were guys with machine gun and on the trigger. If you came anywhere near the post, they just pointed their machine gun at you and told you to leave....or else.

High end stripper bar I guess...

[Cranky]

Apr 14, 2022 8:48:25 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

A lot of differing opinions on what was used to destroy the ship but the good news is it was destroyed... The Russians have been pounding coastal cities with impunity, this will make them think twice.


This video says it was a Neptune missile...

Ukraine developed Neptune Missile

Apparently they used the old "look at the birdie" distraction.

According to "insiders" they flew the Turkish drone from one direction and then attacked from the other direction. So the mighty Russian navy with THREE layers of defense could only track ONE target. ONE. More about it below...

According to US intelligence (satellites), it's still afloat and burning. It's basically junk and the Russian will probably quietly scuttle it overnight. EDIT....NOW RUSSIA REPORT IT SANK. Too bad. Soooo sad.

As to how it was hit, the story it was hit with newly developed Ukrainian Neptune missiles but I bet everything it was hit by Harpoon missiles that the Brits gave them. The timing coincides with the availability of them about a week ago. It's better politically to say it was Ukrainian missiles then start something hot with the Brits. The Russians would be so tempted to retaliate...and we get WW3.

Taking out Moskva has HUGE implications. It's primary role was to be the AA system for the entire Black Sea. With it gone, it's open season on the entire Russian navy. The Ukrainians now can simply sink their entire fleet with impunity. Sink the fleet and then you have open season on the Russian oil depots. Destroy the oil depots and the tanks are running on vodka. No tanks and they better pray the Ukrainians don't march into Russia.

Come down to this....the mighty Russian military is a paper tiger. Garbage. WORSE then Saddam's military. If they were facing Americans, never mind NATO, they would be Abrams tanks in Moscow three weeks ago.

.


For the record....American warships expect to be attacked by at least 100 missiles from every direction (swarming) and that is why they have layers of radar, combined and/or distinct. The radar can fire every gun and every missile distinctly. Literally IMPOSSIBLE to do what Ukrainians did on a ships far smaller then the Russian "flagship".

[Cranky]

Apr 14, 2022 14:32:06 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Great work being done by small aid groups

Start with....medicine.

Then supply...food kitchens.

Human aid....nurses and doctors/dentists.

Dolls, candies, clothes are frankly a waste of cargo space.

I'm very, very skeptical about Red Cross and even more skeptical about security with them around. Setting up "camps" just invites snipers and Russian crazies.

[Cranky]

I'm following this guy from day one and one of the top 5 guys who really know their stuff.

I tweeted questioning if it was Neptune and he responded....does it matter? Of course not. He also touches on it in the inteview.

Brilliant guy.....but I still think he's wrong because he doesn't see what I see on drones. He still thinks in terms of 1990's military hardware but we are in 2022. Obviously I do not have his military stripes but equally obvious, I have vastly more experience and knowledge then him in mass manufacturing and technology.

[Willie Dog]

Sky news says the RIA news agency has announced the Moscva has sunk while being towed to port...

[Cranky]

Apr 14, 2022 20:04:15 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Sky news says the RIA news agency has announced the Moscva has sunk while being towed to port...

WRONG. It is part of the Putin the Genius plan. Moskva is now the newest submarine. Immune from harmful sun rays and flies.

Amazing, those Russians are.

[Willie Dog]

Apr 14, 2022 20:55:54 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Apr 14, 2022 20:04:15 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Sky news says the RIA news agency has announced the Moscva has sunk while being towed to port...

WRONG. It is part of the Putin the Genius plan. Moskva is now the newest submarine. Immune from harmful sun rays and flies.

Amazing, those Russians are.

True, those missiles are now torpedoes...

[Cranky]

Right now, Russian TV commentators have gone off the rails and demanding that Ukraine be eradicated.

I'm trying NOT to think that this is intended to whip up support for a nuclear strike on Kiev.

This goes back to HARD sanctions. Germany and those who didn't want sanctions to disturb their way of life may face far greater consequences. Obviously VW is more importent then Kiev. How about the fallout? Will that disturb your precious gas supplies?


A wee bit nervous....

[Cranky]

And this....from the CIA

After that, where fdo we go with Russia?

WASHINGTON — The director of the C.I.A. said on Thursday that “potential desperation” to extract the semblance of a victory in Ukraine could tempt President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to order the use of a tactical or low-yield nuclear weapon, publicly discussing for the first time a concern that has coursed through the White House during seven weeks of conflict.

The director, William J. Burns, who served as American ambassador to Russia and is the member of the administration who has dealt most often with Mr. Putin, said the potential detonation of such a weapon — even as a warning shot — was a possibility that the United States remained “very concerned” about. But he quickly cautioned that so far, despite Mr. Putin’s frequent invocation of nuclear threats, he had seen no “practical evidence” of the kinds of military deployments or movement of weapons that would suggest such a move was imminent.

“Given the potential desperation of President Putin and the Russian leadership, given the setbacks that they’ve faced so far, militarily, none of us can take lightly the threat posed by a potential resort to tactical nuclear weapons or low-yield nuclear weapons,” Mr. Burns said during a question-and-answer session following a speech he delivered at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

More...

www.nytimes.com/2022/04/14/us/politics/putin-nuclear-weapons.html

[Cranky]

Thus is just the birth of killer drones. From now on, they will get more lethal, more autonomous, cheaper. Basically, everything that we fought with up to now will be scrap metal.

Welcome to the future...welcome to Drone Wars.

These are made in Ukraine by amateurs. Give me $100 million or a Costco size plant and I will flood the battlefield with them. Any tank formation and they will descent like locust. Swarms of them.

[jkr]

Found this a few days ago. It claims to show a Ukrainian soldier dismantling a crashed Russian drone. Inside he finds an off the shelf Canon camera and generally amateurish construction.

www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-video-russia-drone-dismantling

[Cranky]

Apr 15, 2022 6:46:18 GMT -5 jkr said:

Found this a few days ago. It claims to show a Ukrainian soldier dismantling a crashed Russian drone. Inside he finds an off the shelf Canon camera and generally amateurish construction.

www.foxnews.com/world/ukraine-video-russia-drone-dismantling

At the building right now, I have $175 security camera that can see human in color in complete darkness. Yes, color.

In fact, about a month ago, there was a power outage in the area and no lighting at all. None. My system is on UPS (battery backup) and could see like it was an overcast day. Actually, since lit areas creates dark shadows, it's a better picture with zero lighting.

That was last years tech. Now, they can see a field mouse in color, in moonless night.

Now imagine a drone chasing human or tank. Nowhere to hide, day or night.

[Willie Dog]

Apr 15, 2022 6:25:55 GMT -5 Cranky said:

These are made in Ukraine by amateurs. Give me $100 million or a Costco size plant and I will flood the battlefield with them. Any tank formation and they will descent like locust. Swarms of them.

Similar to the scene in Angel has Fallen

[jkr]

Found this interview with Zelenskey in The Atlantic:

www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2022/04/zelensky-kyiv-russia-war-ukrainian-survival-interview/629570/

[Cranky]

Apr 15, 2022 14:28:01 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Apr 15, 2022 6:25:55 GMT -5 Cranky said:

These are made in Ukraine by amateurs. Give me $100 million or a Costco size plant and I will flood the battlefield with them. Any tank formation and they will descent like locust. Swarms of them.

Similar to the scene in Angel has Fallen

Absolutely.

Cost of drones....

Home made octacopter in the footage....$8,000

Switchblade 300...$6,000

Switchblade 600...$20,000

Javelin....$230,000

Nlaw.....$40,000

That's just too much and killer/suicide drones need to be cheap and cheerful. Mass production of death.

Cranky AP (anti-personal)....$500

Cranky AT (anti-tank)....$2,000

Fly and forget with optical recognition. Simply launch them, pick a target then set kill. Next. Repeat. Immune to GPS scrambling and can see everything, day or night. Operator is miles or towns away, enjoying ham sandwich between kill switches.

The only defense is to hide from sight....and you can't fight from inside a cave.

You know what is sad? I'm already calculating production output from injection moulding machines, motor winding machines, power needs, range, kill radius....thankfully, my mind is air gapped. It's an engineering/production exercise of an idle mind but I'm betting everything it's reality in China.

[Willie Dog]

Apr 15, 2022 16:51:18 GMT -5 Cranky said:

Apr 15, 2022 14:28:01 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Similar to the scene in Angel has Fallen

Absolutely.

Cost of drones....

Home made octacopter in the footage....$8,000

Switchblade 300...$6,000

Switchblade 600...$20,000

Javelin....$230,000

Nlaw.....$40,000

That's just too much and killer/suicide drones need to be cheap and cheerful. Mass production of death.

Cranky AP (anti-personal)....$500

Cranky AT (anti-tank)....$2,000

Fly and forget with optical recognition. Simply launch them, pick a target then set kill. Next. Repeat. Immune to GPS scrambling and can see everything, day or night. Operator is miles or towns away, enjoying ham sandwich between kill switches.

The only defense is to hide from sight....and you can't fight from inside a cave.

You know what is sad? I'm already calculating production output from injection moulding machines, motor winding machines, power needs, range, kill radius....thankfully, my mind is air gapped. It's an engineering/production exercise of an idle mind but I'm betting everything it's reality in China.

Link those drones to a satellite and you've got a remote control war... you forgot to price out an anti-aircraft drone with solid rocket booster

[Cranky]

Apr 15, 2022 18:43:08 GMT -5 Willie Dog said:

Link those drones to a satellite and you've got a remote control war... you forgot to price out an anti-aircraft drone with solid rocket booster

Satellite..big picture from central command then...

Down to local level C&C

Pickup truck capable of launching 100-200. 5 ton truck to launch thousands. 10 miles from targets.

C&C...to operator for hunt and destroy or computer for swarm attack.

Or....lone/team operator with several drones doing some sniping...with drones.

Ham sandwhich time while watching Puta army reduced to scrap metal and body bags.

Sadly, it's easier to kill then to solve world hunger.

[Tankdriver]

Some random thought today. I read an article saying some thought the capital would fall in 3 days at the begging and my mind wandered to Afghanistan. If the afghan army had the same desire, pride and heart as the Ukrainians, the Taliban wouldn't be in power.

Another random thought, I am agreeing with Cranky on how sanctions don't work with dictators. There is always some country willing to help them out, mainly China. Sanctions on North Korea, Iran has done nothing to change their outlook on things.