Is Ukraine about to have a war?
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The Challengers 2 are going through upgrades to Challenger 3, they are not new tanks, oddly enough they make a big thing about the new gun, but that was the gun originally slated for the Chally 2, others have been deployed to support NATO countries.
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/n...rade-under-way
I do wonder if the 79 originally mooted for not being upgraded will now be upgraded or retained.
https://www.janes.com/defence-news/n...rade-under-way
I do wonder if the 79 originally mooted for not being upgraded will now be upgraded or retained.
Stormer MHV to be sent to ukriane
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/182987...s-ukraine-war/
Still saying as I have from the start. UK should bite the bullet and send Challenger 2 and AS-90's as well. If any european power can afford to be without armor for a few years will they wait for next gen or upgrade to better tanks its the UK. The would require to be exempted from some NATO requirement. Meanwhile they can lease / buy abrams from the massive stockpile the US has, same with either PZ-2000 / M-109 or upgraded polish AS-90 or straight buy some new, the previous list + K9. 200 or Challengers is a big enough group to make support easier instead of having to train and sustain 5 tanks her, 20 there. Challengers dont have the disadvantage of the abrams that it has a conventional power plant and dont have to train complete group of ukrainians from scratch on how to look after turbine engines
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/182987...s-ukraine-war/
Still saying as I have from the start. UK should bite the bullet and send Challenger 2 and AS-90's as well. If any european power can afford to be without armor for a few years will they wait for next gen or upgrade to better tanks its the UK. The would require to be exempted from some NATO requirement. Meanwhile they can lease / buy abrams from the massive stockpile the US has, same with either PZ-2000 / M-109 or upgraded polish AS-90 or straight buy some new, the previous list + K9. 200 or Challengers is a big enough group to make support easier instead of having to train and sustain 5 tanks her, 20 there. Challengers dont have the disadvantage of the abrams that it has a conventional power plant and dont have to train complete group of ukrainians from scratch on how to look after turbine engines
More realistic would be to train a cadre of Ukrainian tankers and have the force ready by summer.
Think he'll be Putin's Franco, who was helpful to Hitler, but only so much.
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Kudos to that medic and the cameraman
Keep them initially near the border with poland allowing ukrainians to gain experience in maintainence and operation and keep them close to where spares are going to be supplied for. Allows ukrainian forces to redeply existing forces in vheicle they are able to easier supply and maintain to the fighting in the west
Until the fields are dry, tanks in the area are missile magnets. The ISR demand is simplified greatly by the constrained manoeuvre available for the tanks. Of course, there is a lot of surveillance that is going to give a headache to the Russians anyway coming from the current JSTAR assets in place. Putin has probably revived the JSTAR program, 4 aircraft had just been mothballed last year as the program was coming towards its end, the risks that brought it to life having apparently been... removed. (Thank Putin for rejuvenating the system).
The successes that Ukraine has had have arisen from asymmetric warfare so far. The East is going to be a different case, but that is already under way and the guys in the field are going to be fighting with what they have now and what can be resupplied within the next few weeks.
The good news is, that as bad as the situation is for Ukraine, it is no better for Russia, in fact the Russians have a major problem with will to serve on their side, as often happens with armies of tyrants. Many Russian soldiers refuse to fight, surrender to unarmed civilians, or abscond with their weapon systems and donate to the Ukrainians. That is a corrosive condition and doesn't get better; the Russian solution for discipline tends to be quite harsh and increases the resentment from all those that observe such responses. Russian officers would do well to wear body armor to protect their back and when they sleep. Ukraine doesn't have a shortage of determined and motivated warfighters, they have a shortage of rounds to send downrange at the copious targets that exist. In short, they need more ATW of all kinds, not just Javelins, and they need more commercial drones, TB-2s, and a bunch of MQ-s to help the Russian conscripts make the case that the Russian army is not welcome in Ukraine.
MQ's while great, require runways etc for their use, unless you are in Singapore or Sweden etc, or Switzerland... or... Parking MQs on a ramp is an invitation to be targeted. The Russian army may be constrained by having a psycho boss, but they are not stupid or without sensors.
Javelin production rates are reportedly being ramped up but the lead times are considerable. The Switchblade 600 appears to have a faster rate of production and is going to be able to give as great a headache to Russia as Javelins. The quartermaster's dilemma will be present in the west for a while, "if I give you this now, I will only have 5,000 left in stock, and what if someone asks for 5,001 items? What then?". Well, right now there is a war, and if not stopped in Ukraine, the 5,001 won't be the number needed at all, a few zeros will need to be added. Russia is expanding it's wealth and arms on a willing defender, this is the time to use all available assets to stop them cold in their tracks. By stop, that is, to get Russia back inside it's own international borders, and to ask the Eastern regions to decide if they want to be part of Ukraine or relocate to Russian territory. The separatists have been raped and pillaged by Russian troops, not Ukrainian, so, the answer may surprise the Russians.
The West needs to realize that Russia's actions are in Ukraine at this time, but if they are able to succeed in Ukraine, there are many other countries on the menu, including Moldova as a certainty, the Baltic states, Finland and Poland. This attack is against all of eastern and central Europe, not just Ukraine. Belarus has its own share of upheaval that is about to play out, when the locals disagree to the extent that they sabotage the boss's (Lukashenko) BFF (Putin) army when they are being redeployed to attack another sovereign nation, then that suggests that there are some bad days ahead to be named Lukashenko. With an uprising (again) in Belarus, Russia may need to put troops back in there too which will add to the entertainment value of the region.
When you have to use a T-72 to maintain order in your own area or need to poison or assassinate your opponents, it seems to be a hint that your program has some headwinds to overcome. Democracy may suck and be frustrating, but it doesn't usually involve T-72's.
Last edited by fdr; 19th Apr 2022 at 01:59.
Its actually not in the months its going to take it get them there and everyone up to speed its not going to be mud season anymore. They need to start looking at medium to longer term now. Not 6 months in the future, last generation western tech is what is needed for this medium term outlook
Its actually not in the months its going to take it get them there and everyone up to speed its not going to be mud season anymore. They need to start looking at medium to longer term now. Not 6 months in the future, last generation western tech is what is needed for this medium term outlook
Russia had a purported 12,500 tanks available entering this tiff, in reality they had around 3,000-3,500 available tanks, so the confirmed losses recorded by Onyx indicate that they have had about 10% (really roughly) lost directly, but about the same abandoned and captured. The abandoned tanks are from logistics (no gas) or from strategic blunders (stuck in mud, who would have thought that there would have been mud in Ukraine, in spring... and how good is a command & control system when the generals cannot speak freely to the billy goat at the top that this is a bad idea, knowing that they get offed as a result). Russia has lost some 10 generals so far as in dead, kaput. They have lost a further 20 odd that are sacked or arrested by their Dear Leader. The Navy lost their head (still has his, but it is early and at the rate that Lefortovo is filling up, there is probably a pig farm somewhere nearby that will start to get feed from the Kremlin).
Anyway, half of the losses arise from capture, and a lot of the capture is due to the disinclination of the crews to be in this criminal campaign. In a set battle between tanks, as happened in the Golan Heights, in the absence of confounding factors, (drones, drones, drones etc., and drones... ) the outcome is dependent on logistics (ammo available) preparation (berms etc) and spotting for artillery (drones again). If the Russians have drones in the field, a static force in prepared location is a target. That suggests that gifts of MBTs etc is not going to be the most effective aid to the Ukrainians, getting more ATW into the field and having the ability to target at a distance is going to be a fair alternative. The Russians do not have the current manpower or will to march en-masse into a prepared position, so they have to prep first, and that brings out their drone needs as well. Taking out the Russian drones that may spot for arty is the single greatest kindness that can be offered to the Ukrainians, IMHO. That is in keeping with asymmetric warfare, and that permits the actions of the Russians to be dependent on blind fire which is a costly and logistical difficulty.
The Ukrainian use of the Javelin may need to be more controlled, an RPG will achieve results against most of the systems in the list below, the Javelin is worthy of application against MBTs and leave the softer vehicles to RPGs. MLAW supply status is unknown, but they are still going to be more constrained in resupply than RPG rounds.
Easy to say from X,000 miles away. The Ukrainians should be supported by all UN signatory nations, and that they are not is a disgrace on every country that does not actively support them. The UN Charter is pretty darn clear on the obligations of members, and the fact that the UNSC cannot approve picking their own nose or more appropriately, wiping their collective backsides leaves the stench of a rotten institution in the nostrils. Ukraine needs all the support it can get, now, not tomorrow, but it also needs support that it can field effectively against the monstrosity that is Putin's Zombie military.
Iran smuggling weapons to Russia?
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/w...-Russia-Report
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/w...-Russia-Report
“We don’t care where the heavy weapons go [because we don’t need them at the moment],” an Iran-backed Iraqi militia source told the Guardian. “Whatever is anti-US makes us happy.”
Iran smuggling weapons to Russia?
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/w...-Russia-Report
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/w...-Russia-Report
“We don’t care where the heavy weapons go [because we don’t need them at the moment],” an Iran-backed Iraqi militia source told the Guardian. “Whatever is anti-US makes us happy.”
Good question, but that is what the article addresses. Perhaps it’s sanction against Iran they mean?
Iraq Shiite factions - to Iran Revolutionary Guards - smuggling by sea to Russia.
Iraq Shiite factions - to Iran Revolutionary Guards - smuggling by sea to Russia.
The way I read what was written in The Guardian, which is where this article first appeared, is that the Iraqi militia were 'smuggling' the weapons presumably because they didn't want Iraqi government interference, into Iran. The Iranians were then shipping the weapons clandestinely to Russia who presumably don't want the world to know how desperate they are. Not a well written story, there's probably a lot more to it than was described especially when you consider the regional politics.
Thanks beardy, that straightens things out a little better.
Do we have hard corroborated evidence for that? I have read reports of it but I am not sure of the credibility. Good news if true by, lots of fog about.
Article & photos etc in today's lunchtime edition of The Times.
Britain sends Stormer anti-aircraft vehicles to Ukraine
Snippet:-
Britain sends Stormer anti-aircraft vehicles to Ukraine
Snippet:-
Britain is giving Ukraine armoured anti-aircraft vehicles armed with launchers that destroy jets and helicopters with high-precision missiles, according to reports.
The 13-tonne Stormer vehicles look similar to tanks but rather than firing shells they launch 17 high-velocity Starstreak missiles.
Each laser-guided projectile splits into three darts as they fly, ripping apart targets with kinetic impact.
The 13-tonne Stormer vehicles look similar to tanks but rather than firing shells they launch 17 high-velocity Starstreak missiles.
Each laser-guided projectile splits into three darts as they fly, ripping apart targets with kinetic impact.
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Update on some of the possible Russian lossses on part of the offensive.
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Arguably the CVR(T) series has an already well-established ability to operate in soft terrain, both from use during The Falklands War and in any number of operations since.