Wants against reality, a frank and educational read.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/202...pm_source=main

The MLRS supplied have a range up to 70 km and the M777 artillery pieces up to 40 km. This is ( I read ) beyond the range of Russian artillery, but obviously not their rockets.

Do you know what your enemy is shooting at you?
 

Aviation Content here: MANPADS proliferation continues to be a concern (and it has been for a while, going as far back in my memory as Stingers in Afghanistan in the 80's)

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...les-increasing
Worth a read.
For Nutty: nice piece in terms of perspective.As to the later tidbits regarding the area around Karkhiv, and the Russian artillery shooting from inside Russian territory: ALCM is a possible answer to that.
The question is, does Ukraine have Russian vintage ALCM's on any of their aircraft? Since Russia has violated Ukraine's border left, right, and center, Ukraine hitting a military target (artillery position) within Russia that is firing into Ukraine is well within bounds.

US army has 10 active divisions, each with a Brigade of 3 artillery battalions each equipped with around 24 howitzers (either self-propelled M109A7 or towed M777) & 9 MLRS or HIMARS. Thats 720 howitzers and 270 MLRS, for a total of around 1000 pieces.

The National Guard has a further 8 Brigades, making around another 800 pieces for a grand total of about 1800 pieces including about 500 MLRS..

That is, of course, only those currently assigned, not those held in reserve. The army having, over the years, bought over 990 MLRS.

A lot are mothballed, but a lot are also being refurbished and updated. e.g.

https://www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/products/m270.html

Not saying they can afford to give a lot away - but they have more than you suggest.

I suggest that you take it up with the author. I won't comment on your assumption of all divisions having a full complement of equipment. I don't share that assumption.
Your numbers are close enough if all ten divisions were heavy divisions. (Mechanized infantry or armor).
But they are not.
Three of them are light divisions. (Granted, the 101st is loaded with helicopters).
101st Air Assault (Fort Campbell) and 82d Airborne (Fort Bragg) divisions are not heavy divisions, nor is the 10th Mountain Division. (Fort Drum)
I'll suggest that your overestimation is based on assuming that their complement of heavy artillery / MLRS matches that of the seven heavy divisions. (Cav/Armor/Mech Infantry). It does not.

(The last time I saw the 82d's ToE was a long time ago, but they didn't have a Heavy Division's complement of heavy artillery - while they may have had an upgrade since then, IIRC they used the 105mm howitzer which is air droppable).

101st's Divarty looks like this:

• 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery (18 × M102 105mm towed howitzer)
• 2d Battalion, 320th Field Artillery (18 × M102 105mm towed howitzer)
• 3d Battalion, 320th Field Artillery (18 × M102 105mm towed howitzer)
• Battery C, 5th Battalion, 8th Field Artillery (attached 18th Field Artillery Brigade M198 155mm towed howitzer unit)

10th Mountain Division's Divarty looks like this:

• Headquarters & Headquarters Battery
  • 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery (18 × M101 105 mm towed howitzer)
  • 2nd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery (18 × M101 105 mm towed howitzer)
  • Battery E, 7th Field Artillery (8 × M198 155 mm towed howitzer)

With the above in mind, let's multiply your numbers by .7 by assuming that the 7 heavy divisions are equipped as you surmise:
That's about: 504 155mm howitzers and about 189 MLRS. (plus or minus a bit).
So yeah, he's still off by a bit.

BBC News…


Yeah, tell that to the surrendered fighters from Mariupol, some of who are sitting with death sentences hanging over their heads, and the others that possibly no one actually knows where they are.

The reason Russia left a bridge standing was I believe in the hope that they would all withdraw over it. That was never going to happen so I doubt the above will either, it will become another Mariupol tying down Russian forces, one does wonder what heavy equipment Ukraine now has trapped, though the dropped bridge span looks like a temporary one could be thrown across it.

Isn't that in Sun Tzu's book?

…”In some cases, according to one source familiar with US intelligence, Ukraine is simply opting not to use the unfamiliar Western systems. For example, despite receiving hundreds of Switchblade drones, some units prefer to use commercial drones rigged with explosives that are more user-friendly.”….

When a Trench becomes a ditch..

That's the thing about weapons: some training required.
I'll offer the observation that it is a good idea not to use a weapon that one has not trained with.
Could end in tears, otherwise.

How low is too low?

This is pretty damning if true:
SSU: Russia has come up with a new scheme to supply "cannon fodder" to the front (yahoo.com)

I suppose you can offer really good pay when most don't survive long enough to collect :rolleyes:

USERTIM,we would normally fly below treetop level; grass and weeds don`t do any damage,and the birds can sleep safely.....

There's forty shillings rubles on the drum ...


Fascinating read on the infrastructure in place to source and delivery weaponary to Ukraine

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-61816337

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....3aae108f4.jpeg

Things starting to turn in Russia. These are the hard core of those supporting the war…

“Sensible people need to get used (if someone hasn’t yet since May 2014) to a fact that the Russian state definitely cannot win this war BECAUSE IT DOESN’T WANT IT. Russian state does not want a red (ESPECIALLY red) Victory banner over Bankovaya. Russian state does not want Kyiv back in Russia. It does not want to crush the reptile that is Ukrainian nationalism.

Russian state does not want Russian victory, it wants an agreement. After the agreement there will be chance to live somewhere that is not Russia, to heal up in old age somewhere like Germany, Israel or Switzerland. To see how children with foreign passports walk around London and Paris. To realise the unspoken: “Well, okay, we were born and raised in this rubbish dump that is Russia/USSR, but the children, the children should go to the civilisation, should be raised and learned like the white people”.

This is how they are thinking. This is exactly and the only way they are thinking. Thus their lack of desire to win the war is completely understandable. And the long-term sabotage is totally logical.”…

Probably their way of coping with being Butt- hurt about the real- life performance of the once dreaded Russian Armed Forces. Before the 'Special Operation' (You can lose a war but not a special operation - might be one of the reasons for the naming) many in Russia probably still phantasized about being capable of defeating the whole west militarily just to find out that they are massively struggling at invading a Country they would have considered as having them for Breakfast from a pure Military strength perspective alone.

I think they heavily underestimated: Invading <> Defending. Their big success in WWII was in defending their Country. The German Troops had to deal with the challenge of long range logistics in enemy territory while they were defending home turf like now the Ukrainians are doing. They wrongly extrapolated that invading would work the same way. Well, it doesn't. Totally different league. Not only from a motivation perspective. Also very much from a practical perspective.

Crikey,

US estimates that Russia has lost up to 20-30% of its armoured forces




https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....29b844289.jpeg

Meanwhile in Russia the Izvestija (KRemlin supporter) is shouting out that the Ukrainian Air Force has been defeated (didnt they say that already in March) and that it will no longer pose a threat to the "allied forces" (whatever that alliance is).
Here's a typical line which is BS that smells to high heavens:
Also, what is staggering are the numbers the Russians are showing. According to the Izvestija source the Defence Ministry stated that "In total, 203 aircraft, 131 helicopters, 1,211 unmanned aerial vehicles, 339 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,558 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 524 multiple rocket launchers, 1,958 field artillery guns and mortars, as well as 3,623 special military units have been destroyed since the beginning.

One could argue that this is phenomenal performance by the RF armed forces as in February Ukraine had only 206 fixed wing aircrafts including all the transport and trainer aircrafts plus 146 helicopters in the inventory. I have no idea how these figures would be even remotely possible considering that Russia has not conquered Ukraine and subjected it.