Originally Posted by JulieAndrews (Post 11336107)

on the chopper front - I'm not sure 3 Sea Kings is going to do it ........plus the shed full of spares to keep them going for the week.

Originally Posted by Video Mixdown (Post 11336140)

They have clearly been offered and since UKR have accepted they must see them as a useful asset. If any other country had done this it would be seen as praiseworthy, but because it's the UK your first reaction is ridicule. Why would that be?
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Originally Posted by JulieAndrews (Post 11336107)

on the chopper front - I'm not sure 3 Sea Kings is going to do it ........plus the shed full of spares to keep them going for the week.

Originally Posted by Old_Slartibartfast (Post 11336082)

Much as I've been very reluctant for the West to get involved in yet another conflict on foreign soil, I am seriously worried that this view is going to gain more traction over the coming weeks and months. It frankly terrifies me if it were to happen, as our (as in the West's) track record of engaging in military action in foreign lands isn't exactly a glowing recommendation for the idea.

The multibillion dollar question is knowing how Russia might react if the West were to directly intervene, or even just give Ukraine longer range weapons that could strike deep within Russia. I frankly do not trust any of our assessments of Russian capability, as the past 9 months have proved, beyond doubt, that every one of our assessments has been completely wrong. If we can have been so wrong about their military capability, what else have we seriously misjudged about Russia?

The major fear is that the madmen in the Kremlin may choose to do the unthinkable, and use their nuclear weapons. Some assessments of the remaining Russian weapon capability are suggesting that they have few conventional long range missiles left, and at least two reports suggest that long range missiles that landed in Ukraine, but had no warheads, were dummy nukes, perhaps fired as decoys, perhaps fired out of desperation. This war is evolving into a massively more serious phase now, with Russia under severe sanctions, with badly depleted and poorly trained and equipped land forces, having been declared a terrorist state and having expended most of its warstock of reasonably capable conventional weapons. There has to be a risk that the Kremlin may decide they have nothing to lose by using tactical nukes, and that could well be precipitated by the West upping the ante and taking more direct action.

I would not like having to sit around a table in whatever sort of decision conference decides on these things, it seems an almost intractable problem, with no good outcomes.

Originally Posted by Sallyann1234 (Post 11335935)

It's not just a sponsor. Russia is a terrorist state.

Originally Posted by NutLoose (Post 11336158)

The ONLY way I can see them ever stopping the threat from these missiles destroying the countries infrastructure is as I said before, it’s not to keep plowing defensive weapons into the Country, because they will never catch them all, they need to give them long range weapons capable of destroying that bridge, hitting the ships, subs and loading docks in Sevastopol, also hitting the facilities launching the suicide drones and hitting the bomber launching from over the Black Sea.
And drop all the rail and road bridges linking Russia to Ukraine on both sides of the border.

After that I also think they need to give permission given to start destroying Russias power infrastructure around Moscow as well as their tv transmission masts etc..

Originally Posted by Old_Slartibartfast (Post 11336176)

What we don't know (and quite rightly so) is what's being done in terms of training those Ukrainians that are here and in the USA. There have been Ukrainian troops on Salisbury Plain for some time now, for example, and I've no doubt they are probably training elsewhere as well. Giving Ukraine long range weapons is sod all use unless they are competent to deploy them very effectively.

Think back to how long it takes to learn to use any bit of fairly complex kit competently. It's not a short process, especially as we know that they will get zero additional training when they get home, they need to be ready to use any new weapons and systems they are given the moment that set foot back on Ukrainian soil. For all we know that process might well be going on now, with a publicity black out because no one would want to tip off Russia as to what might be pointed in their direction before too long.

Originally Posted by ORAC (Post 11336229)

I’m seeing more and more talk of a Russian and Kazakhstan possible conflict... from both sides.