Re the lone T34 trundling past the Kremlin on its own during the May Day parade 2023....

That does throw up a question.... In 2021 they had about eight T34's, so have they deployed the other seven?? :}


https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....ea1fdca202.png

Correction on numbers..

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....9b49bd6da4.jpg

Further to Video Mixdown's; Just as the Ukrainian pilots are already pilots, the Ukrainian technicians are already aircraft technicians. When it was my war role in the 80's, a standard NATO cross-servicing course on another country's combat aircraft took less than a week and equipped us to ground-handle, refuel, rearm and perform a turnaround servicing. A typical civil/military aircraft type-rating course (eg B1, B2, military crew-chief) takes under a month. Say I was already a Jaguar technician (which I was), I would be embarrassed if I couldn't manage a MiG-29 after a month or two of training and experience.

Furthermore, unlike pilots, technicians are not using their skills solo; they are part of a team, and will (presumably) have further support on line.

Yup I went from Helicopters to Jags to VC10, no problems. It's just another hunk of junk to get your head around. The biggest change was Jag bang seats as hadn't touched one in about 7 years from basic training, Bruggen ran a 2-3 day seat course that covered the whole history etc, the armourer chief running it saying he could cover the seat in a short day, but the 3 days ensured the manning establishment that was keeping him in a job :)


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Oops…

Today on Russian Z channels they are sharing and celebrating a video of Russian fighters beating up and raping a young female Ukrainian soldier. They are sharing it to millions of subscribers.

​​​​​​​Немає слов. Слова не існують.

Although I would certainly believe the Russkies are capable of things like this, as far as I can see it's unverified.

What does "winning" actually look like when you have estranged yourself from the rest of the world and shown your military prowess to be farcical not fearful?

[from Darth Putin]

https://cimg2.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....386103f59.jpeg

Twitter

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....33211275d.jpeg

Twitter

Heavy Artillery gives you wings

It looks like the some of the 72nd brigade of the 3rd corps ran off the battlefield today. The reason this is significant is because the 72nd is part of the new III corps of the Russian army, it was just formed last year with the 6th division.

The 72nd was to have some of the best troops, weapons, etc.. with the UKR 3rd assault brigade attacking it they ran leaving a huge hole where Wagner lost 500 troops taking it.

This was not a mobilized conscript brigade.
Not a shattered rebuilt brigade
Not a state sponsored res brigade
Not a national guard brigade
This is a front line reinforced "best" brigade...

​​​​​​​ Footage from earlier today showing 3rd Assault Brigade engaging the Russian 72nd Brigade in Bakhmut, with Prigozhin's commentary. Explicit content warning ❗️

Video courtesy of the 3rd Assault Brigade.

Many people on the Twitter thread questioning it too.

"Source ?" " Trust me bro'. "

A picture paints thousand words.

Ukraine SU 25 now using US supplied Zuni rocket pods

Russian Su25 not faring quite so well - wonder if he tried the brakes before popping the chute? :E

F16, a good fit?

Forgive the civvy post. As an armchair observer, I do wonder if F16 are a good match. From reading the very knowledgeable people on these forums and others I understand that there maybe other airframes that would less maintenance and less centralised bases. Someone mentioned the Viggen. The ability to disperse them and relatively smaller support crews seems a no brainier. Of course there are many more US aircraft available. How effective would they be in this theatre.

Mud!

Now this is clever.

WOW!! Aviation content

Lol

Not a problem, welcome, the Viggen was retired many moons ago, I think you might be mixing it up with the Gripen, unfortunately Sweden has just taken those out of the equation. A lot I suppose depends really on what Ukraine needs the aircraft to do, I.e fit a specific purpose.