Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Rather disrespectful language towards Belgium. A relatively small population, which has since Mar 2022 sent over 200 Anti armour weapons, and 5000 assault rifles. Heavy mortars, body armour, night vision systems, trucks, ammunition and, dare i say it in here, helmets.

Among other equipment. And financial and diplomatic support. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_foreign_aid_to_Ukraine_during_the_Russo-Ukrainian_War

Shameful to describe that as finally waking up.

Which is why aviation experts have being suggesting the rafale is more suited to Ukraine's needs.

Yes training take time, but if there's Ukrainian pilots without an aircraft are you gonna do the Russian thing and send them to the Frontline as cannon fodder or maybe start them training on airframes that they will eventually be flying. The days of Ukraine sourcing Russian arms is over.

And again you're back to this or that.

It's not like western countries have a list with a few columns and Ukraine can have one from this column or 10 from this column.

Oh you picked a fighter jets, no AA for you etc... They recently announced tanks for Ukraine.... Let's hope ATACMS were not in the other column.

Russia has ramped up production of weapons systems and in Feb will have the remaining 150,000 of their "mobilised" having finished their training and available for deployment. There may not be an appetite for handing over land to Russia and I don't blame them, and if they succeed in driving Russia out then obviously there is no need to. I suppose it comes down to at what cost is that victory considered worthwhile. If Ukraine succeeds but loses a million men to do it is that OK? 2 million? 5 million? The destruction of how many cities, towns and villages? That is an uncomfortable question that they I'd imagine the Ukrainian government must have already assessed. Of course the same is true of Russia, at what cost is "victory" in Ukraine no longer a victory, how many do Russia have to lose before it consider the war a failure regardless of what land they may or may not manage to hold on to. Is the death of 5 million Russian men a price worth paying for the successful annexation on Donbass? 8 million? Who knows what number they are willing to accept.

If nothing else, kudos for exploring a new angle on the Ukrainian invasion and Ireland's involvement that we haven't seen here before. I don't think religion of any flavour comes into it with Putin and his ilk. Although he's quite happy to manipulate those naiive enough, if it helps him to achieve his objectives.

I think we're going to see a lot more of this as the War progresses. The go-to tactic will be "The War must end now! Stop the killing", but the meaning is essentially "We've probably reached the limit of our likely gains, and now want to hold onto what we've got with a frozen frontline."

They're still getting bits of Donbas in the last few weeks, and probably will get bits more over time. But it does look like Ukraine is arming for a major assault, and if Solidar and their glacial creep towards Bakmut is the best they can pull off with their current human-wave tactics, then I think the Kremlin now know that they might need to move now to get some sort of "peace" before those losses are likely reversed.

So now we get Russian-backed Boardsies screaming for peace. When our current guest departs, several more will probably appear with a very similar message. Hell, they've even got Trump doing it too "truthing" about how easy it is to end the war. I expect this talking point to increase with urgency over time.

The F-16 wish is about the platform and the variety of US weapons it can carry and lob from 10,000m, not doing low altitude ground attack in range of manpads. Aerial warfare is all about energy, from how long the batteries in your DJI drone last to how far a glide bomb can travel depending on release height. Most of the battlefield danger from manpads is for low flying aircraft below 5,000m. For long range radars and SAMs, the F-16 can cary HARMs.

As a general rule of thumb, it seems pretty clear to me that the Ukrainian military are very smart, and are not asking for stuff as armchair warriors, that they can't use or don't need.

A significant current issue, recognised by all allied parties, is that Ukraine needs a capabiity to precision strike out to about 200km. The Orcs are now placing stuff like big ammo dumps 180km from the line of conflict. Ukraine needs to be able to hit these. The F-16 can carry a whole host of US weapons, and I think that's the big advantage - flexibility. Altitude is potential energy, so the higher you can release or fire a wepon at the ground, the further it's range

Maybe all this talk is a stalking horse for Ukraine getting Gray Eagles. 'Oh that's a relief, they only got Gay Eagles instead of F-16s'

How can you be certain about the ‘shambolic’ nature of the Russian military……war will be over shortly so…?

More of an appropriate escalation.

(50's fatherly voice) You see, there are appropriate escalations, and inappropriate escalations. Sometimes we might want to say or do something but have to wait. (/50s father)

The inappropriate can lead to real disasters. Thats why equipment support has grown gradually over the year. Its why there was early talk of leaving 'off ramps' available to Russia.

Yes its always good to consider, ... at this time is this "appropriate"

Quote the assumption you've made there, without any proof that you seem to call for in every post. I care about the lives of those extinguished, their families, those injured on both sides. Which I why I want this war to end quickly, unlike those on here who are calling for a prolonged war which only really benefits the MIC and those who do their bidding.

You are such a 100% contradiction. On the one hand you are suggesting negotiations to end the war and stop all the killing. Then on the other hand you are saying that if there is some agreement reached to stop the war but Russia break it after ,say, three years, then that would give the Ukr a lot of time to build up its equipment and get training in the use of it. FOR WHAT? Don’t tell me it would be to defend itself if ever attacked by another state. God forbid