Good stuff. It seems to be the best, long term, strategy at this stage.
I've just discovered who you are, and am kicking myself as I regularly watch your shorts. I'm enjoying your engaging posts very much.
By the way, if you happen to know any of the chaps who run the little Museum in the Curragh, ( with the tanks lined up outside), would you mind asking them to open weekends? It's incredible that they only open an odd day during the week but won't open on the busiest day for museums, Saturday!
You may, just may, know one of the CO's involved. Long shot, if you excuse the pun!
Re: Fighter Jets.
I cannot see any Western fighters entering the arena in Ukraine. There are a number of reasons for this, most of this has been mentioned already by many posters.
1. Flying is easy. In most aircraft that are designed to be stable. It's basic stick-and-rudder stuff, from simple gliders, right up to multi-engine aircraft, such as a Beech King Air or even a CASA. A pilot from the Ukrainian AF could hop into any Western built, stable, aircraft and be flying with reasonable confidence In 10 hours or so. Stable aircraft. However, in, for example, an F-16, say a basic Block A, or the F-18, Eurofighter, Grippen etc, without a CPU giving millisecond, constant inputs through Fly By Wire, to the control surfaces, the aircraft doesn't fly. As a pilot, it takes a long, long time to learn the " envelopes" of the aircraft through various speed, attitude, altitude and load outs before even getting to combat training. Now, there are some similar systems in the Su-27 series, but only some. In Western aircraft, you wear it like a glove. In Eastern aircraft, you drive it like a van.
2. Systems.
If, and only if, a Western fighter was given to Russia, I can guarantee you that the covetted radar systems that the Ukraine keep mentioning will not be in the radome. Not a hope. They will be getting the most basic, stripped-down, export version with absolutely no sensitive systems or hardware installed. There is no way any of these systems are getting into Russian hands.
3. It makes no sense.
A potent, integrated, data-linked missile system makes way, way more sense than using fighter aircraft. Try flying even a Cennna anywhere near Israeli airspace. Painted is not the word. One of the greatest threats to operations at the moment, even to this day, is the Mig 31, firing from well within Russian, Belarusian or even Kaliningrad ( hasn't happened yet, but 10 are stationed there) airspace. UKR needs the means to protect itself from the Mig's missile systems and the Mig itself. An old F-16 isn't going to do that. The Mig-31 was designed to catch an SR-71 and can fly two times faster than an F-16 and twice as high. Control of the airspace will only come with an integrated missile system, data-linked to Western Awacs systems. Easy to train on, easy to operate, mobile, powerful, adaptable and very, very potent. Even now, with MANPADS, a secure digital connection with CnC operations to give vectoring info, Russian aircraft are becoming lawn-darts every day. Set up a "no fly area dome" that extends 200km into Russian airspace and ensure deniabiltiy of Russian air, sea and ground assets ( all can be targetted by missile systems
Finally, my only experience with "Russian" aircraft is training in a Yak-52 and regular visits to MAKS. Western aircraft are like precision watches. Perfectly fitted together with an audible "click". Finesse, accuracy, clean, precise, expensive, new-car-smell, powerful. These words describe what sitting in a Saab Grippen feels like.
Rough, capable, safe, rugged, easily fixed, powerful, metres, metres, metres....( had to keep reminding myself that I wasn't at 600ft...lol), best describe a Russian aircraft. Designed to take abuse.
Missile systems, not aircraft, will gain the upper hand here. Forget the fighters. Never going to happen. I'd also be genuinely surprised if a Jet-Engine-powered Abrahms ever tracks into Ukraine. Stalling the promise methinks!
@MudSpud you are thread banned do not post here again unless that gets lifted
In reality, NOT all wars end in an agreed settlement - a few examples off the top of my head...
Both sides are limited by time.
Ukraine by how long the good will of the West can sustain it's war effort.
Russia by how long the population will cope with the war losses and sanctions.
The interesting factor is that the weaker the Russian situation, the stronger the West will apply pressure, and vice versa.
Who would have thought 6 months ago that we could soon see Abrams tanks tearing through Ukrainian countryside?
Ukraine only has a certain amount time to get back as much territory as possible. It as simple as that.
Russia will inevitably get the lion's share of what it holds at the point negotiations start.
Stating the obvious but the more territory Ukraine has, the better those negotiations go.
South Africa are still a bit dodgie, joint naval exercises between themselves, Russian and China are planned I believe.
South Africa's naval exercise with Russia, China raises Western alarm | Reuters
Pussy
To be honest, I for one have no problem with isolating those states.
Yes, isolation hasn't stopped their belligerence to the outside world but that's all they have - belligerence.
They're like the sad old drunk throwing punches in the air and disrupting people as they have a pint.
No one takes too much notice of them unless they get too close or noisy and then its easy put them back in their place if needs be.
As for the fortunes of the people living in these states, well, these countries have lots of people, if they want to escape or put a stop to their respective regimes, then people power is needed and their regimes need to be overthrown, its happened successfully throughout history.
If however the collective consciousness or intelligence of these states don't stretch to being able to make these changes than those people will just have to live then as they do now.
What do you think happens in Eastern Europe if Putin wins?Who will be next victim of Russian aggression and what signals do you think this will give China,who is having the finger on the trigger when it comes to Taiwan,and Iran to Israel and North Korea to South Korea?
"The war will end in an agreed settlement, that's how all wars end in reality"
Exactly, but the question is what will this settlement look like?
The West seems to have plenty of appetite to continue supplying Ukraine with arms.
The US is having a fantastic time clearing decades of backlogs of obsolete equipment, all to defeat their historical adversary without losing a single soldier. I have no doubt Europe will continue to fund Ukraine too, since Ukraine will continue to act as a buffer, and historically East looking states are now looking West for support.
Fund the war eh? More like preventing genocide. Most people on this thread are well educated in WWII history and the Nazi Genocide. Most people are educated that you can't give in to dictators, the West as you mentioned failed Ukraine when Russia invaded in 2014. Why is it when Russia is in a rut do people start spewing peace and negotiations? Guarantee if Russia was on a roll, the same folks would keep their mouth shut, hoping Russia take more and more land.
Everyone on this thread seems to be fascinated with weapons and total victory. Ukraine seems to think we are obliged to fund their war regardless, plus house and feed their people. That's sound up until now but let's be real the western public are starting to questioning this eastern European war and why really its any different from any other war recently. The war will end in an agreed settlement, that's how all wars end in reality. Ukraine will ultimately have no choice, the west will decide on the terms and timing for the end of the war. The longer this goes on the more destructive its to Ukraine future, their population will be vastly reduced and only alternative is migration from maybe Turkey or Syria.
The UK also have another 85 challenger tanks they are retiring which could have been sent rather than just 14. 100 challenger tanks would decimate the Russians in a counter offensive
Can't say I've heard of them referred as "C-90" before.
Didn't they announce that days/weeks ago?
But in light of the less than expected deliveries of Leopard 2 tanks, it may very well be the IFV's doing most of the grunt work.
Here's hoping like all the other weapon platforms, that they keep arriving in numbers and not just the initial delivery.
Greetings from Sweden
Why are you posting in this thread?
words mean nothing.... treaties mean nothing either, even ones Putin has agreed to...
only thing Putin recognises is a direct aggressive response... without that he see's it as carte blanche to do as he pleases
So nice to have some really good news for a change. I wonder how it was achieved?
Might have found an answer, not sure it's correct, but it seems plausible:
They did not fit the criteria for russification, so they were likely returned. Orphanages in Russia are full, nobody wanted to adopt them.
I was thinking bribes.
bless their cotton socks
He's a heroic Norwegian medic. That is an arresting image.
..
Aren't Abrams "Smooth Barrell" guns as opposed to rifled and would that mean they've a higher replacement rate than rifled?
I remember Threads and other such TV movies about WW3, like The Day After, By Dawn's Early Light and When The Wind Blows. So? Russians had similar such flics on their side and indeed among the closest we ever got to the mushroom clouds going up were around the Cuban Missile Crisis and an alert in the 80's, it was two Russians who said nope. BTW they weren't so realistic. EG the threat of nuclear winter has been shown to have been very much oversold. Ditto for radiation levels.
The "biological weapons factory" story is a beyond incomprehensibly stupid one to believe. Why in god's name would anyone build such a facility right beside an "enemy" where it can be spied on, even taken over, when you can build one at "home" far from any such risks? And seeing as it's not the 19 bloody 40's you could deliver any biological weapons payload from anywhere in the world to anywhere else in the world in a matter of hours. And in top of that you say the Russians have secured the area yet even their spin doctors and propaganda machine hasn't said diddly about such a facility. One might think they'd be screaming about it from the rooftops, and yet... Maybe you also believe the Russian tales of weaponised pigeons and mosquitos? If so I have some magic beans to sell you. Christ almighty. How bloody gullible are you?
I note you're also parroting the Russian spin re inflation. But you ignore their spin about us starving and freezing to death, because we aren't and you aren't and you know it to be utter bollocks.
But OK, let's say everything the Russians claimed was true, and it's demonstrably not, let's even say it was a trap by the dastardly "West"(AKA America). Russia escalated. Russia invaded. Russia flattened cities and left fields cratered. Russia has caused millions to be displaced. Russia has killed and injured tens of thousands of Ukrainians, men woman and children AND tens of thousands of dead and injured Russians too. And Russia continues to "escalate" by trying to steal the land that's not theirs killing Ukrainians and their own men to do it. As we speak Ukrainians and Russians are dying right now and that's down to one man and his minions and he and they aren't in Ukraine.
But let's say we were all dropped on our heads as babies and lost a few IQ points and sued for peace. What peace would you be willing to tell Ukrainians to take? What guarantees would you expect from Russia? Whatever about the Americans and lord knows they can be utter **** geopolitically, it's incredibly difficult to find an treaty in history which Russia have signed that they didn't break when they thought they could.
Watervliet is working on the barrels, and is doing a fair bit of unheralded work on that matter. I’m talking to the powers-that-are about visiting there with my camera equipment next month.
why would the get rid of their only fighter jet leaving with F35s which aren't dogfighters
Eh.... what? 1) the F35 is a multirole fifth generation platform and this includes air superiority and "dogfighting". 2) Dog fights are consigned to the history books and Hollywood for the most part. Much like Tom Cruise evading an AA missile fired at close range... The reality is very different. An F35 operating against say Russian fourth gen fighters no matter how maneuverable they are as they do their thing at air shows to whoops from the crowd, would acquire, track and fire a beyond visual range AA missile at the Russian aircraft long before the Russian aircraft's radars had even seen the F35's. A flight of F35's would also be acting as a fully connected datalink swarm among themselves and overall battlefield intel from AWACS and the like. Even if they were somehow jumped by Sukhois and forced to fight on their terms it would still be a likely win for the F35s.
That is what Regan promised Gorbechev. Gorbechev was a Communist (which I am not) but he was also a good and a very honourable man. He was certainly a reformer. I remember those days because the old hostility seemed to fade away and the pervasive fear we lived with was suddenly lifted. It was like we could all breath easily for the first time in our lives. Not only that but the serious, stoic Russians we would see in the olympics started smiling! East and west began talking in friendly terms. I remember those days fondly. I think the Cold war suited some people here in the west. I think it was agent M, in one of the Daniel Craig James Bonds who said "I miss the Cold war." Agent M may be ficticious but her sentiment wasn`t.
Take our lead from 1941, are you stupid ???
Things have changed, e.g. technology, that's how the World knows what's happening !!
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