Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Like the rumor he was taken out by a Russian missile?

He'd be starting the counteroffensive in winter if you believe the rumors, if not spring/summer 2024 (depending on training/delivery)

The Ukrainians won't receive their first F16s until September.

It also takes 4 months for a Ukrainian pilot to be trained up on one for them to be useful using one for combat missions.

If those rumours about Zalushnyi were true then the Ukrainians wouldn't be able to launch their counter-attack until after the summer if he got his way.

I don't think that adds up.

Also the idea that a general doesn't agree with orders and so flounces off like a sulky teenager just seems to be unlikely as well.

Oh, I love vids like these, watching orcs getting obliterated!

Rhetorical question - how long would it take to train Ukrainians on Apache helicopters with the sole purpose of taking out Russian helicopters? Forget all the fancy stuff, just repurpose them for helicopter combat only. Should not take long.

No mention of them getting any F16s from anywhere let alone getting them in September,by all accounts they are training the future Ukrainian airforce,

Are the Aussie FA18s a realistic proposition though? My understanding there was concerns about the capability to train and maintain a fleet of mixed aircraft.

I am no expert on these aircraft, but AFAIK one advantage the FA18s have is a combat radius of 400-500miles, whilst the FA16 is probably more like 300 miles. Appreciate there are a lot of pros & cons on each, depending upon the configuration, payload and role.

One thing that has been noted is that because the Aussie FA18s have been used primarily on land, the frames are in very good condition, as opposed to the US Navy counterparts that suffer heavy stress associated with repeated aircraft landings.

Slow news the last Day. Have they paused the attacks due to rain?

They have mainly used manpads to take out the various Russian helicopters,the same helicopters are now flying lower and shooting missles from well outside manpad range ,now the Ukrainan are prone to being hit with anti tank weapons from 10 + kilometers away from the nearest Ukrainian with a manpad ,4 + Anti tank missles per helicopter could do a lot of damage to an armoured convoys

Look who's getting uppety! We look forward to your definitive take on the progress of this war.

Meanwhile the rest of us will suspend judgement on posted still images and videos, as we see fit.

I agree. Plus, the F-16 performed very well during the Baltics conflicts. While both types can be refuelled air- to-air, this option won't be available to Ukraine as they have neither the tankers nor the training to do so. You also need to think of the ground- support and maintenance training for any Western type. Russian aircraft are designed to be operated from rugged airfields with less than ideal support structures. Western aircraft definitely are not! ( which is why, for example, the engine intakes of a Mig-29 close off for take off to stop foreign object ingestion into the engines. It uses auxiliary intakes on the top of the cowlings for takeoff. It's not usual to see lines of ground crew walking down the runways of Western airfields looking for any objects on the surface that may cause issues with engines. This is a very rare occurrence in Russia. Ukranian ground crew would need extensive training to deal with the very,very sensitive systems of Western aircraft. While they have the usual redundancies of most aircraft, they would not be able to take the punishment, nor have the simplified systems of Russian aircraft.

For example, I took an aerobatics course years ago ( when I was flying) in a Yak-52. A Soviet-era training aircraft. While most other aircraft had hydraulic systems for braking and undercarriage, the Yak used compressed air for flaps, undercarriage,braking and engine starting ( a 9 cylinder rotary engine). This enabled it to be operated in the harshest of cold weather, unlike the Western electrical and hydraulic systems. The undercarriage retracts only partially, to enable control during an engine-out landing.

However, as safe as it was, I was always troubled by the need to wear a parachute for each flight!

These aircraft are built without finesse and were often operated without finesse. Some of the Mi- family of helicopters operated by Ukraine are over 50 years old! If you look at the fixed undercarriage of an Mil-17, it's made from one single block of unfinished titanium. Purely functional without the over-engineerung of Western types. ( Russia is not short of titanium)

While transitioning pilots from East to West may not be too bad, transitioning engineers and groundcrew is a whole other thing altogether.

When it comes to armoured assaults there's not a lot of tactics available if you don't have air superiority, artillery cover and infantry support,

Without any of the above your left traversing open ground trying to get an objective while getting targeted by helicopters, drones and artillery ,

The options are limited

Bradleys and Leopards being destroyed is not the end of the world - these vehicles are designed to take heavy hits, because of the usecase many will inevitably be destroyed. Thats just the price that will be paid for territory.

15% of bradleys is a lot, but US have recently committed to replace all those destroyed. Also, none of the strykers, marders or challengers have even been seen in the field yet so there is plenty more vehicles in reserve yet.

Finland aren't going to give any F-18's to Ukraine, that was just a comment by the outgoing prime minster who said it should be discussed when replacement F-35's arrive. Should Ukraine get F-18's from someone else, then I'm sure Finland would help with training and logistics, but the actual planes will have to come from somewhere else.