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If the Ukrainians, a near-peer adversary to Russia, can sink their vessels with missiles... are surface navies overrated? Perhaps the simulations that suggest the US Navy would lose to missile barrages have more support now.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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For Terraformer re #201
Every so often, a post shows up in the forum that has the potential to stimulate some really useful/interesting discussion. Your post here seems (to me at least) to have significant potential.
Human history seems to show that the weapons race will continue until we are extinct.
It appears to me that the current generation of tanks (and ships for that matter) are walking/rolling/floating dodo's.
However, the concept of a mobile attack platform will most definitely live on, because it is so obviously necessary.
Beyond that, the behavior of Russia in this most recent episode will (most likely) be perceived by many humans as reason enough never to trust Russians again.
That would be a sad outcome, but it will have been earned.
What I see coming with headlong velocity are directed energy weapons.
The ultimate (that I can think of) would be a mobile worm hole whose input end can be set inside a nearby sun, and whose output can be directed at an adversary.
What that particular weapons system may be out of reach at the moment, we (humans) can be sure that lesser versions of that idea are on their way.
For SpaceNut ... if you have time to investigate, please see if you can find reports of Israeli development of an advanced laser system that ? may ? be strong enough to deal with the incoming rockets from the "friendly" neighbors.
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I can see the construction of semi-submersible frigates happening. Based on negative lift hydrofoils rather than ballast, allowing them to dive rapidly to escape missile fire. But operating on the surface under normal conditions, where air is free and drag is far lower.
There will always be a need for armed ships, but the time for surface-only ones may have passed.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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For Terraformer re #203
Thanks for picking up on the theme that evolution of weapons will continue without letup until the human race is extinct. It is possible (I have no way of knowing) that you know something about weapons systems.
It would appear that we have at least one member with experience embedded inside weapons systems, and we may have several with experience using external weapons and weapon systems.
The present circumstance appears (to me at least) to have brought advanced weapon systems into view before the owners were ready to show them. This means (as i interpret the scene) is that weapon designers are now hard at work around the world, thinking up counter-measures for this latest round of technology advance.
A useful tool would be the ability to set off an opponent's weapon while it is in the launcher. That would be particularly handy for all the nuclear devices presently housed at various locations in the former USSR territories.
The arms race in Internet hacking is well underway. I would presume the control systems for (former USSR) nuclear weapons are separated from the Internet, but don't ** know ** one way or the other.
A cleverly designed drone ** should ** be able to penetrate nuclear weapon launcher facilities.
The place to activate an opponent's nuclear device is while it is safely stored in the opponent's location.
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Aerial drones, capable of vertical takeoff and landing, have the potential to revolutionise air defence. A drone screen can triangulate the position and velocity of an incoming missile miles away from its target. Ship mounted guns can then lock onto it.
Ship's like the Moskva are supposed to be surrounded by destroyer screens with the purpose of protecting them from air a missile atrack.
"Plan and prepare for every possibility, and you will never act. It is nobler to have courage as we stumble into half the things we fear than to analyse every possible obstacle and begin nothing. Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers."
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Israel's new laser missile-defense system the Defense Ministry revealed Thursday that a laser air defense system it is developing successfully shot down drones, rockets, mortars...Israel successfully tests new laser missile defense system
In ‘game changer,’ Israeli laser-based air defense shoots down drones
Not seeing it as a game changer as it requires a power source that along with the unit requires a very large vehicle not easily hidden.
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For SpaceNut re #206
Thanks for finding and showing those images and link for the Israeli system.
Just curious ... why do you care if the system is visible? If it can shoot down incoming rounds, why would it matter?
Why would you care if the system requires a power supply? The cost per shot was reported to be $3.50, as compared to thousands of dollars for rocket rounds, which are not always successful.
Looking forward to your additions to this topic!
Thanks again for the research!
PS ... the system shown may be for a different purpose .... It ** may ** be designed to shoot down fire balloons.
Again, it wouldn't matter if it is visible and has a big power supply, if it can shoot down fire balloons.
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Following up for Terraformer ...
I was glad to see this report on folks in the US taking the Ukraine situation seriously ...
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us-army-usin … 05261.html
US Army using lessons from Ukraine war to aid own training
Irwin, Calif., April 12, 2022. (AP Photo/Lolita C. Baldor)LOLITA C. BALDOR
Sat, April 16, 2022, 9:04 AM
FORT IRWIN, Calif. (AP) — In the dusty California desert, U.S. Army trainers are already using lessons learned from Russia's war against Ukraine as they prepare soldiers for future fights against a major adversary such as Russia or China.
The role-players in this month's exercise at the National Training Center speak Russian. The enemy force that controls the fictional town of Ujen is using a steady stream of social media posts to make false accusations against the American brigade preparing to attack.
In the coming weeks, the planned training scenario for the next brigade coming in will focus on how to battle an enemy willing to destroy a city with rocket and missile fire in order to conquer it.
If the images seem familiar, they are, playing out on televisions and websites worldwide right now as Russian forces pound Ukrainian cities with airstrikes, killing scores of civilians. The information war on social media has showcased impassioned nightly speeches by Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Russian efforts to accuse Ukraine's forces of faking mass killings in towns such as Bucha — massacres that the West blames on Moscow's troops.
Related video: US Army soldiers in Nuremberg to bolster UN support of Ukraine
Scroll back up to restore default view.
“I think right now the whole Army is really looking at what’s happening in Ukraine and trying to learn lessons,” said Army Secretary Christine Wormuth. Those lessons, she said, range from Russia's equipment and logistics troubles to communications and use of the internet.“The Russia-Ukraine experience is a very powerful illustration for our Army of how important the information domain is going to be," said Wormuth, who spent two days at the training center in the Mojave Desert watching an Army brigade wage war against the fictional “Denovian” forces.
"We’ve been talking about that for about five years. But really seeing it and seeing the way Zelenskyy has been incredibly powerful. ... This is a world war that the actual world can see and watch in real time. ”
At the center, the commander, Brig. Gen. Curt Taylor, and his staff have ripped pages out of the Russian playbook to ensure that U.S. soldiers are ready to fight and win against a sophisticated near-peer enemy.
It's a common tool. For example, his base and the Joint Readiness Training Center in Louisiana both shifted to counterinsurgency training during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. And the military services have focused other training on how to fight in cold weather — mimicking conditions in Russia or North Korea. But these latest changes have happened quickly in the early months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
About 4,500 soldiers from 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, based at Fort Hood, Texas, are out in the vast desert training area at Fort Irwin, where they will spend two weeks fighting the NTC's resident 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment, which acts as the enemy military. Soldiers from the regiment — known as Blackhorse — are arrayed in and around Ujen, which also includes role-players acting as the locals.
As the sun was rising earlier this past week, Army Col. Ian Palmer, the brigade commander, stood on Crash Hill, on the outskirts of the town, preparing his soldiers to launch an attack. Lines of tanks spread out in the distance. Heavy winds the night before hampered his progress, so the attack was a bit behind.
He said the exercise is using more drones by the friendly and enemy forces, both for surveillance and attacks. So his forces are trying to use camouflage and tuck into the terrain to stay out of sight. "You know if you can be seen, you can be shot, where ever you are,” he said.
Down in the makeshift town, the opposition forces are confident they can hold off Palmer's brigade despite the size difference. The Denovians only have about 1,350 forces, but they are throwing everything they have at the brigade, from jamming and other electronic warfare to insurgency attacks and propaganda.
The role-players have their phones ready to film and post quickly to social media.
The Denovian forces want to portray the unit in the worst possible light, said Taylor, and constantly twist the narrative on social media so Palmer's troops realize they are in a battle for the truth.
That's a challenge, he said, because “when I've got a bunch of casualties and I’m getting overrun on my left flank and my supply trains aren’t where they need to be and I can’t find the bulldozers, it’s hard to think about something that someone said about me on Twitter."
The training goal, said Taylor, is teaching the brigades that come in how to fuse all elements of their combat power into a coordinated assault.
“Everyone can play an instrument, but it's about making music — bringing it all together in a synchronized fashion. And what you saw today was the artillery was doing the artillery thing, the aviation was doing the aviation thing and the maneuver guys were doing the maneuver thing. But part of the delay in their assault on the town was they couldn’t synchronize those three," he said.
Again, they can look to Ukraine to see how Russia failed to do that in the early weeks of the war. U.S. leaders repeatedly noted that in Russia's initial multipronged assault in Ukraine, commanders consistently failed to provide the airstrikes and support their ground troops needed to move into key cities such as Kyiv.
That failure led to Russian troops bombing the cities from the outskirts, hitting hospitals, apartment buildings and other structures, and killing civilians.
So when the next brigade arrives as the training center, Taylor said it will face an enemy on board with doing just that.
“We will be very focused on how to fight against an adversary that is willing to destroy infrastructure because that's how we think our adversaries will fight," Taylor said. "We’ve got to be prepared for urban combat where we have an adversary that is indiscriminately firing artillery.”
Wormuth, the Army secretary, said seeing the training also underscored other lessons the U.S. is taking from the war in Ukraine.
“As we’re watching what’s happening to the Russians now, it’s informative for us to think about what is right, from a modernization standpoint,” she said, noting that some U.S. tanks are very heavy and the terrain in Europe is muddier, not like the hard-packed sand of the desert.
The Army, she said, has to determine “what’s the right balance between the mobility of a tank, the survivability of a tank and the lethality of a tank? If you want to make it more mobile, you make it lighter, but that makes it less survivable. And so you have to decide where you’re going to take risks.”
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
Follow Lolita C. Baldor on Twitter at http://twitter.com/lbaldor
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Its a weapon used to defend territory that can be a target if it can be detected out in the open by the enemy which is targeting not only targets but also defensive items...
The images show the first take time to set up so that the sighting system will send the beam onto the coordinate that you are aiming at.
Sure the shot is quick but so is the reply salvo of missiles that would disable the unit.
here is a patriot mobile missile battery.
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I completely agree with the principle of never underestimating your opponent, but no thinking person can look at the current Russian military and judge them to be a competent opponent for NATO to fight with. That doesn't mean they're not still incredibly dangerous or that all of them are equally incompetent, but they sure as hell aren't competent to fight as an expeditionary combined arms force in a contested environment. Russia's forces have sustained far more casualties in a month than all NATO forces sustained fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan over more than 20 years. That simply doesn't happen by accident, especially not with men who are willing to commit suicide to kill you and hold a religious belief that they should kill you. It would be equally ignorant to simply write-off the Russian military as incapable of doing serious damage to NATO forces, even without nuclear weapons. They've utterly destroyed Ukraine.
I think it would be an equally serious mistake to judge the performance of all military forces based upon the series of failures associated with Russian military forces, most of which are attributable to corruption so severe that it resulted in non-functional weapon systems, lack of realistic training, and misplaced priorities such as mass murdering civilians instead of hunting down the Ukrainian military forces laying waste to Russia's military forces. If such were the case, then Ukraine should also be performing just as poorly, but they're not because the entire premise is wrong. The performance of the Ukrainians is the prima facie evidence for that assertion. They were woefully unprepared and under-equipped, but all of that was rectified by NATO in about a month. Russia is still doing a lot of the same stupid nonsense that's inflicted so many unnecessary casualties on their forces. They have made some improvements to how they fight, but they're still not treating this as the serious national-scale war that it truly is.
Basically competent men and women who are reasonably well-equipped, even if they were civilians mere weeks ago, can and in point of fact did lay waste to an incompetent but purportedly "professional army" fielded by Russia. We should probably revisit what the word "professional" actually means after the Russian military's performance in Ukraine. Wearing your nation's uniform does not confer any special capabilities to anyone, at all or ever. What this really says is that it doesn't matter how sophisticated your weapons are if you lack realistic training. We may have a few people who think you can be a complete idiot, so long as you have Russia's or America's military equipment, and somehow still manage to win. All of those people are both dead wrong and lack any practical experience related to the subject matter.
Even if Russia had fully operational stealth strike fighters like the F-35, the haphazard way they're using air power would all but assure several losses to Stinger / Starstreak / Strela missiles. Despite Ukraine having no functional air force, Russia is still losing military aircraft at an alarming rate. Ukraine's shoot-down of a Russian Su-35 is a great example of an incredibly sophisticated and capable aircraft, as well as being an incredibly costly war machine, that was ultimately lost to incompetence- poor tactics or mission planning or both. Ukraine sinking Moskva is a similar example to an even greater degree. Ukraine doesn't have a Navy to speak of, but Russia still managed to lose their flagship, which was one of the most capable naval vessels operating in the Black Sea before it was sunk. If these were all deliberate planning decisions by Russia's military or Putin, namely very limited SEAD operations to clear air defenses, haphazard strikes that have yet to remove command and control or ammo depots or supply routes, attacks on civilians vs military units, and general lack of planning or organization built upon a mountain of false assumptions about what would happen if they invaded.
Since WWII, both the Soviet Union and Russia have repeatedly developed and deployed inferior weapon systems (or tested them in grossly unrealistic ways that vastly over-stated their true capabilities). They have staffed their military with aviators, soldiers, and sailors with markedly inferior training to their western counterparts and have routinely demonstrated exceptionally poor discipline. Unless raping / robbing / mass murdering civilians for entertainment is considered to be the hallmark of a well-disciplined Russian soldier, then their present military force is a disgrace. You can't expect to win foreign wars, even one fought on your doorstep against theoretically far less capable forces, using men who perform their jobs so poorly.
The greatest "lesson learned" that I've taken from this war is that Russia's leadership and military never really learns its lessons. They persist with falsehoods that affect their military ambitions. That's why if we build something like a new attack jet, they build one that's a little bigger or carries more missiles or is slightly faster. They clearly haven't learned that we build things based upon demonstrated or expected threats we'll face and what capabilities are most useful to counter those threats. It's not about having the biggest / fastest / most heavily armed anything. That's icing on the cake if it's practical, yet that rarely changes the outcome of an engagement. Realistic training, on the other hand, produces night-and-day differences. If the threat ever changes, then we change. We'll change tactics on the spot if something doesn't work.
I've seen no good evidence that Putin or Russia's military are competent actors. Ruthless and brutal, no doubt, but if Russia's military forces ever fought NATO's military forces we would absolutely massacre them. Russia would cease to have a functional military inside of a month. We should ignore their nuclear threats and instead threaten to wipe Russia off the face of the Earth the very moment they so much as consider using nuclear weapons against us. Let Putin know, in no uncertain terms, that if he ever uses nuclear weapons, he will be the very last Dictator of Russia, and that he will preside over a radioactive wasteland devoid of all life.
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Oopps the Ukranian's did it again Another Russian general killed amid invasion
Russia warns US of repercussions if it sends more arms to Ukraine
Ya, right do not make me laugh....
something also sort of funny is crowd sourcing Ukrainian pilots launch 'Buy Me A Jet' campaign to help defeat Russia's massive air superiority average cost of a jet is $25 million which the website states include SU-22, Su 25, Su 27, Su 24, Mig 29
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Perhaps the Russians should seriously consider keeping their general officers away from the front lines, before they no longer have any left to send into Ukraine. I guess they can continue with field promotions until they run out of soldiers, but declaring someone a general does not make it so.
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I guess the Russians should leave there weapons hanging around Ukrainian army has captured at least five of these TOS-1 thermobaric rocket-launchers—and reportedly has fired one of them back at the Russians.
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Good to see people are finally accepting they're not illegal under international law.
Use what is abundant and build to last
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To look at it in an objective military way perhaps Russia has met some of its objective goals, it has gained land or influence inside lands but only so much. It gained some battle wins However at what cost? They will be hated for generations because of the mass killing of innocents, some of their own people won't trust their media cover ups about the 'Moskva' some say the ship caught fire but we know it was hit and sunk by anti-ship missiles, tehy have also been exposed with ukraine helicopters cross the Russian border and hitting targets in Russian towns.
Russian Helicopter Sustains Devastating Hit Near Kharkiv
https://funker530.com/video/russian-hel … r-kharkiv/
Russia's biggest chemical plant burns down in second mystery fire in a day
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new … t-26767453
Combat effectiveness falls
https://www.usnews.com/news/world-repor … tagon-says
Slovenia Sending Tanks to Ukraine in Weapons Swap with Germany
https://www.total-slovenia-news.com/pol … th-germany
'Inclined Toward Treason': More And More Russian Soldiers Reportedly Refusing To Fight In Ukraine
https://www.rferl.org/a/russia-ukraine- … 06466.html
Russia 'loses its 40th high-ranking officer' as another lieutenant colonel is killed - taking the death toll in Putin's army to seven generals and 33 colonels
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … onels.html
Two Russian Oligarchs Die in Mysterious Circumstances 24 Hours Apart
https://www.newsweek.com/oligarchs-murd … de-1699766
Russian caviar and diamonds hit by fresh UK sanctions
https://news.sky.com/story/russian-cavi … s-12595377
Death toll continues to rise from fire at 'top-secret' Russian defence research facility in Tver
https://euroweeklynews.com/2022/04/21/f … lity-tver/
Drone Drops Improvised Explosive On Russian Tank, Crew Bails
https://funker530.com/video/drone-drops … rew-bails/
Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-04-21 17:53:08)
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Ukrainian ATGM Team Knocks Out T-72
https://funker530.com/video/ukrainian-a … -out-t-72/
In a now deleted VK post, the pro-Kremlin media outlet Readovka claims that Russia’s Defense Ministry stated at a “closed briefing” that it’s lost 13,414 soldiers in Ukraine *plus* another 7,000 who are missing.
https://twitter.com/KevinRothrock/statu … 4115926017
Former Russian spy and sleeper agent Mikhail Vasenkov has died at the age of 79, Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) announced Wednesday. Vasenkov was one of 10 undercover agents arrested in the United States in 2010, after being accused of working for an underground network of spies dubbed the “illegals” — a story that became the basis for hit U.S. television series “The Americans.” Vasenkov and his fellow agents posed as ordinary Americans for more than a decade, building contacts with academics, industrialists and policymakers to gain intelligence.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/04/ … -79-a77249
Intel Officials Who Claimed Hunter’s Laptop Was Russian Disinformation Now Say Big Tech Must Be Able to Censor to Protect from Russian Disinformation
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2022/0 … formation/
What We Know and Don't Know About the Investigation of Hunter Biden
https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/know- … 46434.html
Russia's ailing command: 'Bloated and slouching' Putin is seen gripping a table amid cancer battle rumours as he meets 'slurring' defence minister Shoigu - who needs to read from notes 'following heart attack' Vladimir Putin was seen gripping a table whilst slouching in chair during meeting Putin claimed in meeting with Sergei Shoigu that Mariupol 'liberated' by Russia Shoigu does not appear to have fared better in war, with defence minister seen slurring his words and reading from a script
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … ister.html
Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-04-22 06:30:10)
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Seems that the US armories are emptying out there old ww2 weapons that they still have like there howitzers....They also are sending some more high tech toys along with the some more tanks from allies that are now seemingly of a grater number than what the Russians have. They need to start attacking the supply lines so as to stop them in there tracks.
Leaked Russian intent to not only take over the Ukraine but to gobble up some more of the small countries that allowed them to exit into...
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Is Moldova up next for Putin?
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opin … -for-putin
Moldova warns of effort to create ‘pretexts’ for conflict after explosions in pro-Russia separatist region Transnistria
https://www.businessinsider.nl/moldova- … nsnistria/
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That should force a NATO arm conflict to stop Russia.
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Why the Russian Army T-72 Tank is Worse Than You Think
https://funker530.com/video/why-the-rus … you-think/
Fresh blow to Vladimir Putin as he loses 9th general in devastating counter-strike
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-new … s-26847256
Putin's army has 36 colonels dead ... and now it has Nine Generals gone !?
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There appears to be quite a few things in Russia getting blown up lately.
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SpaceNut,
That'll happen when you invade your nextdoor neighbors and start mass-murdering them.
It's a sign that Russia is "doing it wrong", but I don't think Putin can buy a clue.
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Seems the newest Russian tank is dead un under 3 days since showing up in the Ukraine.
Seems they are quite able to adapt Ukraine Is Turning Fiat Trucks Into Mobile Surface-To-Air Missile Systems
Ukraine launched an offensive Friday to drive out Russian troops in the northeast part of the country.
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Russia’s Admiral Makarov warship has been hit, Ukrainian media report
https://en.protothema.gr/russias-admira … ia-report/
Russian warship Admiral Makarov reportedly on fire after being hit by Ukrainian missiles
https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/worl … y-23887484
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Ukraine targets second Russian warship; Claims to hit ‘Admiral Makarov’
https://www.newstalkzb.co.nz/news/world … skva-sunk/
Russian tank ace, 25, crowned world champion in international war games contest is killed after Putin sends him into real war in Ukraine
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl … l-war.html
Massive Rocket Attack Lights Up Night Sky In Southern Ukraine
https://funker530.com/video/massive-roc … n-ukraine/
Last edited by Mars_B4_Moon (2022-05-07 07:12:14)
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