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Russia Invades Ukraine

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p0rtia
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1826

Post by p0rtia »

:thumbsup:
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tek
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1827

Post by tek »

Volkonski wrote: Sun Nov 20, 2022 5:09 pm Image
I have to say, that looks like something from either Get Smart or Gilligan's Island
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1828

Post by RTH10260 »

When all you have to work with is abandoned Russian hardware ;)
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1829

Post by Volkonski »

RTH10260 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:35 am When all you have to work with is abandoned Russian hardware ;)
Those Ukrainians continue to impress with not only their determination but also their cleverness.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1830

Post by jcolvin2 »

RTH10260 wrote: Fri Nov 25, 2022 6:35 am When all you have to work with is abandoned Russian hardware ;)
... every problem looks like a Russian warship.
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1831

Post by RTH10260 »

Russia firing ageing cruise missiles because stocks are depleted, MoD suggests
Intelligence update said missiles from 1980s stripped of nuclear warheads ‘unlikely to achieve reliable effects’

Guardian staff and agency
Sat 26 Nov 2022 10.39 GMT

Russia is firing ageing cruise missiles stripped of their nuclear warheads at Ukrainian targets because Vladimir Putin’s stocks are so depleted, the Ministry of Defence has suggested.

An intelligence update from the British MoD on Saturday said the desperate improvisation by the Russian president’s struggling forces are “unlikely to achieve reliable effects”.

The evidence cited is pictures of apparently shot down AS-15 Kent air-launched cruise missiles, which were said to have been designed in the 1980s as a nuclear delivery system.

The MoD said the nuclear warheads had probably been replaced with ballast, with the Kremlin’s hope probably that the missiles will distract Ukrainian air defences.

“Although such an inert system will still produce some damage through the missile’s kinetic energy and any unspent fuel, it is unlikely to achieve reliable effects against intended targets,” a statement said.

“Whatever Russia’s intent, this improvisation highlights the level of depletion in Russia’s stock of long-range missiles.”




https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... d-suggests
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1832

Post by Dave from down under »

Insert scene from “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy (before he became a complete arse).

Where a Soviet strike force launched a 100 of these to soak up the USN carrier group Missile defence before another force launched the effective missiles.
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1833

Post by Gregg »

Dave from down under wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 11:28 pm Insert scene from “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy (before he became a complete arse).

Where a Soviet strike force launched a 100 of these to soak up the USN carrier group Missile defence before another force launched the effective missiles.
His best book.
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1834

Post by Frater I*I »

Dave from down under wrote: Mon Nov 28, 2022 11:28 pm Insert scene from “Red Storm Rising” by Tom Clancy (before he became a complete arse).

Where a Soviet strike force launched a 100 of these to soak up the USN carrier group Missile defence before another force launched the effective missiles.
From the chapter: Dance of the Vampires.

For those that don't know: "VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE, VAMPIRE!!!!!!" is not a call you want to hear over the 1MC when on a ship....

It means incoming missiles... :hide:
"He sewed his eyes shut because he is afraid to see, He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity, He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity"

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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1835

Post by Dave from down under »

There is a YouTube from a USN control centre from the gulf war prior to a vampire coming in..

The brace for impact is something
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1836

Post by John Thomas8 »

What I think is a fascinating interview with a British citizen who went to Ukraine to fight:

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#1837

Post by Volkonski »

Explosions rock two Russian airbases far from Ukraine frontline
Blasts at military facilities raise possibility Kyiv has found way to target Russia’s long-range bombers


https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... ne-bombers
Russian media reports and video posted to social media indicated an explosion occurred early on Monday morning at the Engels-2 airbase in Russia’s Saratov region that hosts Tu-95 bombers that have taken part in cruise missile strikes against Ukraine.

Another explosion took place at the Dyagilevo military airbase near Ryazan, a city less than 150 miles from Moscow. Three people were killed and five wounded after a fuel truck exploded, Russian state media reported. That base also hosts Tu-95 and Tu-22M long-range bombers.

Hours later, Russia launched its latest missile barrage against Ukraine, the country’s defence ministry said. According to media reports, Russia had launched more than 100 cruise missiles from land and sea. Ukrainians were making their way to bomb shelters in anticipation of the missile attack.

If confirmed as a Ukrainian operation, the strike on the Engels airbase would be the most daring attack behind Russian lines to date. The airbase is a crucial site for Russian air force operations against Ukraine and for the country’s strategic nuclear forces. It has a nuclear weapons storage bunker with warheads that can be deployed on Russia’s long-range strategic bombers.
“If everyone fought for their own convictions there would be no war.” ― Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1838

Post by tek »

I'd guess it was an internal operation, by military trying to either sabotage the war or cook up a pretext.

But I'm cynical like that.
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1839

Post by johnpcapitalist »

tek wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 9:33 am I'd guess it was an internal operation, by military trying to either sabotage the war or cook up a pretext.

But I'm cynical like that.
While Russia is certainly capable of doing a "false flag" attack to whip up sentiment on the war, it is extremely unlikely (to the point of being inconceivable) that they would damage any of the bombers in their fleet, particularly after last Friday.

Bombers are a priceless national security asset, and nobody does anything to risk any of these aircraft. Bomber pilots (I know one highly decorated bomber pilot quite well) are typically the most cautious and by-the-book pilots that ever climbed into the front seat. That's because the loss of even a single aircraft is a significant reduction in operational capability for the air force as a whole, when you look at how few of these aircraft are available, despite their importance.

Russia has two main intercontinental bombers: the 1950s era propeller driven Tu-95 "Bear" and the Tu-160 "Blackjack," a quick-and-dirty clone of the USAF B-1B. They also fly the smaller 1960s era Tu-22M "Backfire," which is basically a hunk of junk for many reasons. The "Bear" is the workhorse of the bomber fleet, regularly running missions along the Alaskan coast to see what we'll do. They've got about 40 Tu-95 Bears, about 16 of the Tu-160 Blackjacks and around 60 of the Tu-22M Backfires. That's quite a bit smaller than the US bomber fleet. US goals for fleet readiness are around 80% of aircraft, but it's hard to believe Russian institutional incompetence would deliver readiness anywhere close to that number. Assume half of those could actually get into the air on any given day. Maybe.

If an attack were to damage, say, 6 of the Tu-95 Bears, especially if the attack damaged operational aircraft (versus "hangar queens" sitting on the ramp slowly being cannibalized for parts), that would be a disaster, as a significant portion of the available bomber fleet would be offline for an extended period of time, especially if the explosions were able to blow up cockpits or multiple engines. The Tu-95 engines are a marvel of 1950s engineering, the most powerful turboprop engines ever built, but I can't imagine that they have many spare engines at this point, and the chances that they could produce more are low.

There is no internal political gain worth damaging one of your main strategic deterrent vehicles, especially if you claim you're at war with NATO, as Russian propaganda claims.

Why is this even less likely after last Friday? That's because that's the date that the US unveiled publicly for the first time the B-21 "Raider" next-generation stealth bomber. They rolled out a near-production test article, and the program calls for a substantial number of these planes to be built, far more than the 20 or so B-2 "Spirit" (the original stealth bomber) now in service. The Russians won't be able to close this new "bomber gap" because they lack the technology and they lack the money. So they'll have to preserve the few bombers they have left and hope for the best.
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#1840

Post by RTH10260 »

Pure speculation: I would not be astonished to hear the best kept secret of the war, that Russia had moved some of their heavy mobile missile launchers into the Kharkov region, Ukraine got their hands on a pristine unit or two when moving forward, was able to learn, train and operate them and "sent the missiles back home". And the US will have the remainder now to study.

The fiction alternative: Ukraine is operating Mossad style within Russia and was able to get their hands on a unguarded and unattended unit of missile launchers and fired them from within... :think: :liar:
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1841

Post by johnpcapitalist »

RTH10260 wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 12:30 pm Pure speculation: I would not be astonished to hear the best kept secret of the war, that Russia had moved some of their heavy mobile missile launchers into the Kharkov region, Ukraine got their hands on a pristine unit or two when moving forward, was able to learn, train and operate them and "sent the missiles back home". And the US will have the remainder now to study.

The fiction alternative: Ukraine is operating Mossad style within Russia and was able to get their hands on a unguarded and unattended unit of missile launchers and fired them from within... :think: :liar:
A quick look at Google Maps suggests that Engels-2 is 300 miles (500 km) away from the Russia-Ukraine border. I'm not sure how many ground-launched missiles other than cruise missiles have that kind of range. And a flight path that long could trigger missile defense systems. You would probably want to use shorter-range missiles, since there would be less time to intercept them.

I would guess that the correct explanation is halfway between the two that you posed. I think Russian-speaking Ukrainian special forces troops have been operating in Russia since the war started, potentially even before. However, I don't think they stole missiles from other bases in Russia. I suspect that they were able to smuggle some of their own missiles in from Ukraine.

That's apparently what they did with the truck bomb that took out the Kerch Bridge. According to reports I read, that truck traveled a random circuitous route through Russia and several other countries with different drivers and different manifests on a weeks-long odyssey before it finally went over the Kerch Bridge. Like the bridge, the air base is a symbolic target of Russian might (though it is where they're staging the cruise missile attacks from), so it's more important to do the attack at all than it is to do it now. I'd view it as something akin to the Dolittle raid on Tokyo in WWII -- good for US morale, bad for Japanese morale, with minimal permanent damage to Japanese cities.

Following that mission profile, it's possible that truck(s) carrying missiles made it through the border with Russia some time ago and the Ukrainians have been patiently waiting and planning until they could carry out an attack with a high probability of success. Certainly, there are enough corrupt Russians in the border guards to look the other way when a truck allegedly full of bootleg vodka was headed from Kyiv into Russia.
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1842

Post by Gregg »

We haz alibi

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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1843

Post by RTH10260 »

Doggy doggy, here take a bite

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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1844

Post by jemcanada2 »

Gregg wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 2:34 pm We haz alibi

Image
Reports of scorched Pupperoni bags at the scene were greatly exaggerated. :P :P
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1845

Post by Gupwalla »

Volkonski wrote: Mon Dec 05, 2022 9:25 am Explosions rock two Russian airbases far from Ukraine frontline
Blasts at military facilities raise possibility Kyiv has found way to target Russia’s long-range bombers
NYT is reporting that these were unmanned drone attacks, launched from Ukrainian territory. Ukraine says the airfields were targets of the attack; two planes were destroyed and several planes were damaged.

Russia says the drones were Soviet-era drones (?); Russian defenses engaged the drones; and two planes were slightly damaged.


https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/12/05 ... sian-media
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1846

Post by Dave from down under »

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#1847

Post by RTH10260 »

Top US conservatives pushing Russia’s spin on Ukraine war, experts say
Some of the Kremlin’s most blatant falsehoods aimed at undercutting US aid are promoted by major figures on the right

Peter Stone
Tue 6 Dec 2022 09.00 GMT

Ever since Russia launched its brutal war in Ukraine the Kremlin has banked on American conservative political and media allies to weaken US support for Ukraine and deployed disinformation operations to falsify the horrors of the war for both US and Russian audiences, say disinformation experts.

Some of the Kremlin’s most blatant falsehoods about the war aimed at undercutting US aid for Ukraine have been promoted by major figures on the American right, from Holocaust denier and white supremacist Nick Fuentes to ex-Trump adviser Steve Bannon and Fox News star Tucker Carlson, whose audience of millions is deemed especially helpful to Russian objectives.

On a more political track, House Republican Freedom Caucus members such as Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Scott Perry – who in May voted with 54 other Republican members against a $40bn aid package for Ukraine, and have raised other concerns about the war – have proved useful, though perhaps unwitting, Kremlin allies at times.

Pro-Moscow video materials from the network RT (formerly Russia Today), which early this year shuttered its US operations, have been featured on Rumble, a video sharing platform popular with conservatives that last year received major financing from a venture capital firm co-founded by recently elected Republican Ohio senator JD Vance and backed by billionaire Peter Thiel.

As Republicans will control the House in 2023, the influence of these Ukraine aid critics in Congress and Moscow-friendly media on the right led by Carlson is expected to increase. But analysts say they’re unlikely to block a Biden administration request to Congress in mid-November for over $37bn in emergency aid for Ukraine, although they may try to pare it back.

Republican House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who looks poised to become speaker in January, threatened pre-election that if the GOP won the majority, it wouldn’t back a “blank check” for Ukraine.



https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/ ... kraine-war
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#1848

Post by neonzx »

Zelensky is Time Magazines Person of the Year

https://time.com/person-of-the-year-202 ... ne-choice/
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#1849

Post by Slim Cognito »

neonzx wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 9:42 am Zelensky is Time Magazines Person of the Year

https://time.com/person-of-the-year-202 ... ne-choice/
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Russia Invades Ukraine

#1850

Post by pipistrelle »

Slim Cognito wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 11:06 am
neonzx wrote: Wed Dec 07, 2022 9:42 am Zelensky is Time Magazines Person of the Year

https://time.com/person-of-the-year-202 ... ne-choice/
They lost a y though.
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