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c3k

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Everything posted by c3k

  1. What an easy way for Russia to "erase" some Ukrainian POWs.
  2. You do not embrace Space Lobsters. THEY embrace YOU! With their oversized feeding claw, dragging you to their mouth manipulators, to be slowly pulled apart and fed into their gaping mandibles! As you are rent limb from limb, with your armored suit rendered no more a hindrance than a piece of cloth to these monsters, your only choice to scream your override code and hope your anti-matter plasma generator is able to cascade into a failure mode creating an anti-matter explosion great enough to destroy the Lobster King's flagship dreadnaught. Or something. I cannot take credit for "Space Lobsters of Doom". It very well may have been me...or not. I seriously don't remember. It's like trying to remember how you first learned to breathe. Best if we give credit to the community, writ large.
  3. I just read this. I will only say that I agree that Geopolitical forces push nations in certain directions. The personalities of the leaders are irrelevant. Hence my push whenever I see the opposite being posited. The exception, of course, is lunacy...such as Putin. I'll respect your wishes. Your forum.
  4. Deleted to comply with Steve's request.
  5. Indeed, I have not objected to, nor supported, any viewpoint on foreign politics because I realize that all I would bring would be a distorted American perspective. I have no basis for getting into those discussions...either pro or con or trying to tamp them down to prevent spiraling off-topic. I see a lot of blame put on former President Trump for this invasion. Funny how Putin only invaded AFTER President Trump left office... 1. The Russian Hoax has been explicitly proven to be a forgery created by the Hillary Clinton campaign. All the "Russia Russia Russia" hysteria in the US media has been conclusively shown to be a political ploy by the DNC, supported by the Mainstream Media. 2. President Biden is on tape bragging about corrupting Ukraine to protect his son, Hunter, from a criminal investigation by the authorities in Ukraine. He used his position as vice president under President Obama to wield a $1 Billion dollar stick over Ukraine. This is on tape. 3. The debacle of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan occurred under President Biden. Whether that withdrawal was warranted or not is immaterial: the process of the withdrawal was a total fustercluck. How much weakness did this signal to Putin? China...by sending wealth to the Biden family via Hunter...has shown the world what the Biden family cares about. Putin obviously thought that Biden was weak and would not involve the US in this invasion. (Due to corruption, lack of leadership, and international weakness.) Whoever in the US administration began leaking Russian invasion plans was trying to stop this...but it was too late. These things have a certain momentum or inertia. Putin thought he had the measure of Biden. So...does President Biden have a share of the blame in "allowing" (<- via the signaling I mentioned above) Russia to think they could get away with this? Or, is it all Trump? Again, I will stay away from any opinions on foreign domestic politics. I will say that I am heavily disappointed in the lack of support Germany is providing. Is that due to Scholtz? I have no idea...it could be far more complex and nuanced than "that guy is a Stasi wannabe" or whatever the complaints are against him. Ditto Switzerland blocking ammo supplies. Is it one of cantons that is doing that? Shrug. All I know is that Switzerland thinks it is safe behind the mountains and that any future armament purchasers better think about how they will source their ammo and other logistics. Should Macron be praised for the Ceasars? I don't know, but FRANCE is sending some good equipment. If you look at my posts, I am very careful to point to the COUNTRY involved, not any individual. (Zelensky excepted, because, damn, talk about the right man at the right time.) I have tried to do the same with the US.
  6. The opinions on domestic US politics are neither unanimous nor beneficial to this thread.
  7. @desert fox, not picking on you specifically, but your post has the most tonnage information so it's a great place to start. In civil engineering (no I'm not one), there are margins applied. They are usually on the order of 100%. (In some cases, up to 500%.) In the West, a 40 ton bridge could certainly hold more. Would I send a 50 ton tank over a 40 ton bridge? Hell, yeah. I'd drive it. But, I'd only allow one at a time. That'd slow down a 50+ tank battalion at every bridge. Now, given the corruption and standards of quality shown under the Soviet era, I can certainly see the problems with 50 ton tanks driving over Soviet-built 40 ton bridges. Time for some bridge grogs to step in.
  8. Bold. Yeah. Obviously, I don't know if the 130mm APFSDS round has a full-length rod or not. But, the "stick" is there in other rounds. There is a limit to length:diameter ratios, especially dependent upon the metal/alloy used and the planned impact velocities. Here are some good images, showing how advances in metallurgy have allowed longer rods: Edited to add: that 10:1 is old. I'm seeing research going as far as 20:1 Length:Diameter. So, don't go around quoting 10:1 at the bar.
  9. The rod is frequently supported by a "stick". So, just because the round is that long does not mean the rod is, as well. (I think 10:1 length:diameter is currently what is used...for lots of reasons.) The extra shell length allows for a LOT of extra powder. I wonder what the muzzle velocity/muzzle energy will be?
  10. Here's the EDM4S: https://www.armedconflicts.com/Lithuanian-anti-drone-jammer-EDM4S-Sky-Wiper-portable-equipment-REW-t249674 EW is interesting...especially Russian use. Handheld jammers, like the EDM4S, are difficult to counter. However, they are similar to (early) MANPADs in that they are not kept turned on. They're only used AFTER a drone has been identified. (Manpads are limited by their IR targeting/seeker needing to be cooled, by boiling off cryogenics or using limited battery power.) The question remains...how would the jammer-user know when to use it? Stand-off UAVs are undetectable without radar, IR, or staring focal arrays. Russian area-jammers are useful to deny areas... It would be great if they start using them. Nothing is easier than guiding a missile onto an active transmitter. Targeting beacons make for simple solutions.
  11. I disagree. (I did not read the article.) Any sharing of intelligence to the US would mean that intel would then be liable to be used for political purposes. Ukraine would have no control of it in that case and, if US domestic politics would benefit to Ukraine's detriment...guess which way the US politicians would decide?
  12. Crimea and Donbas These territories were seized by Russia and then the population (especially Crimea) shifted by importing Russians. (This is why borders matter.) Now, if Ukraine regained these territories, there is nothing to prevent them from copying Russia: allowing Ukrainians to flood in while allowing Russian separatists to go to Russia. Russia had 8 years to tilt the demographics. Let's do a poll of the territories 8 years after Ukraine regains their rightful borders. I'll bet it'll be pretty pro-Ukrainian. Land is NOT people. The one is immutable, the other is mobile and moldable.
  13. Or, if you bivouac at the same location prior to trundling out to one of just a few firing sites, only to return to the same bivouac. Mobility is only useful in this case if you do not create predictable patterns of behavior.
  14. Russian artillery. As I've stated (horn-tooting), their artillery MUST be attritted before Ukraine has a chance to successfully regain, and hold, its lost territory. Otherwise, Ukraine would just attack only to be pounded. According to this site https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/karl.wikland/viz/RussianmilitarylossesinUkraine2022/RussianmilitarylossesinUkraine2022 ...Russia has lost ~625 artillery "systems" (tube and rocket?) since they invaded Ukraine. We're about 100 days in, so let's just call that about 6 tubes a day. Further, let's stipulate Russia cannot replace what gets lost with new production or old war reserves. In the Lysychansk (<- my spelling of Ukrainian cities is not great. I studied Russian language for a year and barely scraped by: not a strength. So, forgive any mistakes in that regard)...anyway, near that city, the above-stated ratio is 7:1 with Russia having 900 tubes. That puts Ukraine near 128 or so. For artillery parity, purely based on numbers (not range, weight of fire, accuracy, etc.), that means Ukraine needs to eliminate about 772 tubes around there. At 6 per day, that's a bit over 4 months. And, that assumes no Ukrainian arty losses (in that area). Obviously, there are a LOT of external factors that adjust that calculus. Ukraine needs longer-ranged systems, that are accurate, with ISR/spotting, and a relatively stable front, to enable them to attrit the Russians down. The 155L52 systems coming online are great for counter-battery work (gotta outrange the Russians to do so effectively). Long-range GMLRS would be better...especially with submunitions. That is a simplistic comparison, but shows the amount of work needed to overcome the Russian artillery numbers.
  15. Bolded: the other benefit of the clamped BFA was the assurance that no round could exit a firearm equipped with one. So, an errant "live" round in a pile of blanks would not cause a casualty.
  16. (Last of my drone comments, I promise. ) Anything that uses rotary 12.7mm has my vote. Think of the opportunities to use it against non-aerial targets.
  17. Bolded part. That's the question and that's why the laser systems are so attractive. Ignore the initial outlay. (Because the system is either fielded or it isn't.) What then is the per-shot cost? And, what is it's capability? If it can shoot down anything from a small quadcopter to Predator drone to a mortar shell...and do it endlessly (given electrical generation capability), then, yeah, the cost per engagement is just pennies. Ditto the electronic jammers that cause drones to land where they are. Using directed energy systems (lasers, focused electromagnetic waves) is the future of counter-drone units.
  18. All good points, but you missed the first two: 1. Should the forces in question be concerned...at that time...if there is a drone monitoring them? Meaning, what forces, where, and when, should be in a drone-countermeasures posture? 2. Once that force is determined to be in an anti-drone posture, you've got to FIND the drone, if any. Only then will the rest of the points you've made come into play. Steps 1 and 2 are non-trivial.
  19. I literally stopped what I was doing when I read that, copied/pasted/searched, and was about to post a "WTF?" comment. Thank you for doing so...politely.
  20. "Fog Eating Snow". Yes, the Ukraine nibbles and bits approach is working. But, they will absolutely need to continue to attrit Russian artillery if they are to win and regain their pre-2014 borders (I include the Crimea). To do this, they need long-range artillery especially MLRS. ATACMs would be nice. 300km range would allow Ukraine to set the launchers back in their "safe" areas and launch against identified Russian batteries (whether inside Ukraine's borders or firing from inside Russia. Shrug: that's Russia's choice.). Regardless if Ukraine gains the 300km+ guided weaponry, they need to out-range and use effective counter-battery fire to eliminate Russian ranged weapons. THAT, and only that, will allow them to advance to (and maintain) their borders. As far as Crimea: destroy the Kerch bridge; interdict any shipping trying to resupply Crimea; pressure the Perekop Isthmus. Make Sevastopol a maritime graveyard for the Russian navy. Then move in.
  21. ^^^ Sig-line material if I've ever seen it!
  22. Using "Q ships" for MLRS or Brimstones would then open EVERY civilian vehicle up as a legitimate target for the enemy. That may be acceptable...or not. Distributing MLRS onto many platforms would leave open the large question of distributing targeting information and allocating munitions to the correct platform. Certainly solvable, but it'd require robust networking.
  23. A few thoughts on this: 1. Currently, AFVs know precisely when an ATGM is fired at them and from where. 2. Currently, the game is a bit prone to under-model artillery effects against AFVs (this has been discussed ad nauseum). Any adjustment would have to address the above two issues...AND ensure that the TacAI does not know the difference between a 155 landing 15 meters away or an NLAW that hit a tree. The crew would just know that there was an almighty "bang" and they're still alive.
  24. This points out a recurring theme: because Russia has nuclear weapons, they cannot be pushed too hard to comply with international norms of behavior. I wonder if anyone in Europe the West is drawing a lesson from this vis a vis Iran's continuing quest to gain nuclear weapons? As insane as Putin seems to be, I cannot imagine how Iran's leadership will act once they gain that type of leverage. Edited: because it's not just European politicians that seem to have lost sight of the dangers of nuclear proliferation.
  25. For those that follow such things, I have cultivated a certain image of, shall we say, "nonchalance" towards the lives of my pixeltruppen. I never thought anyone would take it seriously, let alone try to replicate it. Then Putin showed me that I had been mistaken.
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