c3k

As a graphics programmer for a major studio who's worked on some AAA titles (Yes! This is my moment to be a grognard about something on here!), I think particle collisions like this are actually one of a handful of graphical effects that has actually gotten a lot more difficult to do over time.

To my mind, the best implementation of this was the original Halo, which came out over twenty years ago. Spark particles from bullet impacts on world geometry would actually correctly deflect off of other world geometry in their path. It was subtle, but really cool. I've obviously never seen their rendering code (I don't work for Bungie), but I think the combination of very simple geometry (by today's standards) and the fact that they still processed their world geometry into BSP trees for culling let them do accurate particle collisions for relatively low cost.

Interestingly, the remastered Anniversary Edition, which came out a decade ago and has much more detailed world geometry and a modern (at the time) game engine, doesn't do particle collisions. Sparks and stuff just pass right through geometry like they do in pretty much every other modern game.

Yeah, I'm very aware of that, and I suppose that's a cue for getting a little into why we don't have anti-drone drones.
There are two parts to the anti-drone drone: detection and attack.  The detection is the hard part.  Destruction is easy - we already have no end of systems that can very accurately destroy anything that you give them coordinates of.  We can accurately fire projectiles, exploding projectiles, exploding projectiles full of razor sharp hoops, high energy beams of photons, rings with chains on them, rings with strings on them, giant wads of gooey stuff, or anything you want to take out a drone.  But you have to detect it.
For an anti-drone drone, there are sort of two categories of drone you're targeting: open loop (no comm back to the sender) and closed loop (some comm back to the sender, whether full two-way control, occasional updates, or whatever).  
Detection of the first type (no comm), which includes Shaheds, is tricky - unlike the F-35, these *start* with the radar cross section of a goose* and then you can make that even smaller.  These things are all small on visual and radar cross sections because you can paint them and they don't have a lot of metal.  You're going to track them with frustrating "visual" algorithms, where "visual" can mean different things in the optical vs. radar wavelengths, but you're still trying to pick out changes in the scene to decide where the thing is.  I'm not going to spend much time on it, other than to say that unless you have really high signal to noise and high resolution (both of which the target is trying to reduce), it's a lot harder than you think, and in general you're not going to get there with simple image differencing.  And this problem exists for commless drones whether you're using another drone, a gun, or a death ray to take them down.  Shaheds at least have a very characteristic sound that you can probably use for detection and targeting once they're within audible range.
Detection of the second type (active comm) is easy.  It's transmitting, and transmitting enough to get clear signal back to its operator, who is farther away than you are if it's attacking you.  Triangulation is old technology.  Piece of cake: you lock onto the frequency, have some kind of sensor so you know your own orientation relative to the sensor, and just maneuver in a way to make the signal from the drone stronger until you hit it and destroy it with whatever mechanism you prefer.  Or have a few sensors that are networked to give you the position (helloooo MLAT) and shoot it with your favorite method of action-at-a-distance.
Except for one problem: whose drone did you just destroy?
In the Ukraine environment, IFF is the hard part of doing radio based anti-drone systems.  There are tons of things flying around, as evidenced by the daily releases of yet another view of every bit of ground combat we ever see.  It's not quite Diamond Age concentrations of them, but they're working on it.  And they're all sorts of random drones, including commercial drones, custom drones made with commercial off the shelf parts, custom drones with a mix of commercial and special mil parts, totally custom mil drones, and who knows what else. And they're all using similar frequencies, because the combination of physics and the atmosphere force you to the same frequencies if you want a particular range and data rate at powers that you can reasonably supply to both the ground operator and drone with batteries.  If you don't sort out the IFF thing and you set an autonomous anti-radiation based anti-drone system loose, it's just as likely to attack its allied drones as the enemy drones, because it has no way to tell them apart.  That means you have to have your complete drone ecosystem integrated (ring that cash register over at Lockheed/Northrop Grumman/Raytheon!!) or you're just going to be attacking your own stuff.  
And part of why we aren't seeing even rudimentary versions of it in Ukraine is that it's not a function that people were already spending much effort on for commercial/hobbyist drones. You can't just pop over to Robotshop.com or Alibaba and order tunable RF sensor kits (or a few thousand of them) the way you can other types of sensor, or actuators for operating your 3D printed grenade dropper.  It's possible to get relatively inexpensive software-defined radio modules that are small (that's what feeds ADSBExchange so you can see who's flying around Ukraine), but the environment is so variable, along with the need to confirm what drone you're attacking, that at least for now you're going to need a human in the loop, even if you can semi-automate your remote control drone sensor.  And even with a human in the loop, nobody is painting national flags on their drones, so unless you know "this is one that our side makes" after you get up close to it (assuming you're doing that, rather than sending a death ray at it from 5 km), you really don't know who you're shooting down.  So the basic tech isn't all that hard, but because it's not just point and shoot or point and drop, it's a lot more dependent on integration of the whole system to be usable.
*geese, like all waterfowl, are incredibly mean and probably deserve to die. That's why there's a book entitled "Ducks and how to make them pay".  If we can do an autonomous system for drones, it should probably be immediately applied to geese and ducks.

Re: possible insurgency
1. First off, as Steve already said, things can theoretically happen. We're talking about the most likely scenario. Anyone who predicts future with 100% certainty is a fraud.
2. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of bad blood. Just as you saw a lot of Crimeans genuinely cheering up and supporting the invaders in 2014, the Crimeans saw people on mainland Ukraine cheer powerlines being blown up as 2 million people plunged into darkness, water channel being cut off, the roads being blocked for cargo traffic, with all the little nasty consequences that were actually physically felt here. The reactionary post-2014 policies, laws and rethoric weren't great either. But compared to all the mayhem what's been happening since Feb 2022, this is nothing. And people are TIRED of chaos, flying jets, drones, explosions and death. Those who are currently in the trenches or came from there are tired as well.
3. What would be "the cause" to rally behind? They can't even formulate victory conditions for the current war. Nor can they achieve anything significant, with all their men and equipment in the field. Rallying (who, civilians?) to do something a huge army can't do? That requires guts and there's none. Only stupidity and hubris. They are unable to say NO when told to do something stupid or illegal. Saying no requires guts.
4. You need to understand the reality on the ground. Pretty much all Crimeans who haven't left have Russian passports. What, 1.5-2 million people? Myself included. Because living here without one is practically impossible. Hell, I know Crimeans who left and are currently on mainland Ukraine that also have Russian passports, issued in Crimea in 2014 (illegaly, obviously). For Ukrainian government to take back control, they'll have to deal with it somehow. And bunch of other documents. There's already been laws and decrees passed aimed to make the transition back as painless as possible. There's a whole ministry that's dealing with issues like these. Refer to Ministry of Reintegration sources for more information.
5. That being said, it's been nine years, and nobody can pretict how much more time will pass before that. It can happen in two months, or in two years, or in ten. And with every single day, people are growing more tired. They are trying as hard as they can not to notice what's happening now. And there's no land warfare close by yet. When it comes, they'll have much more incentive to make it stop ASAP.
 
Re: how am I doing?
My life isn't as horrible as for some others out there. But things can change literally any minute, as for everybody else in the region. So I am trying to live in the moment while I can.
For those who don't know, I tried to get to Estonia via St.Petersburg back in September. Before Feb 2022, it was illegal (by Ukrainian laws) thing to do. I managed to contact some Ukrainian officials and learned that it is okay during the war, if your purpose is to leave the occupied areas/Russia.
But, as I also have Russian passport (issued locally after 2014, and almost impossible to get rid of without being put into danger), Russia views me as Russian citizen first, and by their laws, I had to get foreign travel passport in order to leave. I did that, and it took time. I also had to prepare money and other affairs. Thus I managed to get to the Estonian border only in September. My thinking was that it would be safer to deal with Russian documents after I cross the border, not before.
I knew that Russian passports issued in Crimea are not recognized by the EU. My Ukrainian foreign travel passport was outdated by that point. The rules are: you can apply for asylum if you have no valid travel documents. But when I got to the border, Estonian police and border guard told me that everything is fine with my Russian passport (the travel document I had to use to leave the Russian side of the border, because Russian laws) and thus I cannot ask for an asylum.
I told them many things about myself, and that I would be in danger if I return, but they did not care. They were angry and not cooperative, unwilling to listen. They blamed me for not coming sooner and for other things I had no control over. That night at the border is something that still haunts me to this day. Being rejected by the people who you considered to be good and being sent back to modern day neo-USSR. And there are things that I am not telling you here, because it is dangerous...
Anyway.. I came to St.Petersburg. Got seriously ill. Still, I got tickets to Vladikavkaz in order to try crossing into Georgia. But soon I found a lot of info online that told me the same story would happen there as well. There were no other good alternatives that came to my mind. Going somewhere else eastward wasn't looking like a good idea either, legally, logistically and for other reasons.
At that time, my little sister was still in Crimea. I've decided to come back here and deal with whatever happens to all of us together. Since then, there was a harsh winter without work. Serious depression, from which I barely managed to recover on my own, without meds or therapist. The dangers that are lurking out there are real. But I know who I am and what I stand for, and where my allegiance is.
Most importantly, I know that the bastards have already lost. I knew that back in Feb 2022. They will not succeed, no matter what happens to me personally. They can't do anything good in this world, and there's no "winning" for them in any shape or form.
I've stopped working on my Unity dev career for now. I tried to find some remote work, but failed and had to return back to working in a store. I do see a future where things go at least a little bit better. But for that to happen, a lot of people have to put in a lot of effort. There's nothing free, and freedom itself is not free. We all have to work for it.
Alright, I've already said much more than I should've. Over and out.

The Russo-Ukraine War shows precisely why this point of view, while ostensibly based on deep,universal insights, springs from a very specific set of circumstances. Namely, one where one's country and nation is free of any actual danger.
Apologies for saying the obvious, but it seems necessary. A country is a territorial pollitical organisation within which lives a group of people, called a nation. If you do not care about your country, you do not care about whether that group of people - including you-  is self governed, or subjected to other country, therefore another nation. Alternatively, you do not care whether your nation gets to use a particular territory, or is deprived of it by another nation - thus impacting e.g. the natural resources, trade routes, etc. avaliable to the group, which includes you. 
Not caring for your country does not therefore make much rational sense, because things which affect your country affect you, your family, your descendants, etc. It seems to me, that in fact, people say "I couldn't care less about my country" because either they consider the risk of having to defend their country as practically non-existent and therefore they do not seriously think about it, or at the back of their minds there lies is an unspoken assumption, that it does not matter whether you are German, French, or Dutch. I am not sure, but I am not going to dispute that about those 3 countries. However, it is absolutely clear to me that it is crucially important whether you are Ukrainian or Russian, as this war abundantly proves.
And as regards the random lines on the map called Ukraine, they decide e.g. whether the nation called Ukrainians will have access to ports of the Azov sea and able to export their grain through them. Or whether the Crimean Penninsula will be within those random lines, or on the other side of random lines and therefore under the control of whoever at the time is the tyrant of Russia, threatening the nation of Ukrainians with naval invasion. By defending those lines on map they are defending their future well-being. The position "I support your right to decide for yourselves but Ido not support your fight for the borders" is self-contradictory and thus obviously wrong, because the right to decide for themselves obviously includes the right to decide how to develop Ukrainian land. 
 

Of course, Slavic settelmnent names are like abrakadabra for western readers, especially if it has more that 15 letters ))), but yes each name of city, town and village can be roughly translated in English. 
Urozhayne is adjective, so it better to translate not like "harvest", but "fruitful"  ) Though, of course geographical names aren't translated, even partilly like Velyka Novosilka can't be Large Novosilka ) - full rough translated name will be "Large Newcomerville" )
Typical Ukrainian village or rarely setlement/town name has ending -(il/in/ian/iv)ka. Then this in noun. It consists from some significant part and the ending. This "-ka" usually means founding /belonging/first settlers name/name originated from some charakter - so, for example Ivanivka - "Ivan's village", "originated from Ivan", "belonged to Ivan" or Dubivka - "originated from oaks".  Nesterianka - "originated from Nestor"
Some villages and towns rarely have only significant word, without ending.  For example Kopani  - old Ukrainian word "Kopan' ", means "the pit for keeping a water or the well without the frame", so it translated like "Waterpits", or Lyman - despite this word is equal to "liman, firth" for Donbas it has local means "the lake". Or Tokmak - name derived from name of the river Tokmak, which has turk origins means "poll/butt"
Many villages have endings in the names "-le", "-ne", "-te", "-s'ke", "-ve", "-che" and then this is just adjectives. Verbove - from "verba" ("willow"). Sometime it has means of belongings like "-ka". If Ivanivka is "originated from Ivan", that "Ivanivs'ke" is "belonging to Ivan". Robotyne, btw, it more similar to the noun - it's from the word "work", so maybe "place of [field] work", but I think it likely was initially Russian name "Rabotino" more typical for Russian names, which was just translated on Ukrainian manner.   

Yes. The diaries read, "Dear Diary. Today is my first day as a halftrack gunner. I'm very excited! I'll write more, tonight, after the battle." The next pages are all blank, save for the blood splatter...

Wow, just read this. As a Brit who voted for Brexit, I think maybe Steve should stick to military matters as this is pretty insulting and frankly bat **** crazy. My reason for voting Brexit, for the record, is that I believe in democracy and the EU is profoundly undemocratic. We got rid of a king in the 1600s because he was overruling our parliament. The EU over the passed decades has imposed thousands of laws on the UK we had to accept by treaty obligation. It was always about democracy and sovereignty for me and many others, not stupidity, irrationality, or Russian manipulation.

Credit to the COMMUNITY then 😉.

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.

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.

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.

A few random comments from the bleachers:
1. In a non-military industry, I've worked with some of the best AI gurus in my business who have been trying to apply and leverage machine learning and artificial intelligence for years.   MASSIVE amounts of data. It's not easy and not nearly as productive as many selling the technology proclaim.  Like--"don't believe 90% of the BS because it's all wishful for thinking for most of them."   There is gold in AI---but be careful about who proclaims they've found it and when they will be able to truly deliver.
2. The daily Russian kill/destroy numbers over the past few weeks are significantly and fairly consistently high on casualties, low on weapons destruction.  Is this because of the weather? A pause in combat operations? Russia running out of military hardware?  Mobilized forces being thrown into the meat grinder?  Something else?  Or "D", all of the above?
3. I'm still of the strong opinion that there will not be a tangible decrease in Republican/Conservative support of Ukraine.  Yes, there are rumblings and some outliers--but when all is said and done the support will remain.    My reasoning and to reiterate--just my humble opinion:
The conservative voices questioning support of Ukraine are being magnified beyond their actual political power and influence.  Certainly wouldn't be the first time the media or some self-interest group tried to sow division where it may not be and push their own agenda. Conservative support for Ukraine is still strong and most Republican politicians know and understand that.  I was raised and live in the South---Ukrainian support is flat out solid in my little sphere of the world.  I work and talk with people all over North America--I don't here any rumblings of dissatisfaction.  And to the very esteemed posters who have mentioned this topic over the past 24 hours--the locations are California, Seattle, Oregon, etc.  Just like my residence in Tennessee is not indicative of the opinions of the rest of the country--those views may not be reflective of the flyover states.  Where we live influences our perspective whether we like it or not. Rand Paul is not as crazy or Putin loving as some may believe.  I grew up in Western Kentucky and have friends that know him.  He is outspoken and takes a different approach than many, but underneath he's fairly reasonable and his verbal positioning is to frequently just challenge the traditional group think of his own party.  Accountability is important to him, so it's no surprise he questions spending---but his desire to cut funding to Ukraine may be less than it appears. Peace and thanks to everyone on this forum for their brilliant and informative comments.

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.

Guy who played orc in Lord of the Rings asks to stop comparing Russians to orcs because orcs are proud warriors who don't steal washing machines.

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.

The opinions on domestic US politics are neither unanimous nor beneficial to this thread.
 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The opinions on domestic US politics are neither unanimous nor beneficial to this thread.
 

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.

Yep I´m aware of that, having commanded a Leo2A4 in the Bundeswehr back in the 90s. On german territory all structures are designed with significant safety margin factors of 1.5 to 2X, but I wouldn´t bet on that for ukrainian or russian soil. You are correct, we need an east european bridge grog for that question 😅 Soviet T-tanks were designed to stay into the 40-45 ton margin with a reason.