Machor

Ukrainian PzH 2000 in action; this time we get to see the autoloader: Video of the flag-raising operation on Snake Island:

Mate, I've been checking the BFC website religiously since CMCW was announced, and unless I somehow missed something, they've NEVER had a sale neither before nor after the beginning of the war; in fact, I don't remember BFC having a sale EVER - I do remember Steve saying that they don't have sales as a company policy. If you're talking about the sales on Steam, I remember well how BFC resisted calls to sell there for years, and some CM titles appeared there only recently after BFC got involved with Slitherine/Matrix Games [which I very much support]. Therefore, you should be sending your complaints to Steam.

Future CMBS - be it new modules or a completely new title - will have to have ATVs: "American... I like American."

@Vanir Ausf B There have been many posts about this over the years by @Haiduk, who could give concrete figures; AFAIK, it's quite common. And, as you can tell from the (family) names of soldiers, this is represented for the Ukrainian side in CMBS as well.

Let’s Use Chicago Rules to Beat Russia Why the U.S. adversary is a lot like Al Capone By Eliot A. Cohen https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2022/07/madrid-nato-summit-2022-russia-ukraine/661494/

Ukrainian CAESAR showing off high ROF: it is:

I'm starting to think we were wrong to call Putin 'Putler'... we should be calling him 'Putini' instead, remembering how Fascist Italy was able to take Ethiopia and Albania after great effort and losses, and had to be bailed out by Nazi Germany in Greece and North Africa.

So much for the 'NATO threat' - Russian troops no longer needed on the Finnish border: Ukrainians using PTS-2 - Soviet equivalent of the LVT - in the retreat from Severodonetsk; it was Vietnam in the air, the Pacific on the ground: Motorized Infantry, 2022:

Interesting tidbits in this article: Ukraine prepares a counter-offensive to retake Kherson province https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/07/03/ukraine-prepares-a-counter-offensive-to-retake-kherson-province

The first crowdfunded TB2 for Ukraine by Lithuania - which was later donated by Bayraktar - is about to be delivered, and it came with a special paintjob:

akd already posted this, but reposting for folks who can't read Russian: That bridge is now protected with decoys against radar-guided missiles: @Kinophile

I believe the slogan on the launcher says "Believe in the AFU, and all will become Ukraine!" (?) @Haiduk Reposting the video for convenience: And a new video of night firing:

Amateur hour social media use and news report reveal Russian smuggling operation: Turkey detains Russian-flagged grain ship from Ukraine https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62010113

@billbindc @mosuri Going by his statements after the summit, he wants something concrete that he can display to his power base as a sign of his strength, and faces in handcuffs that have been extradited from Finland and Sweden check the box, so I expect him to put pressure in that direction. However, it appears the operation planned against the YPG has been cancelled - I assume this is where Biden 'had a talk' with him. The TAK are indeed fishy: I am not aware of another terrorist organization that has been active for almost two decades, where we know nothing about the organization's leadership nor structure. They are also uniquely tolerated by the PKK, which has historically never allowed other organizations to operate on its turf: It eliminated all rival Kurdish organizations in the 80s, and went out if its way, while fighting very hard against the Turkish military in the 90s, to fight and destroy TİKKO in Dersim. I can also add a personal insight: After I made 'sergeant' (OR-4/E-4), my fun activity during night watches was to check senior NCOs' desk drawers for documents stamped 'secret' that they were too lazy to return to the safe - good ole days without security cameras. Most interesting among my finds were intel reports about teams of bombers that had been dispatched to known cities and coastal resorts, and these operatives were always dispatched from PKK bases in northern Iraq or inside Turkey. Thus, back when TAK started its business, it was relying fully on the PKK's infrastructure. If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck... The only arguments we have for the TAK being independent of the PKK are statements by the PKK, TAK, and PKK sympathizers who want it delisted as a terrorist organization. That being said, the PKK gets its hands dirty without TAK branding as well: PKK kills young teacher after abducting him in Turkey’s east PKK terrorists abduct, kill 2 shepherds The TAK cannot be a false flag operation run by Erdoğan because they started when Erdoğan had recently become the PM and did not have control over the state security apparatus. Also, TAK bombings reveal another pattern: They almost always carry out an attack after the PKK suffers a heavy loss, clearly indicating their morale-boosting mission for the PKK. However, it is true that their attacks have helped Erdoğan win election victories, and there is no need to seek a conspiracy behind this: The PKK LOVES Erdoğan! Think about it: Arguably the worst human rights abuses against Turkey's Kurds since the military junta of 1980 were committed during Çiller's campaign against the PKK, yet few cared in the West. She was Turkey's first woman PM, had a PhD from the US - she oozed 'progressive', and few cared to look beyond. Now, in Erdoğan, Turkey has a face that openly expresses his disdain for all who aren't practicing Muslims, keeps promising to turn a UNESCO world heritage site into a mosque and eventually does it, keeps calling Germans and Dutch (?) 'Nazis', and still manages to rub most Islamic countries the wrong way as well - wouldn't you LOVE your enemy to have a face like that? Moreover, by jailing HDP politicians since 2016, I'm sure Erdoğan has done wonders for the PKK's recruitment. Thus, I too expect TAK bombings to restart before the elections, and the reason is pretty straightforward. This wasn't photoshopped; just a regular day in 'Türkiye':

Since there was some discussion on the UK training that Ukrainian troops are now receiving, I am curious to hear if the pros can comment on what they're seeing in this BBC coverage - and for @JonS, Kiwi gunners are involved as well: Ukrainian troops being trained in the UK https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-61973635

What are the 'axes' referred to in the tweet?

And one reason Tsingtao is such good beer is because the brewery was founded by Germans.

@acrashb @The_MonkeyKing @Aragorn2002 @Lethaface There's nothing in the MOU that changes the status quo: - The PKK is a designated terrorist organization in the EU [And with very good reason; see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pınarcık_massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yavi_Massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Market_massacre https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_2016_Dürümlü_bombing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurdistan_Freedom_Hawks#Attacks ], so Finland and Sweden are already bound by that. - Finland and Sweden did not recognize the YPG, the PKK's Syrian arm, as a terrorist organization. - Whatever arms embargoes Finland and Sweden may have imposed on Turkey, Turkey wasn't trying to buy arms from them. Solid gains for Turkey would have been Germany and France lifting restrictions on arms exports, and the US agreeing to sell the F-16V upgrade kits. It is not clear if Turkish diplomats seriously thought that they could get these, since the objection to Finland and Sweden joining NATO was raised by Erdoğan as an afterthought. These two tweets are the most realistic assessment: @Huba @Battlefront.com @billbindc @dan/california The Biden administration was already supporting the sale of the F-16V upgrade kits to Turkey before Erdoğan's objection to Finland and Sweden, and according to Aaron Stein, the administration's support is genuine: It will be awkward for them to be selling F-35 to Greece - which already has Rafale, F-16V & Patriot - while Congress refuses to sell Turkey Viper upgrade kits for old airframes. Bob Menendez (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Menendez#Awards_and_honors ) may potentially do damage that extends into the promised post-Erdoğan era, as there are already voices in the opposition arguing for a partnership with China. For now, Plan B seems to be going for Typhoon, and the UK is very encouraging, but getting greenlights from Germany and France would be a challenge.

Ukraine received 50 Turkish Bayraktar TB2 drones since Russian invasion https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/russia-ukraine-war-tb2-bayraktar-drones-fifty-received "Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov revealed on Tuesday that Ukraine has received 50 armed drones from Turkish arms company Baykar since Russia's 24 February invasion. In a Facebook post Reznikov thanked Ukrainians and Baykar for the donation of three Bayraktar TB2 armed drones following a social media fundraising campaign that collected $20m to buy three of the aircraft. Baykar on Monday said it refused to take the money and would instead donate the drones to show solidarity with the Ukrainian people." "Reznikov said Ukraine and Turkey are continuing work to build a joint Baykar plant in Ukraine to locally build drones, an agreement that was signed before the war. “Ukraine's plans to buy Bayraktar are also large-scale,” he said. “Since 24 February only, the Ministry of Defence has armed our military with up to half a hundred 'airplanes'". Reznikov added that Ukraine has already signed a memorandum of understanding for more drones, which were expected to be delivered in July. “We have also received a new request from the command of the armed forces of Ukraine and thus, in the near future, almost all capacity of the Baykar Makina plant [in Turkey] will be focused on meeting the needs of the armed forces. It's about ordering dozens more drones,” he added. Ukraine and Turkey have close defence industry cooperation, a relationship that has flourished in recent years. Ukrainian companies also produce the Baykar’s engines, and Turkey was known to have sold more than 20 Bayraktars to Kyiv over the course of the past two years. Reznikov’s information significantly increased that number. Frequent flights between Turkey and Poland over the last two months indicate that Turkey has continued to deliver TB2s and its MAM-L ammunition to Kyiv. In January, Al-Monitor reported that Ukraine got a 30 percent discount for the TB2 drones, paying approximately $7m for each."

Sooo... about the 'Death of the Tank': The Army Just Selected Its First Light Tank In Decades https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/the-army-just-selected-its-first-light-tank-in-decades "For the first time since the Cold War, the U.S. Army is set to acquire and field a new light tank. The service announced today that General Dynamics Land Systems has won its Mobile Protected Firepower program competition and has been awarded a contract worth up to $1.14 billion. The initial Mobile Protected Firepower (MPF) contract award will cover an initial low-rate production order of 96 vehicles. The Army expects to take delivery of the first examples, from an initial lot of 26 MPFs, in December 2023 and have its first unit fully equipped with them by 2025. The service presently plans to buy a total of 504 new light tanks, with most of them arriving by the end of 2035." "The GDLS MPF design, which is set to public receive a formal name this fall at the Association of the U.S. Army's main annual convention in Washington, D.C, is based on the company's Griffin II. Its main armament is a 105mm gun – unlike the 120mm type found on the original Griffin demonstrator – mounted in a turret derived from the one on the M1 Abrams tank. It uses a version of the fire control system used in the M1A2 System Enhanced Package Version 3 (SEPv3) variant" "Griffin II was itself derived from the Austrian-Spanish ASCOD armored vehicle series, which also formed the basis of the much-troubled Ajax infantry fighting vehicle for the British Army. GDLS has also put forward another version of the Griffin, known as the Griffin III, as a contender for the Army's Optionally Manned Fighting Vehicle (OMFV) program, which is focused primarily on finding a replacement for the service's Bradley fighting vehicles." "The MPF program began in 2015 and the Army down-selected to designs from GDLS and BAE Systems in 2018. BAE Systems' entry was based on the M8 Buford Armored Gun System (AGS) light tank, which was developed for the Army in the 1980s under a separate program that was then canceled in 1996. The M8 had been slated to replace the service's last light tank, the M551A1 Sheridan, a Vietnam War-era design that had an overly complex 152mm gun/missile launcher as its primary armament. The last M551A1s were retired from active duty service in 1997. A small number of Sheridans remained in inventory for use as mock enemy vehicles during large-scale training exercises until 2003." "Under the Army's current plans, the majority of the new MPFs will be spread across four battalions. These units will provide additional armored firepower for the service's dismounted Infantry Brigade Combat Teams (IBCTs), which currently only have light tactical vehicles – Humvees that are now in the process of being replaced by Joint Light Tactical Vehicles (JLTV) – armed with .50 caliber M2 machine guns, 40mm Mk 19 automatic grenade launchers, and TOW anti-tank missiles, for organic mobile fire support “The answer is in the name," Army Maj. Gen. Ross Coffman, director of the Next Generation Combat Vehicle Cross-Functional Team, told reporters when asked what the primary mission of these vehicles would be earlier today, according to Breaking Defense. "It’ll give the light infantry units a mobile, protected firepower that … can remove impediments on the battlefield [like light armored vehicles and fortifications] to ensure our infantry women and men make it to the objective." Exactly how these vehicles will be deployed and employed would seem to remain to be seen. Light is relative in the case of the MPF design, which is is said to be around 38 tons. This is only around two tons lighter than the Army's new M2A4 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, but is 20 tons heavier than the M551A1. It is of course substantially lighter than the Army's latest versions of the M1 tank, which are over 70 tons. The Army had originally described MPF more in terms of a spiritual successor to the Sheridan, which was not only air-transportable, but also air-droppable. The requirement for the new MPF to be parachutable onto the battlefield was subsequently dropped. A single Air Force C-17A Globemaster III cargo aircraft is expected to be able to carry two of them at a time when flying them to forward airstrips. It's unclear whether any of the Army's airborne formations will now receive these new light tanks. However, a picture, seen below, from the previous test that the service released today shows an MPF flying an 82nd Airborne Division flag. The Army's selection of a winning MPF design also comes amid a renewed debate about the future of tanks and other heavier armored vehicles based on observations from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The MPF program itself had first emerged as part of a broader shift in focus within the Army, and the U.S. military as a whole, toward being better prepared for more conventional conflicts in light of Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimea region in 2014 and its subsequent support for separatists in that country's eastern Donbas region. Regardless, a quarter of a century after the retirement of the M551A1 from combat duty with no direct replacement in the wings, the Army is now set to begin buying a new fleet of light tanks."

The BBC have updated their article with an interesting tidbit, which shows that we truly are witnessing world history in the making - if Covid didn't convince you of that: Russia in historic foreign debt default, reports suggest https://www.bbc.com/news/business-61929926 "Russia has defaulted on its overseas debt for the first time in more than a century after missing a Sunday deadline, reports suggest." "The last time Russia defaulted on its foreign debt was in 1918, during the Bolshevik Revolution when the new communist leader Vladimir Lenin refused to pay the debts of the Russian Empire. Russia's last debt default of any kind was in the 1998 as the country was rocked by the rouble crisis during the chaotic end of Boris Yeltsin's regime. At the time Moscow failed to keep up payments on its domestic bonds but managed not to default on its overseas debt."

The Russian KT: Turret-cam view of T-90M in action (with authentic sound): Technicals will no longer be associated with the third world after this war: And yet another supplier of Ukraine - Azerbaijan:

Rare video of what appears to be a Ukrainian tank company making a stop while moving in column towards Bakhmut [The direction stated in the tweet is contested.]: Now that the defenders of Severodonetsk are out, we have more footage of the urban fighting there - note the Dushka:

Interesting claim being made - by an account we've hitherto trusted - that the initial assault on Kyiv had an airborne component which was cancelled at the last minute; would call for a reassessment of the reasons for Russia's failure if true: