Jump to content
Special Upgrade 4 Tech Tips

Vergeltungswaffe

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    3,890

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    4

 Content Type 

Posts posted by Vergeltungswaffe

    China vs Taiwan please?

    in Combat Mission Shock Force 2

    Posted

    17 hours ago, Thewood1 said:

    PLAAF and RoC have had some pretty substantial air battles over the last 70 years.  All types of Migs mixing it up with F-86s, F-104s, etc.  There have been naval clashes, artillery duels, etc.  While not Gulf War scale, RoC has held its own and managed to use that experience to build a better military.  I think any invasion would play out similar to Russia-Ukraine.  China would take big losses just crossing the sea.  China would eventually win if the west doesn't intervene, but it would wreck both economies beyond short-term recovery.

    I'll also go back to my standby statement...China needs the West more than we need them.  They can't feed themselves.  And will likely not be self-sufficient in energy in the short-term.  Add to that that Taiwan investment in China is fairly substantial by itself.  Taiwan is connected to a very large portion of the world's semicon production, but not its design.  That is still the US and the EU. 

    You can play a lot of this out in Command: Modern Operations.  There are a bunch of scenarios built around it.  

    Good post. Completely agree.

    0

    How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?

    in Combat Mission Black Sea

    Posted

    1 hour ago, BlackMoria said:

    "Next, on Survivor"  😃.  Looks like getting voted off the island is in full swing with all the firings and 'resignations' that are occurring.   And I imagine 'tribe mergers' are not a possibility?

    **Edit - Survivor is a popular reality show in North America and my comment above is a reference to that.  Realized that other members may not be familiar with the show and hence, not understand my reference.

    Putin thought he was playing a social game that would allow him to make it to the final, but hopefully he'll be blindsided soon and get punted off.

    0

    How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?

    in Combat Mission Black Sea

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Machor said:

    Russia claims first operational use of Su-57 in Ukraine [Russian site!]:

    The fifth element: Su-57 fighters have started operating in Ukraine

    https://vpk.name/en/610546_the-fifth-element-su-57-fighters-have-started-operating-in-ukraine.html

    "The fifth-generation Su-57 aircraft are involved in a special military operation. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov announced the use of the latest fighter jet on June 18. The new planes made not only single, but also group sorties. On the same day, the armed formations of Ukraine continued intensive shelling of the DPR and LPR. Donetsk was hit by MLRS and heavy artillery for several hours."

    "Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said on June 18 that Russian troops used fifth-generation Su-57 fighters during a special military operation in Ukraine. According to him, these planes have been used repeatedly.

    — Both single sorties and several aircraft in coordination, in information interaction, used aviation weapons of destruction, very effectively, — said Yuri Borisov."

    "The Su-57 is a fifth—generation multifunctional vehicle. First of all, it is a fighter, said military expert Vladislav Shurygin.

    — Based on the results of these sorties, conclusions will be drawn, it is possible that a decision will be made to improve certain parameters of the machines, documents on its use will be finalized, the expert added."

    The rest of the article is a propaganda blurb; here's a tasting: :D

    "In Mykolaiv, Ukrainian special services are filming stories about private houses allegedly destroyed by the Russian army and civilians left homeless. More than 40 actors are involved in the staged video filming, all participants were paid a monetary reward of $ 25, Mikhail Mizintsev noted."

    There are hardly any of them and the program has been riddled with problems.

    I find this to be highly dubious.

    3

    How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?

    in Combat Mission Black Sea

    Posted

    10 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

    Here's a treat.  I got to ask some questions from a friend who just spent 3 days and nights with a Ukrainian infantry company and the battalion recon platoon somewhere in the south.  He fielded questions from others and of those I am going to summarize the most relevant/interesting ones for us.

    First, this unit is not a typical unit.  It started off as a TD unit fighting around Kyiv and after that the personnel decided they wanted to take it up a notch so they applied to become a special forces (SSO) unit and in May they obtained official status as such.  They are technically a Regiment, but in reality they are probably Battalion sized (this is my guess).

    Here are some of the most interesting bits that I have simplified and reorganized a bit to make it an easier read for this thread:

    Q: It seems that Ukrainians have fluid command and control.  Is this true?
    A: With the qualification that SSO is not a standard UAF unit, yes, they are definitely decentralized.  Company CO receives generalized orders such as defend here, attack there, and so on. How to do all that was left totally up to him. Platoon commanders were extremely independent and free to open fire, position weapons and men, set up positions, as they saw best. I also so sergeants talking to company grade officers effectively as equals.

    Q: Did you see combined arms operations as recognized in the West?
    A: Yes. At the level I was at it was a couple of recon guys using two drones, a smart phone, and a tablet to figure out where the target was and feed its location into the firing system. As they explained it to me, if it was a serious target, the Company CO or the the battalion FDC would automatically push getting that target hit by artillery, of which several batteries from several brigades (all in range, theoretically) were on call in general support of fire missions. But since the targets that day were individual fighting positions, the company mortars dealt with it.

    Q:  How does the Recon Platoon fit into combined arms?
    A: I saw enlisted members of a recce platoon directly involved, in the field, in identifying a target, feeding that data into the system, and adjusting fires. It took them a couple of minutes to work out exactly right grid location they wanted because it was hard at some points to see into the woodline with the drones. The time lapse from first called shot to spotting round strike was less than a minute and at least half of that was round flight.

    Q: The front is long and thinly manned.  Do they do a lot of missions behind the lines?
    A: The unit I was with doesn’t normally do behind-the-lines missions. They’re not demolitions experts or professional partisans, they’re special mission light infantry. They might get picked to do some kind of infiltration assault, but for the most part the closest they get to behind-the-lines is ground patrols in the gray zone, and every once in a long while sneaking up on a Russian position.

    Q:  Do they conduct night ops?
    A:  I saw video of and eventually talked with a couple of participants in a 6-man night patrol. They had hand-held thermals, they went pretty deep (800 m.) beyond friendly lines, they got engaged and they broke contact, and they brought back a casualty. It was very clear from the company CO that active, aggressive patrolling is something he wants done and that the battalion is doing across its front. It’s considered very dangerous work so they don’t seem to go out unless every meter of the patrol route is pre-screened by drones. (caveats - this is a dedicated recon unit within a SSO formation, so not necessarily typical).

    Q: What sort of drones were in use and how were they used?
    A: They were using cheapo Chinese drones. I remember Mavis was one of the manufacturers. They have access to drone support from higher echelons but it’s not always available and for their tactical needs they only need to fly out a couple of kilometers, maximum. They seemed to operate a pair of drones in the air at a time, one to poke around literally between tree branches, and a second to overwatch. Their SOP is constant surveillance so they continually rotate drones for battery changes.

    Q: What were your general impressions of the quality of the soldiers you saw?
    A:  Skill levels are, in general high, but likely not necessarily recognizable as professionals trained in peacetime as this is a mobilized unit in time of war. I saw very credible fighting positions dug nice and deep. I saw crew-served weapons in logical locations, rational fields of fire, and AT weapons sensibly piled up. I saw a recce platoon scour a woodline with drones meter by meter and spend the better part of an hour reviewing footage to try and figure out what was inside. I saw soldiers call the company commander by his first name and I saw food and water piled pretty haphazardly, but the M2 Browning was in perfect condition and the Company CO considered it his single most powerful weapon.  Soldiers were lax about wearing body armor during the day as it is hot and Russians tended to shell in the mornings.

    Uniforms were clean and before eating people washed their hands. In the recce platoon there was lots of after market add ons and field items, a couple of guys looked very special forces and high end. In the line platoons, less so. Physical fitness, lean and healthy-looking. Only a few guys looked to be in their latter 30s or older. No baby faces. Not built up and muscular like you see with some NATO units who spend a lot of time on base lifting weights.

    The company CO was young but he knew his business and tactics, and he relied a lot on senior soldiers - basically, older guys functioning like sergeants - to keep things running. Systems functioned, vehicles came and went, stuff went in and out of the supply room, recon data was crunched and plans made, and the company CO's job was basically oversight and final decision. Attitude was they were there to do their jobs and they did them without micromanagement.

    Q: How is their morale holding up?
    A: Morale seemed fine to me. Everyone is sure Ukraine is going to win, it’s just a question of how long it will take. The enemy is dangerous but it is very possible to beat him, even easy a lot of the time. Everyone is in the same boat: everyone has relatives or friends who were or are in occupied territory, or had to evacuate, or had home or property damaged by the Russians. It’s absolutely clear what they’re fighting for. Some griping about how higher command is stupid, but you can’t have an army without that. The common complaint was there’s just not enough artillery ammunition to kill the Russians when they find them.
     
    Q:  Do personnel get leave or R&R?
    A: definite “no”. There’s no rule against asking for leave but basically no one asks because units are short-handed and it’s not like this is training, this is a war and another man off the line is help to the Russians. So no one asks. The company CO told me guys mostly got breaks either when the unit is in a quiet sector and they’re just in passive defense, and then it’s possible to rotate say a platoon at a time back to battalion or regiment for showers and so forth, or, another new weapons system is in the pipeline and soldiers get pulled off the line to go to training. It is a pretty sustainable approach as long as you are not trying to beat the other guy with high-intensity warfare.

    Q:  What's going on with Ukrainian reinforcements/replacements?  There's so many stated to be under arms, but it doesn't appear that they are at the front in huge numbers.  Where are they?
    A: Either getting trained or more likely waiting for a training slot. The army has a replacements system but it’s priority-driven and infantry isn’t a training priority with artillery and crew-served weapons operators being much more badly needed, and also, the army is trying hard to pool enough replacement to build new brigades rather than feed replacements into the ones that exist. It’s basically down to limited training capacity, everyone says there are enough volunteers. But the Ukrainian army is trying pretty hard not to send untrained people into combat. TD units getting into big fights is something they want less, not more of.

     
    Q: How do they think the summer's fighting will go?  Do they expect to just hold on, or do they think they'll attack in a significant way?
    A: The general opinion is offensive possibilities depend on availability of heavy weapons and ammunition, particularly artillery. The key to any serious offensive is suppressing and destroying the RF artillery. Everyone from private to company commander pointed out to me that the Russians have about 3-5 times more artillery and 8-15 times more artillery ammunition.

    They seemed absolutely confident that if the RF artillery could be dealt with, the UAF would advance and probably the RF infantry would break apart. By that same token, pretty much everyone I talked to seemed quite sure UAF human wave attacks to gain ground would be idiotic, and UAF high command would never order it.

    All in all my impression was this was a unit that would fight and take casualties for some time, and the specialists (mortar, recce, crew-served) were probably at least as competent as NATO counterparts, and very likely more so because they’ve got a ton of live ammo experience. But they were so spread out and the command pressure so limited, that I wonder if they could maneuver as a single company. I have no proof but I guess they would need to practice quite a bit before maneuvering as part of a battalion.

     

    Really enjoyed this.

    Nothing like hearing it from the horse's mouth.

    1
×
×
  • Create New...