MSBoxer

How the hell am I now rooting for PRIG in any way, shape or form????? What multiverse have I entered?

How disturbing is it that I am sitting here giggling like a little girl with a new my little pony as I read updates about the potential mutiny in Russia?

As I sit reading today's posts, my house has been rocked by low flying F-16s, F-22s and an assortment of other aircraft. Fortunately, it is all in prep for this weekend's Quad City Airshow. As I run from my desk every few minutes to catch a glimpse, I also realize how lucky I am to experience this as entertainment and not during wartime use. This **** in Ukraine needs to end and Putin needs to be put down like the rabid dog he is. Hell, empty the whole infected kennel and eradicate the entire breed of those that use force to satisfy their own twisted desires.

For what it is worth. I have considerable time flying the KA50 in DCS and it is remarkably easy to get within 10km of your target using terrain masking. With the numerous tree lines in southern Ukraine, I would think it would be easy to get an experienced single or two ship formation into position. Then all you need is a relatively small gap in the trees to designate and fire, sometimes there is no need to even pop up. That close to ground clutter it would be hard for any ground-based system to acquire and lock. Now, if you have air superiority the game changes. Any aircraft with look down/shoot down capability can really ruin your day. Of course, this is all based upon video game experience, but then again isn't why most of us are here?

Getting a little eager?

For more even more excitement, have it transmit random bursts of "encoded" radio traffic. then sit back and watch as they attempt to identify and neutralize the special forces that have infiltrated their positions

Not to be negative, but I will believe some of our European NATO partners living up to their promises/commitments when I see it. Hopefully the current situation in Ukraine will have opened some eyes.

I think our president is blessed to have a skilled staff and some great advisors, especially regarding Ukraine. I personally think that his cognitive abilities have slipped over the last decade as seen in some of his off the cuff statements and the apparent need for him to be "handled" more than in the past. This is not political, just an observation of his behavior compared to in the past.

US debt ceiling agreement reached, not final yet as the agreement needs to be converted to legislation but the GOP and Biden have a framework. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/live-blog/debt-ceiling-live-updates-rcna86529 Edit - Dammit sburke beat me by a few minutes.

I don't think the west was a threat to the USSR or the Eastern Bloc. The threat was to the expansion of their sphere of influence and territorial expansion. Afghanistan in the eighties is a prime example. In other words, the threat was not to their continued existence, but a threat to their ambitions.

Not quite that old, but the two instances I cited which I think are good examples both occurred during my time on this spinning orb.

Yep, congress as a whole is a bunch of cowards. Now there are individuals that are passionate dedicated upstanding pillars of their communities. But when push comes to shove and their potential re-election is on the line, they will wuss out and pass the buck to either of the other two branches of government. That is why they gave the president the power to commit to military action instead of coming together to declare war or rely on the courts to legislate through judicial rulings. Yeah, I am a jaded old man, but I remember when our representatives stood up for what they believed. I may not have agreed, but I respected them.

Opposing fascism is great, the problem is when you deem anything you disagree with as fascism and use violence and vandalism to prove your point you kinda start to smell like a brown shirt. Just as those that claim anything they disagree with is the work of Satan kinda lose the whole point of Christianity.

In my opinion, if you go to the far end of either side of the political spectrum you get nut bags who need to be watched. Whether it is the white supremacists on the right or Antifa on the left we have groups that are ready and, in some cases, far too willing to resort to violence and intimidation to push their twisted beliefs on everyone else.

Well, since Ukraine does not really exist and has always and will always be part of Russia, then it is an insurrection! Duh!

How about more of a low profile tracked platform with a minimal sensor mast and a "disappearing" gun arrangement(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearing_gun) Think of a tracked platform no taller than a few feet with a periscope type sensor mast and a gun that can rise when a target is detected then lower. The vehicle could take advantage of any depression, hedge, or random shrub to hide from enemy sensors. Hell, you could do away with the sensor mast and rely on small drones to identify targets, rough aim the gun in lowered position and the zero in when raised.

An attack of this scope and size should leave an impression of strength and power. Why does it stink of desperation and weakness?

Personally, it is extremely hard for me to watch some of these videos. No matter how much I detest Russian actions, the death of any individual is traumatic. Yes, I fully acknowledge that some of them "deserve" to die based upon atrocities they have committed, and some of them need to die to protect Ukraine. That is when I must put on my analyst hat and try to compartmentalize my emotions. With that said, what I got most out of two recent videos, the drone surrender and the grenade/suicide is the utter physical, emotional and psychological isolation. In so many videos we have seen excessively small groups manning relatively large expanses of defensive lines, but in both of these videos the individuals were ALONE for all intents and purposes. You don't surrender individually if you have companions, and you don't kill yourself if you have hope of aide. The pure desperation in both cases, while perhaps isolated instances, leads me to wonder about the overall mental health of the RU forces. If this is indicative of an overall sense of despair and futility, then it perhaps lends credence to the brittle shell theory of the RU. Application of minimal pressure at the proper point may create multiple fault lines.

I lived on Staten Island in the 70s and went to a private elementary school. I learned quickly which kids not to mess with because of their family's business. Shortly after I left most of them moved to NJ.

I realized that after some research and edited my post. The angles looked off and the lack of shadows on the side made it look suspect, but this image shows it better. To be fair, I did not watch the coronation.

I thought is was photoshop, but a little research indicates it is real.

To be fair, he has always been a little brittle.

I think of it as a human stream attack. Low volume across a narrow front for an extended period. The effect is slow erosion instead of a flash flood that instantly washes everything away.

I self-identify as a Browncoat!