DreDay

Couple of quick points: The term "Red Army" has not been used since the end of WW2 when referring to Soviet Armed Forces Ukrainian equipment and OOB is pretty similar to mid-late 1980s Soviet Army formations; However both US and Russian formations are a lot more advanced than what you would have seen at that time..

Those are all good points. It is also important to remember that the Russians claim to have built an Active Defense System (Arena-E) that intercepts top attack misses like Javelin and TOW-2B. It remains to be seen how effective such system would bee; but Russians certainly seem to be well aware of a threat posed to their armor by top-attack ATGMS...

You have to remember though that Russians have deployed several modern automated Fire Control and Command systems for their MANPAD platoons in the past couple of years. These systems are supposed to be integrated with other Radar and C3 networks and their purpose is to notify the MANPAD crews of approaching targets. Such systems are supposed to give the MANPAD (and other tactical-level SAM crews) enough warning, ID, and guidance to engage the approaching targets. Here is an example of one of these systems: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-TFRHXKOKc If we are to assume that such systems are effective, it should not matter so much if the MANPAD crews are stationary or mobile... as long as their firing solution is correct.

Just fyi - that vehicle has been in development for many years now... long before there was any trouble in Donbass

Agreed, it makes no sense to me to use one of the best protected and most expensive armored vehilcles in the world for indirrect fire role that can be handled just as well (if not better) by artillerly pieces that cost a fraction of what an Abrams does...

Those cammo covers are actually kevlar pieces that offer balistic protection...

I personally would not mind that either, but the only real VDV formation in Ukraine is/was 25th Airborne brigade that has been severly decemated in combat over the course of this summer. I have not heard too much of them lately, but I would be surprised if there are enough functional BMDs in Ukraine to refit them to the necessary standards... chances are - they would just become another "airmobile" brigade from now on.

You are correct when talking about Russian ground forces and VDV; but Russian Naval Infantry still deploys RPKs as squad level MGs for some strange reason...It makes absolutely no sense to me, but it is what it is...

No, not quite... PG-7VR (that you are referring to) has the same tandem warhead design and general penetration numbers as PG-29V; but its ballistics are extremely poor when compared to PG-29V. BTW, the same warhead design is also used in RPG-27 LAW; but again the ballistic performance (i.e. range and accuracy) is much worse than PG-29V...

Nor in real life - it was tried out by Russian military; but never really adopted due to its excessive weight and size... There are probably a couple of thousand launchers rusting in some warehouses in the middle of Siberian tundra wilderness; but it is not used by Russian military for any practical purposes. Its manufacturers have tried to reposition it as a substitute for an SPG-9 since the rejection by Russian military; but the newer projects like RPG-32 seem to be much more prospective in that regard..

Oh I don't know, perhaps they prefer M4s and M40s to AKs and SVDs? It makes no sense (nor any difference) on a strategic scale, but might be favored by individual soldiers (especially if there were "volunteers" willing to supply them)... my point is that it makes absolutely no difference (in a grand scheme of things) as to who brought those particular weapons to the airport. Now, if there was evidence of Javelins/Spikes/Stingers and such being used by UA forces in any significant numbers - that would be a whole different case; but that's not what we are seeing here.

I agree with your first point. If the Western governments were to send clandestine weapon shipments to UA (infantry small arms would be on the very bottom of that list)... Yet it would not surprise me at all if some Ukrainian forces were to procure a few M4 clones and other small arms through their our sources... I am not at all convinced that there is any conspiracy here; I just don't think that this particular story is all that significant regardless of where those weapons had come from...

I agree with most of your points except for this one. Who do you consider to be the top quarter of their military? Their best formations (i.e. 25th VDV brigade, 80th Airmobile Briage, 92 Airmobile Brigade, 72nd Mechanized Brigade, 1st Armored Brigade) have pretty much been demolished this summer. Which ones of them do you know to have bounced back "perrty good" and where are those units that can hold their own (especially in light of recent rebel offensives)?

I stand corrected. Thank you for pointing this out! Am I correct in understanding that the Ukrainians have quite a few of R models along with Ks? Although I have to wonder if any of those ATGM munitions are still functional as they are probably at the tail-end of their supported lifetime...

You might very well know this, but Ratnik is just a set of standards for all aspects of infantry gear (including comms, cammo, weapons, med kits, etc...) Whether or not it gets deployed as a whole, Russians have been on a roll to upgrade their squad-level comms and navigation gear ever since the conflict with Georgia in 2008. I have a strong suspicion that they would continue on that track regardless of other Ratnik components. After all - look at the "polite men" in Crimea last year - almost all had secure comms gear, and that's no joke even by modern standards...

At this point both militaries are trying to equip each individual rifelman with some form of radio and GPS/GOLASS positioning device. US is definitely further along, but the Russians are catching up quick. At the very least, SLs and porbably even TLs would have portable radios in both armies by now...

That is an excellent point (much like the argument that our 4 tank Pls are better than Soviet 3 tank Pls for much the same reasons). Of course, the counter argument to this has always been - does it really matter when one of your squads is going to be fighting against an entire platoon of enemy infantry and APCs/IFVs? That's where the operational aspects of combat come in and tactical ones tend to take a second seat; that's why I was careful to preface my post by saying that comparing individual unit OOBs is not that productive outside of looking at their higher formations and associated role that they perform within that formation’s operational doctrine...

To keep our friendly debate going - what makes Strykers inferior to BTRs? BTRs have a better main gun (especially if talking about BTR-80A/82A), but they have worse protection, FC, optics, and navigation gear. Now as far as dismounted infantry aspect of it - US infantry squads are made out of 9 men that split into 2 equally capable fireteams (each having a SAW), while Russian MSV squads are made up of 6 men that split into a fire-support team (TL + RPG + MG) and an assault team (3 riflemen). US seems to exert more firepower in such breakdown... Now I don't think that it's all that productive to compare individual squad OOBs outside of their higher formations - but I hope that you see my point....

Likewise Tapio. It's always a pleasure to share my thoughts with a worthy match. Sorry for the "sir" gig... old habits die hard. You can call me Dre (not a Dr, but I do have an MBA)

Agreed. I would even prefer to have other "aside" sliders like force morale, C3, etc...

Fair enoght good sir, I did not mean to call you out on it; just more of a friendly debate.. I would certainly agree and support everything that you've stated in this latest post.

To be quite honest, I would be more interested in "semi-mechanized" forces equipped with a mix of relatively-modern systems (like AT4/5 or TOW/Milan) and older archaic stuff like WW2 AT Rifles and ZU-23-2s (which are very much in use in East Ukraine). I realize that I might be in minority here, but I find these kinds of scenarios to be more tactically challenging and forgiving than T-90AM vs M1A2 battles where anything that's spotted gets blown up ASAP with no room for maneuver or tactical planning…

I do agree that they are not exactly harmless; but I would caution you from using any recent day reports (whener rebel or Ukrainian) as proof of anything. The propoganda war is in full swing over there and statements made by both sides can be rediculed for days. I would suggest ignoring such claims (unless well documented by video and multiple independent witness accounts) for now. Let it sit in for a few months and the truth will come out...