Probus

For reference.

Well said. A no-fly zone is off the table... right now... but what I've been trying to say is that stealth technology makes destroying these S300/400s less relevant. From what I understand (and hopefully is the reality), F-35s and F-22s could enforce a no-fly zone and stay well out of harm from these weapon systems, even at 10%, 5% (, or 1%) of their rated kill ranges. Am I missing something? "Ukranian" forces can take out some of the more pesky air defences in Ukraine. But again I want to re-iterate that Russia will most likely see this as provocation enough to hit NATO forces with missile strikes in the very least. And we don't want this turning into WWIII.

@The_Capt, Have you seen this doomsday submarine, the Belgorod, that was undergoing sea trials last year? Carries the Poseidon nuclear powered, nuclear tipped torpedo: http://www.hisutton.com/Poseidon_Torpedo.html http://www.hisutton.com/Spy Subs -Project 09852 Belgorod.html Also Sub Brief:

If this is the case, do you think Putin's generals will blindly follow his orders to use nukes or chemical weapons?

The younger NATO crowd may be a bit afraid of Russian nukes, but for us old time Cold War 'Vets', him rattling his nuclear sticks at us does not scare us. I grew up in the 80's with the larger threat of USSR nukes hanging over our heads every day. He can threaten his nukes, but we all know that if he uses them it is a death sentence for him. He has no desire to die, just stay in power after his obvious huge mistake. Nukes wont get him any closer to that goal. What worries me is WWIII, admittedly, after Russia's poor showing in Ukraine, I'm not too scared of his Mighty land forces. But apart from a few countries in NATO, it would seem that NATO also has 'let dry rot eat at their tires'. Especially Germany. So again the USA will have to carry a large part of the burden and I don't think the USA really wants to do that right now. If Putin starts serious ethnic cleansing, the USA will be forced to act (by its people). But we really don't want to be dragged into a war with our current administration (*cough*Afghanistan*cough*). My friends who are officers in the military, while outraged at Putin, don't want to start WWIII. Just keep those arms flowing into the Ukraine and let the feisty Ukrainians beat the tar out of the Russian invaders. The sanctions are going to eat Russia alive over the next few months if he doesn't let up. As far as a no-fly zone is concerned (I agree this could cause WWIII). But WHY is no one talking about how stealth will effect the enforcement of a no-fly zone? Think about it. If the Russians can only see our stealth aircraft at best 10% of the range (I'm thinking closer to 1% now) of the current air defenses, then we can sit back and shoot Russian planes and helicopters out of the sky with impunity forcing Russia to ground its air forces very rapidly. Red flag exercises have shown just how effective our F-22s are. There would be no need for SEAD missions and we've had 2 weeks+ to plan our strategies and coordinate our forces. Although there is always going to be risk with even a stealthy no-fly zone, I think the main risk is expanding the conflict into WWIII. Just my 2 cents.

Ha! Steve. Naughty, naughty. That would have been somethin’. I don’t think Putin is very open to taking advice. We may find out, after this is all over, that he had his hands in everything the military did, much like some other infamous leaders.

If 75% of Russia’s conventional forces were on the Ukrainian border before the invasion (which is the main reason I thought Russia would invade in some way) does that give Putin 25% reserves? Or does Russia need those forces for internal and eastern regions? https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-20-22-intl/h_a75912013e1a5572ef733fd4a7167d48

Lol.

With the level of interest Steve has shown in this war, 2023 might be a better estimation. Hopefully with the title CMBS2 - The Downfall of Putin.

Like a radio operator in WWII?

Sorry if this is a repost. Hadn’t seen it before. There go the Simpsons predicting the future…

An interesting video about no-fly zones:

Good advice @sburke. We all need to follow it. I find myself jumping in with my latest news. I need to stop that.

Thanks a bunch @Haiduk!

Here is a report today that Russia has not advanced in the last 24 hours: https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-ato/3422728-vijska-rf-za-minulu-dobu-ne-prosunulisa-na-zodnij-dilanci-frontu-arestovic.html You may need to use Google Translate. (Duplicate but translated below)

Are the Ukrainians spiking the tires?

How are you holding up @Haiduk and our other Ukrainian family. I really appreciate all the comments you are sharing in the thread. I want you to know that everyone I know here in the USA stand behind you and Ukraine. We are glad to see reports of weapons and intel flowing into Ukraine. I hope you can see some signs of them arriving this past week. Please stay safe, you and your families. I really hope NATO can find a reason (and the guts) to enforce a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Even with the risks of WWIII. I believe it could make all the difference. A stealth no-fly zone would see Russian aircraft mysteriously disappearing off of the scopes and force Russia to keep its Air Force grounded. Just my honest opinion.

Frontal hit of a Mi-24 by what looks like a MANPADS. Maybe filmed from a drone?

Have we seen any pictures of the new Russian BMPT "Terminator" being used or is that too new and not operational yet?

Who holds off an invasion for a sporting event? China must have asked them to hold off.

Do you think the large amounts of Stingers/MANPADS flowing into Ukraine will help reduce the Russian air force? Its gotta take a toll on their Helicopters and SU-25(like) aircraft. It can reach out and touch someone up to at least 10,000ft.

Russian friendly fire or Ukrainian friendly fire?

It takes time to shutdown a reactor. It has to cool off. If you shell it and destroy its ability to cool itself you get a Fukushima, right? Yeah. It makes no sense @danfrodo. Maybe Russians think completely differently than Westerners but this is nothing but a Quagmire for Putin and Russia. The Russian people are getting lied to and many are completely buying Putin's story. They will be sorry once Putin can't cover up what's going on.

So we are at page 100. What kinds of equipment, functions, capabilities have we witnessed that need to be included in the next release of Black Sea? - Move command to advance backwards as a shield for infantry. - Reduction in effectiveness of Russian armor or increase in effectiveness of Western AT weapons. - Ukranian Partisans. - ...

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