Vet 0369
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Posts posted by Vet 0369
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2 hours ago, Haiduk said:
Direct security guaranties from US or UK with an artcile of immediate miliatary support in case of new aggression will be better. Zelensky claimed exactly such position.
And how well will this work to deter Russian aggressions in the future based on the U.S. track record on how well it “protected” Ukraine as it said it would when Ukraine divested it’s nukes? In all honesty, even as a moderate in the U.S. I don’t feel any U.S. promise to protect Ukraine will be worth the paper it’s written on. When a country provides a promise to do something, subsequent political decisions shouldn’t be allowed to override those promises.
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5 hours ago, Baneman said:
Isn't there at least one Moscow in the States ?
That could make for some tense double-checking of your targeting co-ordinates !I believe there’s even one in Steve’s backyard.
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35 minutes ago, Harmon Rabb said:
I have been reading this topic everyday for the last two weeks and signed up to thank you guys.
This topic is the most informative source that I have seen on the internet for understanding the realities of the war in Ukraine.
Keep up the good work guys.
Welcome aboard!
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1 minute ago, keas66 said:
Fair enough - and now back to the military analysis of T72/T80/T90's getting blown up / stuck in the mud
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Just now, keas66 said:
Do you think we will ever be in a position to remake Russia as we were with Germany ? I don't . I think Putin is going to be festering on the Edge of NATO until someone removes him ... and likely his replacement's will carry on in the same way .
Maybe we should offer up our Treasuries to Putin after this Special Operation comes to an end . Lift the sanctions and let the Russians back into our Financial/ trading systems again ... because the punishment should never fit the crime right ?
I have to say up front that I’m not a pacifist or and apologist. “ I don’t “turn the other cheek.” I will make sure they never do it again. I simply try to use an appropriate method to knock out their teeth. What I’m saying is that the response to this atrocity must be considered and calculated, and not based on “vengeance.” I’m very happy to say that I believe the leaders in the West, and the Ukraine have the responsibility to assess those punishments, and I pray they are considered and measured based on possible effects down the line, and not on vengeance.
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4 minutes ago, keas66 said:
A different Era maybe ? The Allies dropped the ball completely after WW1 and nobody wanted anything to do with any more wars . Armies were cut back , defenses weakened meanwhile the Axis rearmed . Maybe a better lesson to take from this is punish them hard and then keep your boot on their throat rather than taking it off .
And this is a prime example of “if we fail to learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it.” We learned a lesson from the WWI vengeance reparations, and not only didn’t impose massive reparations on Germany after WWII, as far as I know, but we implemented the “Marshal Plan” to help rebuild BOTH Germany and Japan. Seems to me that those policies had MUCH better results than “vengeance based reparations.” Vengeance is also what has continued the millennium long blood feuds that still exist in many countries.
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43 minutes ago, panzermartin said:
I second this. The aftermath of a possible Putins loss could be a russian weimar republic. Possibly they will emerge opposite forces in Russia, like the communists vs nazis in the 20s and what if a more radical leader takes over in Kremlin? Germanys hatred towards the world was mainly built from isolation, national humliation, and ultimately poverty, and I'm already seeing Russia taking that route. That's why West must be careful how to handle a defeated Russia. Since you can't kill it and you can't cage a wild animal forever, you have to somehow pet it. But maybe things will be more straightforward, although the first attempt in 1990s after the collapse of Soviet union didn't go very well judging from today's unprecedented crisis.
This is exactly why I would argue against massive reparations against Russia for starting this. After WWI,even though U.S. President Wilson argued against them, the UK and France insisted on them to “punish” Germany and make sure they wouldn’t have a viable military again. Well, we all know how that worked out. “Vengeance is Mine say that the lord,” meaning we have no place exacting it.
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48 minutes ago, BletchleyGeek said:
Great snippets, all of them very interesting @Haiduk.
The perceived redeployment in the south perhaps is best understood in the context of the apparent move of the Black Sea Fleet to menace Odessa. Whether is that just a feint to keep UKR forces pinned down to Odessa, or the long awaited amphibious operation, I guess we will see. If UKR had anything like Iran's anti-ship cruise missiles I don't think we would get to see that naval ballet.
It could be a simple matter of Russia realizing they have lost, and are redeploying their troops to the originally controlled areas of the Crimean peninsula, DNR, and LNR to be under the protective guns and missiles of Russia and the Russian Navy in preparation of a cease-fire agreement. I wouldn’t be surprised to see other fronts doing the same.
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14 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:
I heard the tail end of some interview with a Russian Orthodox someone or other (might have been an academic). The question was put to him about if this war is an affront to God, or something like that, and he said yes. The interviewer then asked why the Russian Orthodox Church hasn't said ANYTHING about this war? His answer was the usual "I don't know, you'll have to ask them".
The problem for the Russian Orthodox Church is that they are bought and paid for. Putin lavished them with all kinds of graft, social stances (anti-gay in particular), and repression of competing religions. In exchange they were to tell all Russians that in order to get into heaven you have to love Putin.
I'm being snarky, yes, but only by a tiny bit. This was the deal and if we see the Patriarch of Moscow reverse course then it is a sign that Putin is done. However, as of right now, the war in Ukraine is justified because they have Gay Pride Parades:
https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/moscow-patriarch-stokes-orthodox-tensions-war-remarks-83322338
For those of you who didn't notice this in 2014, there was a schism because of Russia's invasion. Most Orthodox Ukrainians rejected being associated with Russian Orthodox Church, but some stuck with it. The above article indicates the holdouts are changing their view.
Steve
Historically, the Eastern Orthodox Church in Russia has been entwined with the Russian Rulers since at least Ivan the Terrible, right up to Rasputin. The controlled the masses, and the Church controlled their minds. That influence only waned when Communism put a blanket on religion. Wasn’t it Marx who said “Religion is the opiate of the masses?”
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2 hours ago, sburke said:
it is a little complicated, but right now I think any western country that tried to prosecute its citizens for going to Ukraine would face a severe public backlash.
Ukraine’s foreign legion joins the battle against Russia (msn.com)
Although officials from Canada, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Latvia and other countries have openly or tacitly encouraged their citizens to join the Ukrainian army in its fight against Russia, there have also been questions about the legality of such an undertaking.
Countries like the UK and Canada have laws banning their citizens from participating in military action against a country they are not at war with.
So, when/if they return home, they’re charged, tried, and if convicted, sentenced to 5(insert local currency here), or one hour community service. Case closed.
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2 hours ago, Phantom Captain said:
Colonel Wilder would be spinning is his grave to hear you say such a things!
He most specifically would disagree with you that his men were NOT Dragoons either. The Lightning Brigade did NOT carry sabers, or pistols, or shotguns and would not engage on horseback as cavalry or dragoons would.
He specifically envisioned his unit as highly mobile mounted light infantry.
I think he would be awfully pleased to see how the Ukrainians are implementing his ideas and see that what they are doing is the modern equivalent of his brigade on a much larger scale.
This is an addendum to my last reply. Source: “http/national archives.gov.uk”
“Meanwhile the Light Brigade, commanded by Major General the Earl of Cardigan, was awaiting orders.the Brigade consisted of the 13th DRAGOONS, the 4th DRAGOONS. The 17th Lancers, 8th Hussars and 11th Hussars.” The all caps are mine. The Lancers and Hussars were considered Calvary , but the Dragoons were definitely mounted infantry.
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1 hour ago, Phantom Captain said:
Colonel Wilder would be spinning is his grave to hear you say such a things!
He most specifically would disagree with you that his men were NOT Dragoons either. The Lightning Brigade did NOT carry sabers, or pistols, or shotguns and would not engage on horseback as cavalry or dragoons would.
He specifically envisioned his unit as highly mobile mounted light infantry.
I think he would be awfully pleased to see how the Ukrainians are implementing his ideas and see that what they are doing is the modern equivalent of his brigade on a much larger scale.
I wasn’t implying that the “Light Brigade” wasn’t Light Infantry. I was observing that it wasn’t a “new” concept. As I stated, Dragoons weren’t Cavalry, they were mounted infantry who dismounted to fight. Even though they carried sabers, as the Cavalry did, they didn’t fight as Calvary, and weren’t used as one would use Cavalry, i.e. for recon, raids on supply lines, and to turn the flanks of the enemy. They rode to where they were needed to reinforce, dismount, and fought as a formation, on foot, with shorter muskets, or carbines.
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12 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:
T-14 is also an unproven system. Tell me, dear readers out there in virtual land, what brand new Russian or Soviet system has ever been fielded without there being significant problems that diverge the produced vehicle from the technical specifications?
Plus what Russian or Soviet system has ever performed as well as the government says it will?
Seriously though, T-14 was supposed to be fielded in large numbers by now. It hasn't been, so that should tell you something right there.
Steve
And, even if they could produce them in numbers, how are they going to man them? Does anyone actually think they would go to front line units, with newly trained crews? No, they would have to pull experienced, battle-trained crews off the line to crew them. Otherwise, they’d lose them faster than a T-72 with a conscript crew as soon as they get into the combat zone.
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4 hours ago, Lethaface said:
Before armies throw away all their mech heavy forces ;-), to this amateur it looks more like that Russia simply didn't bring the numbers required for their plan, while the plan imploded on itself for all the reasons that already passed in this thread.
Ukraine not only has the will to fight, but also the numbers (who knows how much troops they have deployed atm but probably quite a bit much more than Russian troops in Ukraine), depth and weapons to fight a defensive somewhat guerilla style war.
While I have 0 doubt that Western intelligence is helping Ukraine (and supplied weapons surely help or can even make a difference), I feel that in this thread and beyond there is perhaps too much credit for Western help being THE reason for Ukrainian forces doing well.
Imo the main thing the Western support is doing is enabling Ukraine to continue the war and feel it's not without support. Ukraine is doing all the hard fighting themselves. The training / support since 2014 will of course have it's influence as well.Anyway I think it's interesting to look at WW2 numbers compared to current. Many armies have moved to a smaller , professional (and often highly capable) and mainly mechanized force. But those are not invulnerable and won't be great for 'manning the frontline'. I think that Ukraine, with the TD and other units, are actually manning the 'frontline' (and perhaps sometimes allowing enemy forces to bypass) and have relative easy pickings when enemy columns are moving through their zone.
All in all I think it's clear Russia didn't brought enough troops to secure/control (let alone clear) the routes / corridors required to be controlled to allow for supply of their forces. While also suffering heavy casualties on forces in transit. The 'tip of the spear' units to me looked often more like 'forces in transit' and amounts to feeding forces into the jaws of destruction, piecemeal.
So not sure how more insight the tactics of this war really bring, compared to running some scenario's in CMBS/CMSF2. Running a low motivated tank company in a column formation along a road vs ambushing infantry with decent ATGMs will usually end in bad times for the tank company.
PS Just back from playing a (very) lowlevel sundays football match and had some beers, so might not be my most coherent post lol.
Beer is proof that God loves us!
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6 hours ago, Phantom Captain said:
On a smaller scale, John Wilder's Lightning Brigade in the ACW was very much doing the same thing. Light infantry on horses, specifically NOT cavalry, armed with repeating Spencer rifles. It was never implemented on a larger scale though in the way he wanted his "mounted light infantry" to be. I think we are seeing the modern equivalent of the same on that larger scale.
They could move with impunity behind enemy lines and rapidly. They had repeating rifles and would dismount and fight as infantry, the rifles being a force multiplier and could stand up to much larger enemy formations and beat them. Then quickly mount again and move on. Very similar.
That wasn’t a new thing invented in the 19th century. The term for those soldiers in earlier conflicts, such as our own Revolution, were “Dragoons.” Although they looked like Cavalry, even had sabers, they were Mounted Infantry who dismounted to fight as Infantry.
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1 minute ago, akd said:
My guess was it came off a transporter doing the same.
Yeah, that was my second thought since there’s no sign of a fuel spill. I would have to assume that it had no fuel in it.
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12 minutes ago, DesertFox said:
I guess this one heard an incoming tractor and decided to play dead...
Probably trying to take that corner, where the yellow vehicle is, too fast. Look at the hole it’s main gun made! “Haz Mat team to fuel spill immediately!”
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41 minutes ago, Ultradave said:
Fruit was the only good thing in C's Nobody seemed to like apricots and I did so I'd gladly trade them a can of chocolate flavored sawdust (cake) for their apricots.
LOL, another SSGT in our platoon, an Army Vet of the Korean War, used to use his “John Wayne” to open part of the can of apricots and drink the syrup. Then one day, after he did that, he completely opened the can, and the apricots were black. I don’t remember him doing that again.
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2 hours ago, Splinty said:
Even during Desert Shield we only ate one MRE per day, Breakfast and dinner were always hot chow from the mess trailer. We all understood what a steady diet of only MREs could do to one's digestive system. When the ground war kicked off our diet became MREs only for obvious reasons, but even then all of us had stocked on real food sent from home in care packages. Chef Boyardee saved my gut from too many MREs! lol
We never eat an entire rat at one time (never knew when we’d get our next one) so we stretched them out. If I remember, rats were designed to be very high calorie count, and MREs were too. I think I remember something like 2500 to 4500 per meal. I don’t think they were designed to be eaten all at once, even though many tended to be “Hobbits with Lembas.”
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4 hours ago, Ultradave said:
Never had the pleasure. We were still eating C-Rats when I got out. I think some MREs were JUST showing up when I left, but I never saw one. Some C-Rats weren't too bad if you could heat them up. The problem was that many times we were unable to heat them. There were some that there was just no hope for. Self carried Ramen, SPAM, and Frank's Red Hot were necessities on deployments. Probably still are, too!
Yup, agree with this. Beans and franks, and spaghetti with meatballs were always a valuable trading commodities, especially if someone got stuck with Beef slices with potatoes (they weren’t bad if heated) and ham and Mo%=@f*&#rs (ham and Lima beans to those who don’t speak the dialect). Unfortunately, we rarely had heat tabs, and almost never ate stationary. Tabasco sauce was a must.
when we came in to base after a week in the field in NATO Operation Teamwork in Northern Norway in 1976, we ate in a field mess. We had Reindeer ribs. I remember asking an Air Winger if he was going to eat the meat scraps that were left on his bones. When he said no, I ate them.
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6 hours ago, BletchleyGeek said:
Very interesting... and terrifying! The lining with round fragments tells you what this drone is about.
As far as I understand these UAVs are not autonomous like the Turkish Kargu (basically a flying mine that homes onto whatever looks like a "designated target").
That little one is more like a cheap miniature cruise missile, and it has also an image based target designation mode. It could likely be the case that someone was guiding it into the target. BTW @Haiduk, are you still in Kyiv? Are the Ukraine security forces there still engaging Russian Armed SOF infiltrated in the city?
Basically a small “flying Claymore mine.”
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Russian command probably Thoth there might be women and children in there praying, as is usually the case under these circumstances.
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14 hours ago, Zveroboy1 said:
TL;DR :Yes that's what I meant. They can't realistically take Kyiv and I don't believe in the Grozny urban assault scenario at all but could perhaps force the Ukrainian government to the negotiation table by just shelling it.
Russia is going to do what Russia has always done; Fire and Rubble.
And, the majority of Russian people are going to do what the Russian people have always done, nothing! In 1917, the Intelligencia overthrew the Tsar. They were immediately deposed by the Bolsheviks, and mostly executed. That revolution did nothing more than exchange the Party Chairman for the Tsar. The rural farmers were still, and basically still are by mind set, Serfs. For them, for thousands of years, there has been no differences in rulers until Nicholas II removed the serfs from being “bonded to the land,” about 150 years ago. One doesn’t change a 1,000 year-old mind set in 100 years, especially when nothing has really changed for them.
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As a side note, I believe the rifle in the Home Guard picture is an Enfield model 1917. It’s a .303 if British (most likely) or a 30-06 if U.S.
Plus what Russian or Soviet system has ever performed as well as the government says it will?
How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?
in Combat Mission Black Sea
Posted
Russia will suffer economic sanctions only until it hits the bottom lines of corporations in the west. Then, those corporations will pressure their governments to remove the sanctions.
”The Capitalists will sell us the rope we use to hang them, Nikita Kruchev”