Kinophile

Hmmmm replacing one common target with an even bigger and more specialized target doesn't seem like a good trade off. The future is drone v. Drone, with every piece of heavy equipment having an organic autonomous armed & recon drone unit slaved to it. The howitzer emplaces, DRONE 1 detaches from the tow truck cab and automatically goes into CAP. It returns for recharge, Drone 2 goes up.

AGGGGHHHH! You didn't warn me! It's a LIBERAL site, man! My eyes! My EEEEYYYESS!!!!! just teasing

Sound is a slippery eel to work with. Wind, weather conditions and terrain topology play enormously into reception (CW buffs will know it as acoustic shadowing),not to mention the power output if the sound source itself. A shahed powering upwind through 30km wind towards a listener is not going to be heard as quickly, esoif the receiver is moving as well. Sailors will know the difficulties of shouted commands v. Wind, even on a relatively "flat" topology like the sea. On set, wind is my own biggest problem with communication. Essentially, it's doable, but there are probably more reliable and multi-use approaches. My bet would be on movable network of mast-mounted (static or erectile), balloon lofted or building-fixed long range thermal cameras. These would provide a very useful (to many depts.) long term visual of the area, without the need for constant processing to catch a specific sound. You'd mount mics to the cams, sure. But it's visual is the solve for me.

As a former cow-botherer and now couch-inhabiter, I can attest to this. I mentioned as much wayyyyyyy early in the thread when we were discussing the UKR TDF - I noted that farmers I grew up with were tough, practical and bluntly realistic about life etc. I've seen a lot of the sort of country and living conditions in eastern Ukraine and I often thought "this is not a rich area, which makes life hard, which makes the people tough". Hell, that difference between rural v urban underpins the fall of every empire before the advent of large scake mechanical industry.

Only from the perspective of everyone but the Sgt. From his view it was a battlefield success....

I shot a Hyundai gig last week, 6 days. On D5 afternoon it was pouring rain and 35-50km winds up by Newmarket. We were shooting in carrot farm country, so extremely little hedge/tree growth near us. In addition to the U-Crane car and a truck-rigged RED Komodo, we had a drone unit, "DRONE BOY" from Toronto, shooting with their FPV "Beast" drone. "Beast" as a name is a bit of overhype...it's a perfectly good drone, well operated, but anything above 35km is almost unusable. Gusting is the worst, with rain being the nail in the coffin - you can't protect the lens much on a drone like you (somewhat) can on a rigged or craned camera. The drone could also easily flip (despite top/bottom rotors) and faceplant itself in a carrot patch. In later casual conversation with the drone guys, I asked was anything in development to handle these kind of wet, windy conditions. Basically, no, becuase - Physics is a bitch. Essentially, the problem is the physical format of a camera-carrying drone - it's a horizontal, wide frame that in higher winds is fundamentally prone to turning into a wing and flipping itself. Your engines are fighting that uplift constantly, which drains the battery quicker than a teenager empties their parents wallet. To help you can increase the weight of the frame, but now your engines need even more power, etc, etc - Oh hello, engineering design death spiral... By the time you've got a drone designed to where it can smoothly and easily handle this weather and above then you might as well get a proper helo. Situations like this (sorta rough weather but totally workable in), which overwhelm your average size+* drone are why there will still be blank spots in the tactical ISR of any battlefield. It implies also that good infantry will make better use of bad weather to penetrate enemy positions, especially if they bring a few disposable drones. *I cant speak to MIL-specific designs, maybe they can handle rough weather better but...physics doesn't care if you're a civvy or a sergeant...

? I could make a joke about stolen toilets, but that would just be potty...

Finally! RL Video of an actual turn of mine in CMBS! From, I believe, my 5th game as RUS, yes? The last one before I said GTFO to ever using BMPs again.

Nice.

Yes but the explosion was above the road.

There are forums for that stuff. This is a thread tracking a genocidal war against the Ukrainian people. Personally I've zero interest in the Phillies or anything sports spamming up this thread.

...

RPG indirect fire. Another to-do for the next AI upgrade

I've been on a mentall Hyundai gig, so not sure if this has already been posted. The HQ documents ISW references.

It's named after a newspaper, not the actual globe. They used "World" to make it seem grandiose to local markets.

Excellent.

In Belgorod, where the Shadows lie...

Nicely put Beleg

Concrete boulders sitting on grass. Wow. There's the Russian military in a nutshell.

Thank you, I put less effort into it than the armor thickness on a M113.

What's a collection of Gavin's called? A squander? I'VE GOT IT - A Giggle Of Gavins! Thank you, thank you, here all week folks, here all week; tip your waitress, they're working hard tonight, try the beef stroganoff, its to die for....

I suspect Ukraine have not just solved for Offensive, but also for Opponent Mental Bandwidth*. Russia is always very slow in coordinating against two disparate attacks, from operational all the way down to tactical. With enough time (read: far too much) it does eventually get there, but by then its more a question of if the attacker has temporarily worn itself out rather than any institutional ability in the local Stavka. Sheep-Bothering and Washing Machine Relocation will do that do an organization... * @The_Capt I'm sure you have the appropriate noun?

https://kyivindependent.com/national/surrounded-and-desperate-how-russia-lost-lyman Despite its title it doesnt give any military insight that we don't know. Civilian limited and disjointed view of events as they washed back and forth through the town. Further reinforcement of the points made by @chrisl and @The_Capt above, about accuracy vs. awareness. RUS knew UKR were crossing the river but not where and especially when exactly, and could only respond with inaccurate weapons systems that just compounded the issue: Wot Recon doing? SFA, to be clear. The UKR operational-level corrosion strategy is effective because it permeates and directs efforts all the way down the tactical level. It is reinforced and expanded on at every unit size. Critically, every soldier "gets it", they instinctively see the value and natural superiority of the approach. They don't need lectures and explanatory slideshows, it's the obvious and natural solution to a difficult and nasty problem: Kherson appears about to Lyman also, as we're seeing from the panicy DONT PANIC speeches by local Quislings. Even so, despite the utterly godawful higher level leadership, the average RUS soldier can still make things needlessly difficult: But everyone has a breaking point Yup, from top to bottom of the RUS MoD there's a skim of modern thought floating on a dense nostalgia of long-past victories. Its as if the US Army tried to fight the 2nd Iraq War using Korean War concepts, tactics and organization. But note that Wagner doesnt have that massive bureaucratic inertia, which is fundamentally what makes them more dangerous. Finally, ref mobilization numbers: