Machor

BMP-3M and T-72B somewhere in Donbas:
 

UKR MiG-29 takes off under artillery fire. Data and location unknown. There is some information our jets use highways as runways
 

Sorry if I'm a little late (I needed a little rest).
JonS was quick and provided a very comprehensive response.
I'll try not to go too deep into the subject myself. Honestly, I don't know too much about modern American artillery systems (at least as much as I know about French ones).
My previous messages focused mainly on the level of the gun (platoon max) and its crew but there are also other very important levels to take into account such as the command post of the battery or the higher combined arms echelons.
I think the difficulty is mainly on the change of doctrine (Eastern vs Western) and the way the material is used.
I give an example: on the French 120mm mortar (also on the 155mm TRF-1, the most comparable with the M777 I think) we use a goniometer (the sight in the artillery) with 2 plates (the top is red for the orientation of the gun with respect to the north ; the bottom is black for the direction (its aim) where the gun should fire) and uses a graduation in mils (6400 mils = 360 degrees). In Afghanistan, we were near a battery of 122mm D-30 (Kandak-34 if memory serves). I remember they used them, a single-platen goniometer and orientation in degrees, not mils. They were aiming using only one stake when we were using two. I'm sorry I didn't dig deeper into the subject, but I didn't trust the ANA soldiers too much. The 122mm D-30 have shell casings while for the 155mm TRF-1, there are none because they disintegrate while burning.
Another example is the WW2 British artillery which also used a single pan goniometer, degree orientation and two stakes for aiming (if memory serves)
The advantage of the CAESAR is that it is semi-automated. Even if you don't understand artillery (I speak for the aimer), you can use it as long as your commander and higher echelons know their job. I can only assume the same for the M777 (a US gunner will know better than me).
To sum up, a crew that already knows the artillery will become familiar much more easily with a new piece and the difficulty will be to adapt to a new organization or way of using the weapon. This is all just my opinion.

For those who are interested in artillery, here is an excellent very very complete site on British artillery of the second world war (you can learn artillery basics) :
https://nigelef.tripod.com/maindoc.htm

This is not how the utility of tanks is determined.  Like saying Sherman 75s were outdated and useless in 1944.

Still does the job
 

My first post in this thread was a speculation that the TB2 should be able to operate from the road network - this was tweeted, and later deleted, early in the war by Arda Mevlütoğlu. I followed this up with two posts later: The first was Russian troops discovering a cache of MAM-L missiles in a building that clearly did not look like an airbase. The second was a TB2 mobile control station driving around in Odesa. I think it is more likely than not that the TB2s are indeed operating from the road network.
Some additions to The_Capt's reply:
- The 4000 km range is for an endurance flight, so the operational range is shorter.
- Turkey fields the TB2S ('S is for Steve' 🙂 ) with a satellite antenna that can be controlled through satellites - not sure if the vanilla TB2 can be rigged for this. Even if not, the 300 km range of the mobile station would be enough to strike Bryansk.

Great input 👍, basically looks like a long lasso rope with explosives. I would be very uncomfortable as crew with a chain of TNT "sausages" catapulting above my head. One of the strangest vehicles I've seen. 

The employment of the UR-77 in urban combat appears to be becoming common, seen here in Rubizhne:
Everything you ever wanted to know about the UR-77, with footage from its novel use in Syria:
Reminds me of the 'Stuka-zu-Fuss', seen here in the Warsaw Uprising:

In the broadest terms, from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mine-clearing_line_charge) :
"the basic design is for many explosive charges connected on a line to be projected onto the minefield. The charges explode, detonating any buried mines, thus clearing a path for infantry to cross. The system may either be human-portable or vehicle-mounted. The systems do not guarantee clearance of all types of mines."

"The drone will always get through."

It is being used as a 'terror' weapon (quasi mortar).  It's accuracy as a 'mortar' sucks, especially in urban terrain.  The cable to command the detonation is going to drop on top of building, utility/power/phone lines, etc, dragging the main charge back some ways (you can see the rocking forward of the launch vehicle in the video of that very thing happening.
In short, it works fine as a 'terror' weapon since accuracy doesn't matter at all.  You just want something to do a big boom somewhere where you think people (and not your own troops) are...

UR-77 mineclearing vehicle usage in Mariupol
 

First T90AM spotted out in the wild it seems.
 No idea what those wood planks are for, thought.
Edit: Video for context:
 

UKR 2S1 SP-howitzer crew at work
 

Briansk oil facilities, belonging to "Transneft" is not only storage, but the hub of oil distribution to Europe. On this map Брянск=Bryansk. Looks like this is Ukrainisn contribution to oil embargo %) 

No comments )

A helpful and detailed breakdown of the Russian VDV BTG order of battle (with pictures!) - auspiciously timely before the BFC's impending announcement that they will be releasing the next CMBS module as an Orthodox Easter present: 
The source material in Russian:
 

A helpful and detailed breakdown of the Russian VDV BTG order of battle (with pictures!) - auspiciously timely before the BFC's impending announcement that they will be releasing the next CMBS module as an Orthodox Easter present: 
The source material in Russian:
 

RE: The Polish Warmate 'suicide' drone / loitering munition (which has been supplied to Ukraine)
It is claimed that Polish TB2s will be able to carry these drones as munitions: Unless if I missed something, this makes Poland the first military to field a drone that launches a drone?
 

A convenient list of artillery being supplied to Ukraine:
And a reminder that Ukraine's greatest 'supplier' is Russia:
 

A convenient list of artillery being supplied to Ukraine:
And a reminder that Ukraine's greatest 'supplier' is Russia:
 

A convenient list of artillery being supplied to Ukraine:
And a reminder that Ukraine's greatest 'supplier' is Russia:
 

Earlier in the thread Steve observed that the very fact of Girkin being able to speak out without facing 'treatment' indicates the Kremlin fears Russian nationalists, and won't 'trick-or-treat' them.

Earlier in the thread Steve observed that the very fact of Girkin being able to speak out without facing 'treatment' indicates the Kremlin fears Russian nationalists, and won't 'trick-or-treat' them.

Turkish body armor ceramic plate, soldier survived

Sorry if the term I use is not very suitable. What I mean by "fragile" is that in itself, it's not really an armored vehicle.
French doctrine since the Cold War has always been oriented more towards "maneuver and mobility" than towards resistance (heavy armour, etc.). This explains the very mobile and powerful but relatively unarmored vehicles such as the AMX-10RC, the AMX-13/90, EBR, the Tiger helicopter or even the CAESAR.

In fact the vehicle is armored only at the level of the cabin in order to protect the crew. Additional armor kits are available to enhance this crew protection and are easy to install.
However, the gun being semi-automatic, the gun pivoting mechanism (hydraulic system), the storage of the ammunition and propellant charge, the system for locating the gun in space are not protected.

The vehicle is quite light (aerotransportable) and its purpose is really to shoot very far and precisely and then quickly set itself up in a new position. The vehicle is very quick to pack up (1 or 2 minutes for a trained crew). A well trained crew (4 crew at least for keeping the pace) can easily deploying the gun, shooting 2-3 rounds at 40km, pack-up and going away in less than 10 minutes. You don't need to have the traditional orientation phase because the vehicle had is own inertial navigation system and know always where it is and what is the orientation of the gun. To aim, you only need to press a button...

To sum up, shrapnel might be enough to render the artillery piece "non-functional" but will guarantee the protection of the crew (the most important). Repairs will not be too complicated but during this time, the part will not be available (damage to the inertial navigation system would be even more of a problem)