How Hot is Ukraine Gonna Get?

[Zeleban]

No matter how ****ty the situation is in my country. I still believe in you guys. I believe that GOOD WILL STILL VICTORY EVIL. (even if the Russians capture my country )

[Haiduk]

8 minutes ago, Zeleban said:

 

I don't know, guys. I am very inspired by Portuguese fortified wines. Port wine. Madeira. In my opinion, this is the fault of troubled times. You drink and you get a little optimism. Therefore, I recommend stocking up on these stamps in case of a nuclear war. These wine brands are great for generating optimism

Yeah their potwine is really cool thing. For a V-Day (or khuilo death) I keep a bottle of Commandaria from Cyprus. The best of sweet wines that I'v ever taste )  

[Haiduk]

Battalion "Donbas" of 15th Operative brigade of National Guard hit one Russian tank with Stugna-P and the second likely with mortar fire

 

Edited December 6, 2023 by Haiduk

[Harmon Rabb]

US charges Russians with war crimes for allegedly torturing American in Ukraine (The Guardian)

Very interesting legal news.

[Zeleban]

16 minutes ago, Zeleban said:

No matter how ****ty the situation is in my country. I still believe in you guys. I believe that GOOD WILL STILL VICTORY EVIL. (even if the Russians capture my country )

 

Whatever lazy *** you guys are, I know that you represent the most active representatives of your nations. I don't doubt your intentions. But is it really possible that you and I will lose so shamefully to these weaklings - the Russians? I do not believe in that. I know that you are at the end of the line with democracy.

[Kraft]

56 minutes ago, Bulletpoint said:

Has Girkin now begun to call Russian soldiers "worms"?

Its a Ukrainian account who grabbed the name.

Originally to show people who were curious evidence of russian troops, military shipments into seperatist areas and artillery fire from russian border while putin was still in his "these are miners" phase

[Bulletpoint]

32 minutes ago, Zeleban said:

I know that you are at the end of the line with democracy.

That's what Putin thinks, too..

[Zeleban]

24 minutes ago, Bulletpoint said:

That's what Putin thinks, too..

 

in this case, the main thing is not what Putin thinks, but what you and I think. So far the Russians have not been able to take this feeling away from us.

[dan/california]

I just wrote and called both Senators and my Congressman about getting Ukraine funding done. Every single reader of this board who is a U.S. Citizen should do the same.

[Zeleban]

6 minutes ago, dan/california said:

I just wrote and called both Senators and my Congressman about getting Ukraine funding done. Every single reader of this board who is a U.S. Citizen should do the same.

 

I admire your confidence in our victory. I know many will follow your example. 

no matter how difficult the situation in my country is. But I'm sure that thanks to people like you, we still have a chance to win

Edited December 6, 2023 by Zeleban

[kimbosbread]

Yeah I don’t understand how the US hasn’t basically said ok, we’ll supply 1m small drones a year to Ukraine. Buy up all FLIR Lepton production, etc, make it happen. It’s not like we cannot manufacture things, right? The problem is in Shenzen, all the manufacturers are right there, in the same area. We have nothing like that for electronics anymore.

EDIT: And Jetson SBCs, obviously.

Edited December 6, 2023 by kimbosbread

[Zeleban]

9 minutes ago, kimbosbread said:

Yeah I don’t understand how the US hasn’t basically said ok, we’ll supply 1m small drones a year to Ukraine. Buy up all FLIR Lepton production, etc, make it happen. It’s not like we cannot manufacture things, right? The problem is in Shenzen, all the manufacturers are right there, in the same area. We have nothing like that for electronics anymore.

EDIT: And Jetson SBCs, obviously.

 

These are just the intricacies of politics. If Ukraine waits until the US presidential elections. Who knows, maybe we will have a chance to survive

[Carolus]

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/ukrainian-sniper-broke-the-world-record/

 

58 year old Ukrainian Viacheslav Kovalskyi is credited with the longest range kill with a sniper rilfe at a range of 3,8 km or 2.5 miles. 

He had missed a first shot after a misculation of wind interference, the second shot hitting a Russian in the lower torso area. His spotter claims the bullet took 9 seconds to arrive.

[Jarran]

Hi, I have been lurking this thread since the start of the war and would just like to contribute with an exellent video from the Ward Carrol channel on youtube. This video talks about some stuff that has been in the talks lately, especially the air war and F-16.  Would also recommend his older videos with Justin Bronk.

 

Video Name: Justin Bronk on the Fate of the West if Russia Wins in Ukraine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmMclP8dlI0&t=1081s

 

Quote

"Justin Bronk is the Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology in the Military Sciences team at RUSI. He is also Editor of the RUSI Defence Systems online journal. Justin's particular areas of expertise include the modern combat air environment, Russian and Chinese ground-based air defences and fast jet capabilities, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and novel weapons technology. He has written extensively for RUSI and a variety of external publications, as well as appearing regularly in the international media. Justin is a part-time doctoral candidate at the Defence Studies Department of Kings College London and is also a private glider and light aircraft pilot."

 

// Jarran

Edited December 6, 2023 by Jarran

[Kraft]

This should get atleast the most critical things inside

 

[stuxneet]

4 hours ago, Battlefront.com said:

For sure there are different effects on body armor from different weapons.  I could be reading too much into this video, but as I said I've been suspecting poor quality body armor for a while now.  First, other videos show fairly large numbers of dead Russians in one place who seem to be fully armored.  Second, Russia had shortages of body armor in the past, getting some from Iran (in desert camouflage too!).  Third, this is Russia we're talking about   Body armor is time consuming and expensive to make.  If you don't think your Storm-Z guys are going to survive the first attack anyway, why put in the money giving them really good body armor?  Why not save it for your VDV/Spetsnaz guys?

Steve

With the unbelievable variety of vests and helmets and personal gear that you see on both sides, a decent portion of it has got to be Chinese produced airsoft gear- I've had suspicions that at least some armor and a lot of those high-cut Ops-Core helmets you see worn by both sides are Chinese manufactured. While it's probably made to actually be used as armor and not as airsoft props, there are a lot of US tactical gear 'manufacturers' that are mostly importing and rebranding Chinese armor plates and helmets with questionable levels of protection and quality. Similar to drones, I'm sure both sides are directly contacting Chinese factories for large orders, similar to what we saw in Israel when they were initially gearing up for Gaza, and probably largely done through volunteer organizations or at the unit level. 

[cesmonkey]

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3608913/biden-administration-announces-new-security-assistance-for-ukraine/
 

Quote

The capabilities in this package, valued at up to $175 million, include: 

AIM-9M and AIM-7 missiles for air defense;
Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);
Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
More than 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition;
Vehicles to tow and haul equipment;
Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing;
Equipment to protect critical national infrastructure;
Spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.

 

[Battlefront.com]

6 hours ago, stuxneet said:

With the unbelievable variety of vests and helmets and personal gear that you see on both sides, a decent portion of it has got to be Chinese produced airsoft gear- I've had suspicions that at least some armor and a lot of those high-cut Ops-Core helmets you see worn by both sides are Chinese manufactured. While it's probably made to actually be used as armor and not as airsoft props, there are a lot of US tactical gear 'manufacturers' that are mostly importing and rebranding Chinese armor plates and helmets with questionable levels of protection and quality. Similar to drones, I'm sure both sides are directly contacting Chinese factories for large orders, similar to what we saw in Israel when they were initially gearing up for Gaza, and probably largely done through volunteer organizations or at the unit level. 

Exactly this.  It reminds me of a 1st Gulf War Iraqi helmet I have.  It's a US pot style helmet made out of some sort of molded plastic or fiberglass.  From what I remember at the time of the war the Iraqi soldiers were told they were Kevlar "just like the Americans".  Well, obviously it wasn't steel, but is sure wasn't Kevlar.  I don't know if Iraqi soldiers were really told this or not, but my money is they were.

Aside from the probable airsoft gear that's now scattered all over Ukrainian farmland, we have for sure seen hard evidence of Russian issued junk.  Mid last year the Russians released videos of them making "modern" helmets by taking Soviet era soviet ones and putting new liners in them with 3 or 4 point chin strap suspension and padding.  They then slapped a helmet cover on them and bingo... all the protection a mobik needs.

There were also many Ukrainian videos circulating of them breaking helmets by hand or showing how a 5.xx round would sail straight through both sides.

So, there's no question that Russia has been issuing its forces with absolute junk in large quantities, but lately I've been suspecting it might be becoming the norm rather than the exception.  At least for certain units.

[edit - I couldn't easily find the Russian manufacturing video (it was hilarious, trust me!), but I did find this one that I fondly remember!]

Steve

[chuckdyke]

5 minutes ago, Battlefront.com said:

It's a US pot style helmet made out of some sort of molded plastic or fiberglass. 

It was the old Nato Helmet too. The inside was made from pressed Palm Fiber if I remember correctly. Maybe they used that one. Kids used them when they played soldiers during the 60's.  

[Battlefront.com]

11 minutes ago, chuckdyke said:

It was the old Nato Helmet too. The inside was made from pressed Palm Fiber if I remember correctly. Maybe they used that one. Kids used them when they played soldiers during the 60's.  

Quite different.  What you are talking about is the US WW2 style two piece "pot helmet" that was widely used in Europe after the war, often from domestic production.  Most moved to single piece designs in the 1960s and continued those through to the 1990s (at least for reserves).

What I'm talking about is a helmet that is made out of a thick composite material.  And lo and behold!:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangtan_Helmet

Wiki to the rescue

Looks like it was a legit precursor to Kevlar helmets.  Designed to be lighter than steel but more resilient to low velocity kinetic impact.  High velocity fragments and ballistics, on the other hand, sailed straight through.  But then again, they did that to steel helmets for the most part.

The domestically produced Iraqi "M90" is the type I was thinking of.  Seems like they took a reasonably good design and botched it for the usual reasons.

Steve

[Battlefront.com]

8 hours ago, Jarran said:

Hi, I have been lurking this thread since the start of the war and would just like to contribute with an exellent video from the Ward Carrol channel on youtube. This video talks about some stuff that has been in the talks lately, especially the air war and F-16.  Would also recommend his older videos with Justin Bronk.

 

Video Name: Justin Bronk on the Fate of the West if Russia Wins in Ukraine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmMclP8dlI0&t=1081s

 

 

// Jarran

As per tradition, I am extending a warm welcome to you as a long time lurker, first time poster.  Thanks for delurking to pass this information along.  I've got a new tab open to check it out.  RUSI is an excellent source of timely information generally, so I'm looking forward to watching them.

Steve

[NamEndedAllen]

 

Worse than I had early this year. Not even the SENATE can ensure even Israeli aid, let alone continuing Ukraine aid:

Senate Republicans this afternoon blocked a sweeping spending bill to fund the ongoing war effort in Ukraine and help Israel fight Hamas over objections that the legislation failed to do enough to clamp down on border security…
Hours before the bill’s demise, President Biden pleaded in a televised speech for Republicans to pass the $111 billion package, which included $50 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. He said he would be willing to make “significant compromises” on border provisions if Republicans would support the funding for Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/us/politics/senate-ukraine-aid-bill.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Republicans Block Aid to Ukraine, Jeopardizing Its Fight Against Russia

[cesmonkey]

5 hours ago, NamEndedAllen said:

 

Worse than I had early this year. Not even the SENATE can ensure even Israeli aid, let alone continuing Ukraine aid:

Senate Republicans this afternoon blocked a sweeping spending bill to fund the ongoing war effort in Ukraine and help Israel fight Hamas over objections that the legislation failed to do enough to clamp down on border security…
Hours before the bill’s demise, President Biden pleaded in a televised speech for Republicans to pass the $111 billion package, which included $50 billion for Ukraine and $14 billion for Israel. He said he would be willing to make “significant compromises” on border provisions if Republicans would support the funding for Ukraine. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/06/us/politics/senate-ukraine-aid-bill.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
Republicans Block Aid to Ukraine, Jeopardizing Its Fight Against Russia

Hard to say what's going to happen. Maybe they can eek out a small of renewed funding before of the end of year, kind of like a budget continuing resolution?
 

 

[Beleg85]

Meanwhile...Christmas gifts list:

https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-latest-weapons-request-includes-thaad-air-defenses-f-18s-2023-12-06/

Ok, so this article is rather strange and I'd be cautious if it is not effect of some internal pressure struggles or controlled leak to put US public opinion more against helping.

Edited December 7, 2023 by Beleg85

[cesmonkey]

I wonder if the EU could buy some military assistance from the U.S. to give to Ukraine?