oldnpastit
Full Member
It’s like WWII with the old V1 buzz bombs.

My mum used to tell me about them – she was quite young at the time and did not really know where Germany was, and since no one told her, assumed it was somewhere near Romford. Don’t ask me why Romford, and I can’t ask her now.

Same here, except I think my mum was old enough to know where Germany was. She was billeted out* during a lot of WWII, but the home of close relatives was bombed (nobody hurt). A drop-end Chesterfield that I now possess was allegedly salvaged fom the wreckage. This was in Addiscombe S. London, so within V1 and V2 range. Apparently with the V1 you were OK so long as you culd hear them, when the motor cut out you needed to take cover as they stalled and could land anywhere nearby. You didn’t hear the V1s until they hit.

*not always a happy experience for her

You didn’t hear the V2s till they hit.

Doh mistyped that

More from this genius pic.twitter.com/SWqLL2SqUO

— Peter Thorslund (@sawmillbohemian) May 30, 2023

That Ukrainian ‘ABBA’ video is brilliant!

This is an interesting piece about how Ukraine is dealing with Russian missiles, and just how inefficient Russia’s air attack system is:

https://novayagazeta.eu/articles/2023/05/31/defence-against-the-devil-en

In case you’ve seen it around on Twitter

Another incursion into the Belgorod region, and Russia is firing Grad rockets on its own citizens 🤷‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

Is anyone else scared… or is it just me?

.

Is anyone else scared… or is it just me?

War anxiety exists and is common https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/war-anxiety-how-to-cope-202205232748
There’s usually only one aggressor

Ukrainian farmers: less moaning, more doing

Is anyone else scared… or is it just me?

Considering recent world events, it would be very weird if you weren’t having the odd moment of anxiety! I’m not yet 100% convinced that these current shenanigans will lead to any significant escalation though.

Two interesting articles, IMHO, for those like me with a not-too-technical interest in aircraft

A link about Russia’s failure of air supremacy in its invasion of Ukraine and lessons for the west https://www.aerosociety.com/news/stalemate-in-the-skies/

Another on the subject of future capabilities and the lessons of air power resilience and agility learnt from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine https://www.aerosociety.com/news/highlights-from-the-raes-future-combat-air-space-capabilities-summit/

I’m slowly working my way through that second link Timba. The AI section contains a scary section as regards AI making the kinds of decisions that the world is worrying about right now.

Not a discussion for this thread obviously but worth reading.

As well as the European summit in Moldova, it seems Poland are supplying weapons for Moldovan police and border guards to use. There’s also been a fair bit of US, UK and French military spy planes and flights going on.
It may just be security for the summit, but you do have to wonder if Transnistria may soon not be autonomous, and if Moldova are about to get some more support…

Re. Putin visiting South Africa. How many countries en route? Could his plane be grounded due to a reported ‘bomb threat’, a la Belarus?

Meanwhile our favourite Ogre Prigozhin has gone on the record saying that Russian MOD operatives deliberately mined the routes that the Wagnerites would be taking upon withdrawal from Bakhmut. God only knows what is really going on there, but if it all kicks off internally there’s going to be scores to be settled..

Regardless looks like the shaping phase of the counteroffensive is drawing to a conclusion. Fingers crossed..

Hopefully all the best Russian troops have been sucked into the Bhakmut area, or defending the border from incursions, leaving the other front lines manned by conscripts and the mobilised. Chances of a Russian collapse are what? Maybe 50/50 🤷‍♂️

leaving the other front lines manned by conscripts and the mobilised.

Quite possibly.  I can’t help but feel sorry for them. They’ll get absolutely mullered. They didn’t ask to be there. Victims of Putin’s madness too.

Quite possibly. I can’t help but feel sorry for them. They’ll get absolutely mullered. They didn’t ask to be there. Victims of Putin’s madness too.

Yep same. Most are from the far east and rural areas so torn away from small towns and villages.

Hopefully they’ll run away and save themselves, or surrender.

And Russia claims to be ‘denazifying’ Ukraine?

Russian media presenter talks of the final solution to the Ukrainian problem and calls for the destruction of every living thing in Kharkiv.  Is it any surprise Russian soldiers commit atrocities when they are bombarded with sentiments like this from their own media?  It feels to me that this Russian regime is morphing in the Nazi state they claim to despise so much.

https://t.co/qfK72yIiu0 pic.twitter.com/5NQXb76RKJ

— Julia Davis (@JuliaDavisNews) June 4, 2023

If you want to know about Russia, look at what they blame others for – a real mirror.

Edit, nah, derailment probability is too high

A less than subtle hint?

"Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm"

(c) Depeche Mode pic.twitter.com/0Ul78wSv9q

— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) June 4, 2023

That looked like a couple of F16s at the end

Hopefully all the best Russian troops have been sucked into the Bhakmut area, or defending the border from incursions, leaving the other front lines manned by conscripts and the mobilised. Chances of a Russian collapse are what? Maybe 50/50 🤷‍♂️

I’m not saying it won’t happen, but I think it’s probably closer to don’t know what will happen.

Look at some of the slightly more neutral but not Russian news outlets (Al Jazera, eurasian times, Indian newspapers, just about anywhere non-NATO that isn’t China) and they paint the same story of Russian forces as we do of the Ukraine.

e.g. we regularly report that a Ukrainian drone hit munitions dumps, command posts, etc, whilst anti-aircraft defenses took out forty Russian drones and missiles, Russian shelling rateis dropping off due to supply issues, etc. The other sides news is exactly the same, hundreds of drones stopped, Ukrainian military hit at marshaling points, camps, Patriot running out, etc.

I think it’s reasonably likely that it’s going to be a lot slower, bloodier and with smaller gains than people think. And that suits Russia, because for all the talk of conscripts, Wagner etc, it’s still the much bigger army, and in any counter-offensive it’s got the advantage of being a well dug in defender.

And like Ukraine is a different army from a decade ago, Russia is visibly different already from the mistakes it was making a year ago.

Russia is visibly different already from the mistakes it was making a year ago.

Taking 9 months to capture a town (Bhakmut) of little significance. Loosing 100,000 casualties doing so. Human wave assaults with single use infantry. A complete bit of a mess at Vulhedar, trying the same tactic over and over, loosing dozens of tanks and AFV’s in the process. Failing to break Ukraine with its missile assaults on civilian infrastructure over winter. Continuing to fail with its nightly attacks on Kiev. Having to put T54/55 tanks into service.

I’m not sure what lessons Russia has learned? 🤷‍♂️

Russias only hope is that Trump becomes president.

Having to put T54/55 tanks into service.

Those Cheiftains we supplied, they first entered service in 1967, same year as the Triumph TR5 was launched.

By the time the T-55 ended production in 1981 the VW Passat was already on its 2nd generation.

There’s obviously the question of what’s had what upgraded. But again, the Russians are reportedly busy fitting whatever upgraded optics/systems they can to their tanks.

And it’s not like western hardware is some sort of gold standard. It’s not that long ago that our tanks ground to a halt in Oman because the engines clogged with sand, rifles jammed, soldiers boots melted, and helicopters had their blades service life cut to 27 hours. We were so badly organised in Iraq we couldn’t supply body armour to troops. We figured out in Afganistan that Land rovers were rubbish for anything outside the base, with fatal consequences.

Propaganda isn’t something only the enemy does.

Chieftains?

Chieftains

I need to correct your spelling of Chieftain.
It’s spelt “Challenger 2”.

Haha, you’re entirely right, that’s what my brain does when the work canteen serves the smallest (yet saltieast) Cesar salad for lunch and I don’t eat again untill 9pm 😂

(The rest is true though, it’s not like our kit has a great reputation)

Chieftains 🤦🏻‍♂️

#Ukraine 🇺🇦 BREAKING: the Nova Kachovka dam in #Kherson has been blown up, water is flooding down the #Dnipro basin.

Russian sources blame the Ukrainian military. Ukrainian officials are yet to respond. pic.twitter.com/VRlMeeT1AJ

— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) June 6, 2023

Dam has been blown up.

Another thread on that https://twitter.com/Osinttechnical/status/1665907948986458113?t=spj5YHMeGzkXQ3lQHxmn4g&s=19

Also of note, Russian state media has been incredibly quiet on the dam breach, only really denying that it happened in the first place. https://t.co/WIgtXrJbgX

— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) June 6, 2023

So, woke up as usual and checked in on this thread to this news about the dam…

Next stop Google Earth….

Edit: thats a very big area of water upstream before the next dam…. Its also likely to affect the Zaporizhzhya NPP and cooling water situation.

The plant has its own reservoir for cooling and is allegedly “offline” so doesnt need much to keep safe.

Assuming thats true there will be some issues mid ti long term presumably?

The rest is true though, it’s not like our kit has a great reputation

Wrong again

The rest is true though, it’s not like our kit has a great reputation

Yep, very wrong. And also misses the main reason why Challenger was promised, which was it broke the taboo on supply of tanks to Ukraine, with Abrams, Leopard and AMX10 all following. See also longer range missiles and fighter pilot training. UK Gov’t have got this one right which is astonishing given their ability to completely fail at everything else.

Seeing the destruction of the dam this morning is terrible. Size of explosion means it wasnt missiles and must have been explosives placed by Russia.

The Challenger 2 entered service in 1998, and has a stellar reputation.