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[W:#23,579]Ukraine War Thread

Why announce?
 
Yakshi said:
The pro-russians are so tilted they're acting like Bond villains?

They're going to have a hell of a hangover.
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Yes, nutbars all around. We have them here.
Ukraine still has a tough fight ahead. I think they have the kit, training can always be better, longer, more intense, that will happen after the war. Plenty of NATO countries training a new & improved military. This war should shake those in the Ukrainian military still thinking with a Russian tactical mindset, will kill your troops. They will change or be replaced.

At some point, we will see where the main offensive takes place.
 
 
Hamish Howl said:
That's gonna leave a mark.
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Read that last fall, US had shipped 1 K of these rounds. Last I read, that was 10 K or higher. Really ****s up Russians when they try to reinforce a line. I understand many of these mines are time controlled???
 
JANFU said:
Read that last fall, US had shipped 1 K of these rounds. Last I read, that was 10 K or higher. Really ****s up Russians when they try to reinforce a line. I understand many of these mines are time controlled???
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I wouldn't know, that's not my area of expertise.
 
Finland - Spain- Australia-Canada all have the Hornet
Makes the basis of strong air force capability.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zo...ms-interest-in-australias-f-a-18-hornetsWhile
Myroshnychenko told us that “Ukraine has not officially requested the Hornets” just yet, buzz
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Australia’s ability to consider such a transfer is only possible because it transitioned to more modern F/A-18F Super Hornets, EA-18G Growlers, and F-35 Lighting II Joint Strike Fighters. The RAAF’s first squadron of F-35s became operational in 2021. The RAAF says it expects all 72 of its F-35s to be fully operational this calendar year. Two dozen Super Hornets and a dozen Growlers round-out the RAAF's tactical jet inventory.

Australia's current tactical jet stable. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Hailey Haux)
If the RAAF Hornet transfer were to become a reality, a “Hornet coalition” for Ukraine, akin to the one being formed over the Vipers, is not unthinkable, either. Like Australia, there are a number of nations that will be transitioning from the Hornet to the Lightning in just a few years time. This would allow Ukraine to continue Hornet operations well into the next decade with spare airframes, parts, and expertise.
Finland has 62 F/A-18C/D multirole fighter jets and 64 F-35s on order. Canada recently finalized a deal to purchase F-35As to replace its fleet of CF-18 Hornets. In 2021, Switzerland selected the F-35 to replace the Swiss Air Force’s existing fleet of 30 ‘legacy’ F/A-18C/D Hornets. Spain will be concluding Hornet operations in the coming years as well. Other international opportunities exist, too. This includes Kuwait's notoriously healthy F/A-18C/D fleet that is being replaced and possibly U.S. examples, as well.
While all this remains in the discovery stages at this time, at least publicly, we have seen other advanced weapons acquisitions for Ukraine ramp up drastically if the powers that be come together on the subject.
The optics of shredding capable jets that are well suited for Ukraine's needs while the country is begging the world for 4th generation fighter capability would be abysmal, regardless.
We will certainly keep an eye on this as it develops.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com
stripe
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Ukraine reaching out to Russians
 
EnigmaO01 said:
:ROFLMAO:

It's not in the same position. Doesn't look right.
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Look at the tracks, and that answers your question. In first image, the unit is in "hide" mode along the treeline. It moves into field to operate radar, then moves back to treeline. Then goes boom.
 
JANFU said:
Read that last fall, US had shipped 1 K of these rounds. Last I read, that was 10 K or higher. Really ****s up Russians when they try to reinforce a line. I understand many of these mines are time controlled???
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That is correct.
 
David Axe is a pretty knowledgeable writer, covering military topics for Forbes and Wired magazines, among others, as well as his own blog, War is Boring.

He wrote a really good article for Forbes today, The Ukrainian Marine Corps’ AMX-10RC Recon Vehicles Didn’t Last Long in A Frontal Assault On Russian Defenses. Unfortunately, I don't have a subscription to Forbes, so access is limited.

But, its description of Ukraine's 37th Marine Brigade assault on Velyka Novosilka in southern Donetsk Oblast is really instructive, starting with, "Those 40 AMX-10RC reconnaissance vehicles that France donated to the Ukrainian marine corps—they’re not tanks." (The headline is a bit misleading, but not inaccurate.) They were not the marines' first choice for the mission, but they succeeded.

"The 37th Brigade helped to lead the initial assault on Velyka Novosilka that ultimately breached Russian defenses around the town and allowed several Ukrainian formations—the 35th Marine Brigade, 25th Air Assault Brigade, 68th Jaeger Brigade and a pair of territorial brigades—to race south along the Mokri Yaly River." (I wrote about that mission earlier.)

The reason I brought this up is twofold: First, as the marines already knew, these vehicles are not tanks, but they had a mission. "GIAT did not design the AMX-10RC for an armored breach of enemy fortifications. That’s a job for tanks and special armored engineering vehicles that weigh three times as much as an AMX-10RC does and benefit from steel or composite armor that’s hundreds of millimeters thicker than the thin layer of aluminum on an AMX-10RC.

Which is not to say heavier vehicles always are successful in a breach. An attempt by the Ukrainian army’s 33rd Mechanized and 47th Assault Brigades to cross a Russian minefield just south of Mala Tokmachka, 40 miles west of Neskuchne, ended in disaster on Thursday despite the brigades deploying the heaviest assault vehicles in Kyiv’s inventory: ex-German Leopard 2A6 tanks and ex-Finnish Leopard 2R engineering vehicles."

Because heavier weapons were not available, the marines adapted and overcame. Which is the second lesson from this story. They got the job done. Ukraine understands improvisation, which is a huge advantage on the battlefield.

The last lesson is that almost all the vehicles are being recovered to be reused or cannibalized.
 
Another excellent source for understanding these operations. William Spaniel
 
JANFU said:
Read that last fall, US had shipped 1 K of these rounds. Last I read, that was 10 K or higher. Really ****s up Russians when they try to reinforce a line. I understand many of these mines are time controlled???
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I'm going to expand on my previous answer. I may be pedantic, but I'll be brief.

The Law of War requires that operations "distinguish" between valid and invalid targets. The problem with mines and cluster munitions is that they don't distinguish.They blow up whenever anyone triggers them, whether combatant, animal, civilian or child. That's why all US munitions have a self-destruct timing mechanism.

US policy on antipersonnel landmines changed last year.

Note that the new policy applies to antipersonnel mines. "the policy is being put in place, basically we’re not going to develop or produce or acquire anti-personnel landmines; we’re not going to export or transfer anti-personnel landmines; we’re not going to use them outside the Korean Peninsula. We would – part of the policy is also to undertake to destroy all anti-personnel stockpiles not required for the defense of Korea, Republic of Korea. And again, we would not assist, encourage, or induce anyone outside the context of the Korean Peninsula to engage in any activity that would be prohibited by the convention."

Claymores are not covered by the policy, nor are antitank munitions. The antitank mines we are sending to Ukraine are RAAMS. "The Remote Anti-Armor Mine System (RAAMS) are two types of 155mm howitzer projectiles containing nine anti-tank mines each: the M718 or M718A1 (RAAM-L) with a self-destruct time over 24 hours and the M741 or M741A1 (RAAM-S) with a self-destruct time under 24 hours. Both projectiles are used with the M577 or M577A1 Mechanical Time and Superquick (MTSQ) fuze, which triggers the ejection mechanism of the mines above enemy territory after a preset time." Wikipedia

How US-supplied shells crammed with anti-tank mines helped defeat a brigade of Russian marines in the battle for Vuhledar (Insider)​

 
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