Good to hear Russia is retaining its SOP:
Reportedly this chap stole the money for upgrades to the ship which Ukraine has just blown up
The memes are pretty good too:
It’s no wonder Russia likes wrecking Ukraine
given the usual Russian soldier residence
Apparently this one is true
I though this was an interesting article about the importance of the humble truck in military conflicts. It nicely complements Peter’s comments above about corruption in the Russian forces.
Very good article in many ways.
Trucks are vulnerable though. The little 2.7kg Switchblade drone will obliterate a truck.
Russia’s #1 capability limiting issue is that everything that can be stolen gets stolen. So when they need the kit which they think they have, they find most of it is either stolen, or bits have been stolen so they can’t use it. And Russia has always been like that; it’s inherent in their culture. It’s very “African/Middle East” in that respect. One Egyptian said to me that they regard stealing as socially OK because anybody stupid enough to have stuff stolen deserved it. I’ve posted this before; an old joke where I come from:
After a particularly successful summit in Prague with his Czech comrades, Brezhnev is returning to Russia on a night train, with his comrade Kosygin. Pitch black outside. After a few hours, Brezhnev sticks his arm out of the window and says “we are still in Czechoslovakia”. A few hours later, he sticks his arm out of the window and says “we are now in Poland”. A few hours later, he sticks his arm out of the window and says “we are now back in The Motherland”. Kosygin is really impressed: “Comrade Brezhnev, we all know of your superior intelligence, but how do you manage this?” Brezhnev: “Easy. In Czechoslovakia, they kiss your hand. In Poland, they spit on your hand. In the USSR, they steal your watch”.
As regards atrocities, Russians have always done that. It’s like the Vikings doing England (798 AD and onwards). Destruction just for fun, rape, pillage, all OK. 1940s, 1968, now, nothing changes. They must have fantastic shipping allowances, specially set up for pillage on the campaigns. 400kg shipments (of looted goods, for 1 person) have been discussed in intercepted phone calls. A lot of intercepted phone calls are much much worse. Look at all the fridges and washing machines being shipped back, often in military trucks (they get blown up by a $30k NLAW and they find the back full of washing machines; lots of pictures out there). In any normal civilisation it would be totally uneconomic to do that. But Russia funds this because they know that it improves soldier morale if they can take home what they stole. I am reading a book on the Roman military and their armies did exactly the same: specific provisions for looting and keeping the stuff, and with a successful war or two the soldiers could retire quite rich.
This is incredible. Very good news.
Peter wrote:
This is incredible. Very good news.
What stops these drones being easily picked off by any half-capable air defence system?
They aren’t fast by jet standards, but is a Reaper stealthy at all?
@Graham, articles in the press indicate that has been a contentious issue, and that a future replacement may be more stealthy. I’m sure it’s being looked at, as per the linked article.
Meanwhile a couple of years ago Congress directed the Air Force to build a few more Reapers that were not originally planned, and so they likely have some extras ‘hanging about’. If they don’t come home, one could surmise that it might not be the end of the world.
Everybody is sending their old junk to Ukraine
Anything that moves but is of no use, so long as the engine starts up, and it must not have a stabilised gun so it gets blown up whenever it wants to shoot at something.
A very small number of countries are sending really good stuff. The UK sent some good stuff like the Starstreak, and this one which they kept very quiet about.
I predict a new wave of Putin parody videos, like the many Hitler ones which are all over youtube
Such a shame Tom Clancy is no longer around. He would be working on another great book.
The surplus, if you believe that the USAF really didn’t need any more when Congress told them to buy more anyway, was created by producing planes in circa 2021, at $35M a copy.
In reality they’ll trim the fleet of $35M aircraft to the desired level by keeping the new ones and sending the oldest ones they have.
THE BIGGEST ARMS SUPPLIER TO UKRAINE IS RUSSIA
As of 15/04, Ukrainian Armed Forces captured over 1000 units of enemy weaponry. This figure is based on the photos already analysed and is thus a conservative estimate.
IFV and armoured vehicles 366
Automobiles 234
Tanks 218
Special vehicles 92
Artillery 83
Air defense systems 29
MLRS 27
UAV 11
Helicopter 1
Russia is confidently leading the arms supply race, leaving the NATO countries in the dust.
Looking at FR24 right now, something odd. There’s a Rossiya IL96 on its way from Moscow to Copenhagen (flight RSD92), which I didn’t think was possible, Odder, it has flown all the way up to Murmansk and then down again over the north ATlantic, presumably to avoid EU airspace. Yet it’s planning to land in CPH, and certainly pointedin that direction. How can that be?
FR24 shows lots of Sukhoi 100 flying in Russia these days, probably about 1/4 of all flights. Also sometimes see 777 especially flying outside Russia, e.g. to Turkey – which I thought they weren’t doing in case they got seized by the leaseowners.
