Blyatskrieg

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Fri Jul 08, 2022 2:14 pm

WFJ wrote:
Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:59 pm
WFJ wrote:
Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:43 pm
Is something new she's said? She was mocked a few weeks ago for saying Germany is not sending tanks to Ukraine because Gepards aren't really tanks. But then she wasn't placing limits on what they could be used for, just explaining (maybe incorrectly, I don't know) that they are not used in frontline fighting.
Missed edit window
Yes, having delved deeper, it's possible that she just doesn't understand the applications of the Gepard on the modern battlefield.

They would almost certainly be at their best when operating in areas where a) they could shoot down Russian drones and b) they might be able to have a crack at Russian helicopters, or at least deter them from operating in those areas. That means they would need to move with manoeuvre forces, rather than sitting at fixed points.

It's also worth noting their function is not limited to being AA guns - their twin 35mm can kill pretty much everything other than a tank, and their radars can be used to give early warning to MANPADS teams. The big limit is the range of the guns, just a few kilometres.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Woodchopper » Fri Jul 08, 2022 2:31 pm

WFJ wrote:
Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:59 pm
WFJ wrote:
Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:43 pm
Is something new she's said? She was mocked a few weeks ago for saying Germany is not sending tanks to Ukraine because Gepards aren't really tanks. But then she wasn't placing limits on what they could be used for, just explaining (maybe incorrectly, I don't know) that they are not used in frontline fighting.
Missed edit window
Source here: https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/ ... t-100.html

Seems to be an off the cuff remark rather than an elaboration of government policy.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Sat Jul 09, 2022 6:29 pm

Woodchopper wrote:
Fri Jul 08, 2022 2:31 pm
WFJ wrote:
Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:59 pm
WFJ wrote:
Fri Jul 08, 2022 1:43 pm
Is something new she's said? She was mocked a few weeks ago for saying Germany is not sending tanks to Ukraine because Gepards aren't really tanks. But then she wasn't placing limits on what they could be used for, just explaining (maybe incorrectly, I don't know) that they are not used in frontline fighting.
Missed edit window
Source here: https://www.zdf.de/nachrichten/politik/ ... t-100.html

Seems to be an off the cuff remark rather than an elaboration of government policy.
To Germany's credit, they seem to have found a way around Swiss intransigence re: 35mm Oerlikon ammo. Specifically, they have contracted a Norwegian firm to make some new ammo, test firings starting soon, apparently.

One other note re: the Gepard. If Ukrainians can operate the Gepard, they can operate the simpler, less complicated Leopard 1, of which there are some in storage. The Gepard has the same hull, same engine and track maintenance, but also has a complex radar. A lot of discussion of the Leopard 1 has treated the L7 105mm as if it is a pea-shooter, and yet it can, depending on ammunition, punch through anything other than the frontal armour of an MBT, and it wouldn't have much trouble with the frontal armour of a T-62 or probably a T-64. The Russians are arming new units with old MT-LBs, so some Leopard 1s to treat as mobile gun positions could be damn useful in the same way that the T-62 isn't totally useless, and adding ERA or slat armour could at least protect them against RPGs.

In fact, I think it is time to completly discard the "bUT iT'S ToO comPLiCaTEd fOR uKRaiNiANS tO USe" nonsense - Ukrainians are successfully using PzH2000 and Krab, both of which are more complicated than older model Abrams or Leopard 2, and also using M109s, which are as complicated as older tanks. If Ukrainians can cope with M270s, then there's no real reason not to supply them with Bradleys, which use the same chassis.

As a general war update, I'm seeing a lot of calls from officials for citizens in occupied Kherson oblast to get out if they can, and to stay away from military facilities*. Effectively, the Ukrainian government and ZSU are warning of a coming offensive. This has lead to discussion of whether this is a good idea, as it sacrifices any chance of operational surprise. Personally, in this era, I do not think preparations for a large offensive can effectively be concealed. Additionally, these warnings could be a bluff, to draw forces to Kherson (or Zaporizhzhia, where there have been some warnings), or they could be warning of not a ground offensive but a long-range artillery campaign against depots and so on.

The HIMARS campaign continues, with several more ammunition depots (secondaries observed on footage) struck, as well as recent strikes on railway infrastructure, including reportedly a hit on the replacement bridge the Russians built in Kup'yansk. There's also talk of partisans destroying an important bridge near Melitopol - these partisans could well be ZSU special forces, and even if they are raised from the occupied territories, will surely be coordinating with ZSU. Discussion by Russian milbloggers indicates that the Russian forces are, at the frontline at least, experiencing a shortage of shells, and it is hard to see how their logistics can adapt to the threat of long range precision rocket strikes without substantially reducing the amount of supplies delivered to the front.


*I'm also seeing claims that the Russian occupiers have responded to attacks on bases near occupied Melitopol by moving equipment into residential areas so as to use the citizens as human shields as c.nts like Hamas do. It isn't surprising, given the general Russian disregard for civilian lives, and it means that Ukraine may well be better off continuing with the approach of adapting their older "Corrosion" tactics to the current front line and try to starve Russian positions of supplies until they collapse rather than assaulting them directly.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Sat Jul 09, 2022 6:41 pm

As further evidence of Russian shortages, they are now using the highly effective S300 surface to air missile as a surface to surface missile. Though originally designed with the option of targetting ground targets, in this role, it's guidance radar is completely useless, and it would be relying on inertial navigation and course correction, or possibly some degree of GPS guidance, but the strikes were reportedly inaccurate.

It's a bit like making a Molotov cocktail out of a crystal decanter - you'd get a better weapon and better value for money by spending the cost of it on grenades instead.



ETA: Between this and multiple observed launch-failures with (presumably) Iskanders around Belgorod, it raises the question of whether the Russians have an adequate stockpile of usable Iskanders.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:18 am

Something colossal just exploded at Khartsyz'k east of occupied Donetsk.

In other news, Def Mon 3 produced this quick illustration showing the coverage achieved by HIMARS with the M31A1 rocket

Image

If MGM-140 ATACMS, with its three hundred kilometre range, were supplied, it would look like this. Note that the Kerch Straits Bridge, a major Russian logistical lifeline to the south, is in range. So is Sevastopol, which would allow attacks on the Black Sea Fleet at anchor, and indeed the rest of occupied Crimea. Strikes on Russian aviation in occupied Crimea wouldn't just take out Russian warplanes and crews, but force them to pull them back to places where they would be less effective, just as traditional MLRS forced Russian helicopters out of Chornobaivka, after inflicting serious losses on them.

Image

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:51 am

EACLucifer wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:18 am
Something colossal just exploded at Khartsyz'k east of occupied Donetsk.

Here's video, btw.
I think this is likely to be HIMARS with an M31 rocket as 1) it's quite a long way behind the lines, 2) the target goes up far more violently than any normal warhead, meaning it was a direct hit on something containing explosives, and 3) there's a faint but distinct howling to be heard just before the shockwave reaches the microphone, which is similar to one I've heard on other likely M31 rocket strikes.

PS - if you want to listen for the howl, be warned that the shockwave is a hell of a lot louder.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by headshot » Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:23 am

Link doesn’t work.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by jimbob » Sun Jul 10, 2022 12:51 pm

https://info.publicintelligence.net/AWG ... ndbook.pdf (PDF)

Asymmetric Warfare Group
RUSSIAN NEW
GENERATION
WARFARE
HANDBOOK

Version 1: December 2016
A handbook for U.S. Army formations to increase awareness of Russian tactics, nearpeer capabilities, and current U.S. non-material solutions to mitigate the threat posed
by Russian proxies.

Page 31
  • This resupply shortfall is present in Russian Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFV) as well. Russia has
    modernized their forces with the BMP-3 IFV. The BMP-3 still uses the same belts and ammunition for its
    coaxial 30mm gun as the older BMP-2, which is still in service with rear echelon units and border guards.
    Each BMP has a non-disintegrating belt that is individually loaded with the use of a press. Each vehicle
    carries 2 basic loads into combat, but has to stop and reload its belts once they have been expended.
    The reload time for a BMP-2 basic load of 500 rounds is approximately 38 minutes. Machine gun belts
    cannot be joined together quickly due to their link design.
  • Long engagements will force vehicle and machine gun crews to manually reload their
    ammunition belts. There are many open source videos of this in Eastern Ukraine where both sides suffer
    significant gaps in supporting fires while they are forced to reload individual rounds into their magazines
    and belts. U.S. units should exploit this vulnerability as a time for maneuver.
  • The last major weakness of the Russian supply system is safety. Russian forward ammunition
    dumps are quite possibly the most unsafe places in any warzone. By doctrine, there are very little
    storage requirements, no minimum safe areas, little munitions segregation, and many of the munitions
    are still from the Soviet period or early 1990s and about to expire. Fuel depots are no better. Poorly
    trained conscript logistics soldiers, combined with these poor storage procedures make these supply
    depots a tinderbox ready to explode. Russia has suffered several catastrophic supply depot fires and
    explosions in the past 2 years of combat in Ukraine and Syria. Priority targeting of these areas will cause
    a serious logistics strain on the Russian system and impact their ability to use maneuver and fires.
Have you considered stupidity as an explanation

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Martin Y » Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:21 pm

EACLucifer wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:51 am
EACLucifer wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:18 am
Something colossal just exploded at Khartsyz'k east of occupied Donetsk.

Here's video, btw.
I think this is likely to be HIMARS with an M31 rocket as 1) it's quite a long way behind the lines, 2) the target goes up far more violently than any normal warhead, meaning it was a direct hit on something containing explosives, and 3) there's a faint but distinct howling to be heard just before the shockwave reaches the microphone, which is similar to one I've heard on other likely M31 rocket strikes.

PS - if you want to listen for the howl, be warned that the shockwave is a hell of a lot louder.
Linky has no URL but I found what may be it on that twitter. Couldn't hear the howl you mention but blimey. 16 seconds from flash to bang means they were roughly as far away as I was from the Buncefield explosion. The latter woke me up. This one totally overloaded the mic on his phone.

It does make me wonder to what extent the locations of these dumps are being given away by antipathetic locals vs other sources.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Woodchopper » Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:25 pm

Martin Y wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:21 pm
EACLucifer wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:51 am
EACLucifer wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:18 am
Something colossal just exploded at Khartsyz'k east of occupied Donetsk.

Here's video, btw.
I think this is likely to be HIMARS with an M31 rocket as 1) it's quite a long way behind the lines, 2) the target goes up far more violently than any normal warhead, meaning it was a direct hit on something containing explosives, and 3) there's a faint but distinct howling to be heard just before the shockwave reaches the microphone, which is similar to one I've heard on other likely M31 rocket strikes.

PS - if you want to listen for the howl, be warned that the shockwave is a hell of a lot louder.
Linky has no URL but I found what may be it on that twitter. Couldn't hear the howl you mention but blimey. 16 seconds from flash to bang means they were roughly as far away as I was from the Buncefield explosion. The latter woke me up. This one totally overloaded the mic on his phone.

It does make me wonder to what extent the locations of these dumps are being given away by antipathetic locals vs other sources.
Local information will likely be a source. They will also probably be able to use drones an satellites to analyse traffic flows in and out of the fuel and ammunition dumps. Also don’t forget that that the US is able to intercept Russian communications.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Martin Y » Sun Jul 10, 2022 3:23 pm

Woodchopper wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:25 pm
Local information will likely be a source. They will also probably be able to use drones an satellites to analyse traffic flows in and out of the fuel and ammunition dumps. Also don’t forget that that the US is able to intercept Russian communications.
Reminiscent of the battle of the Atlantic where the Germans believed their u-boat movements were being tracked by a combination of technologies like radar and spies in French ports, rather than the truth that Enigma was being read.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Woodchopper » Sun Jul 10, 2022 4:00 pm

Martin Y wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 3:23 pm
Woodchopper wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:25 pm
Local information will likely be a source. They will also probably be able to use drones an satellites to analyse traffic flows in and out of the fuel and ammunition dumps. Also don’t forget that that the US is able to intercept Russian communications.
Reminiscent of the battle of the Atlantic where the Germans believed their u-boat movements were being tracked by a combination of technologies like radar and spies in French ports, rather than the truth that Enigma was being read.
Yes, though this time the US made it clear before the invasion that it knew what was going on in the Kremlin.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Sun Jul 10, 2022 5:59 pm

Martin Y wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:21 pm
EACLucifer wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 7:51 am
EACLucifer wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 2:18 am
Something colossal just exploded at Khartsyz'k east of occupied Donetsk.

Here's video, btw.
I think this is likely to be HIMARS with an M31 rocket as 1) it's quite a long way behind the lines, 2) the target goes up far more violently than any normal warhead, meaning it was a direct hit on something containing explosives, and 3) there's a faint but distinct howling to be heard just before the shockwave reaches the microphone, which is similar to one I've heard on other likely M31 rocket strikes.

PS - if you want to listen for the howl, be warned that the shockwave is a hell of a lot louder.
Linky has no URL but I found what may be it on that twitter. Couldn't hear the howl you mention but blimey. 16 seconds from flash to bang means they were roughly as far away as I was from the Buncefield explosion. The latter woke me up. This one totally overloaded the mic on his phone.

It does make me wonder to what extent the locations of these dumps are being given away by antipathetic locals vs other sources.
This one.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Martin_B » Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:51 am

Martin Y wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:21 pm

Linky has no URL but I found what may be it on that twitter. Couldn't hear the howl you mention but blimey. 16 seconds from flash to bang means they were roughly as far away as I was from the Buncefield explosion. The latter woke me up. This one totally overloaded the mic on his phone.

It does make me wonder to what extent the locations of these dumps are being given away by antipathetic locals vs other sources.
The speed of sound in air is ~340 m/s, so 16 seconds is ~5.5 km away. I'd say that if an supply depot was 5.5 km from the front line, it deserves to be hit.

BTW, I was 70 km away from Buncefield and I got woken up by it!
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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:10 am

Martin_B wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:51 am
Martin Y wrote:
Sun Jul 10, 2022 1:21 pm

Linky has no URL but I found what may be it on that twitter. Couldn't hear the howl you mention but blimey. 16 seconds from flash to bang means they were roughly as far away as I was from the Buncefield explosion. The latter woke me up. This one totally overloaded the mic on his phone.

It does make me wonder to what extent the locations of these dumps are being given away by antipathetic locals vs other sources.
The speed of sound in air is ~340 m/s, so 16 seconds is ~5.5 km away. I'd say that if an supply depot was 5.5 km from the front line, it deserves to be hit.

BTW, I was 70 km away from Buncefield and I got woken up by it!
Approx 50km from the front line, filmed by various people under occupation. Exploded for several hours with numerous secondaries. ZSU definitely gets some information from locals under occupation, including plenty in areas like this which have been occupied for nearly a decade, but the comings and goings of enough vehicles to operate a depot of the scale this one clearly was are very difficult to conceal.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Woodchopper » Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:16 am

Detailed account on tanks from a Ukrainian perspective: https://twitter.com/childsacrifice1/sta ... NN7m9U7jQg

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Woodchopper » Mon Jul 11, 2022 7:10 am

Good point about why Russia will find it difficult to mitigate the effects of long range strikes on its supply depots by shifting to lots of small dispersed fuel and ammunition dumps: https://twitter.com/mdmitri91/status/15 ... NN7m9U7jQg

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:14 am

Woodchopper wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:16 am
Detailed account on tanks from a Ukrainian perspective: https://twitter.com/childsacrifice1/sta ... NN7m9U7jQg
It's a good thread. A couple of observations;

The thread notes the use of HE rounds against tanks. I've seen a few reports that suggest that Ukraine is very short of armour piercing ammunition, both HEAT (High Explosive Anti-Tank, basically a shaped charge blasts a very high velocity jet of copper through the armour making a small hole and a horrifying mess on the inside) and APFSDS (Armour Piercing Fin Stabilised Discard Sabot - basically a long metal dart propelled at something like five times the speed of sound that uses speed and sectional density to slam right through the armour).

On T-72s vs Western tanks, a couple of points - he is talking about frontline service, and he is talking about going into service right away. Non-standard tanks could potentially be garrison forces in places like Odesa or on the northern border, to act as a deterrent but probably not see combat, at which point the maintenace and repair issues are less key. That would free up more compatible tanks to go to the frontlines.

But then there's the issue of when are the tanks going to be needed? In a few months, it's going to get muddy again. Very muddy. It may harden up as the ground freezes, but notably it didn't really do that this winter, to Russia's detriment. Though not so key in the south, in the east, vehicle movement will be radically harder. That works both ways. Realistically, the west should be planning to support Ukraine in an offensive as the ground hardens up again in the spring. There's enough time to take raw recruits and train them to British army standards on tanks in that time. If either all the spare Leopard 2s in Europe, or a similar number of Abrams could be made available, then a thousand or so Ukrainian volunteers could be trained on them in western Europe or America, and be available by spring to seriously bolster Ukraine's offensive power.

And the other point I would make re ammunition: There is not so much difference between a 120mm smoothbore and a 125mm smoothbore. It is not beyond the wit of Western manufacturers to get APFSDS rounds for 125mms into production and supplied to Ukraine. Potentially it could even be the same projectiles with a modified sabot to suit the different bore. The challenge would be matching the ballistics of the Warsaw Pact rounds so as to avoid the need to modify the targetting computer/sights of the tanks, but that is doable with enough time.

ETA: I'll respond to your other post here as well.
Woodchopper wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 7:10 am
Good point about why Russia will find it difficult to mitigate the effects of long range strikes on its supply depots by shifting to lots of small dispersed fuel and ammunition dumps: https://twitter.com/mdmitri91/status/15 ... NN7m9U7jQg
The Russian army is already struggling with lack of supply vehicles, and is extremely dependant on rail supply. Avoiding large supply dumps and dependance on railways within 80+km of the front lines is going to substantially reduce the amount of shells reaching the frontlines. Massed artillery has been about the only successful part of the Russian approach to war in the last few months. Without it, they don't have much. It may not mean anything and it may be premature to note it, but over the last couple of days Russian firing appears to have slackened, and this is backed up by FIRMS data showing fewer fires on the Ukrainian side of the lines. It could be that the numerous strikes on ammunition depots have either resulted in shortage of shells at the front line, or at least an unwillingness to waste shells for fear of shortage.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by lpm » Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:52 am

Woodchopper wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 5:16 am
Detailed account on tanks from a Ukrainian perspective: https://twitter.com/childsacrifice1/sta ... NN7m9U7jQg
Point 23 applies to most other kinds of weaponry. Britain's policy has always been to fight wars on other countries territory, now we are able to fight a war with another country's soldiers and civilians. Use our arms now, don't store arms to use later.
23) NATO countries do not need a lot of tanks, by the time they get to the battlefield Russia will not have any tanks left.
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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by lpm » Mon Jul 11, 2022 9:06 am

EACLucifer wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:14 am
The Russian army is already struggling with lack of supply vehicles, and is extremely dependant on rail supply. Avoiding large supply dumps and dependance on railways within 80+km of the front lines is going to substantially reduce the amount of shells reaching the frontlines. Massed artillery has been about the only successful part of the Russian approach to war in the last few months. Without it, they don't have much. It may not mean anything and it may be premature to note it, but over the last couple of days Russian firing appears to have slackened, and this is backed up by FIRMS data showing fewer fires on the Ukrainian side of the lines. It could be that the numerous strikes on ammunition depots have either resulted in shortage of shells at the front line, or at least an unwillingness to waste shells for fear of shortage.
I think what we're seeing now is classic the Nato tactic. Gulf War 1, for example.

For Nato is air strikes and cruise missiles, but with the same strategy - degrade the enemy long before you attack. American doctrine has always been to patiently assemble overwhelming force, from industrial arms production in the north in the Civil War to building carriers in the Pacific against Japan. In Gulf War 1 they spend 6 months shipping in the materiel, then 5 weeks bombing the sh.t out of Iraq, then only 4 days of actual fighting on the ground.

Under this doctrine Ukraine would be pressured to wait and wait. There's no air power, but HIMARS etc are doing the job at least in part. Well behind the lines there's the training and equipping of Ukraine's forces. The idea would be to punch through at a time when Russia has no chance of counterattack.

This would suggest we won't see Ukraine attack this summer, but instead week after week of long range strikes and disruption.
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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by Martin Y » Mon Jul 11, 2022 11:53 am

Martin_B wrote:
Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:51 am
The speed of sound in air is ~340 m/s, so 16 seconds is ~5.5 km away. I'd say that if an supply depot was 5.5 km from the front line, it deserves to be hit.

BTW, I was 70 km away from Buncefield and I got woken up by it!
Ah, I didn't mean the front line was 5.5km away, I meant the person recording the video was 5.5km away. Their video has 16 seconds from the flash to the BANG.

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Mon Jul 11, 2022 10:48 pm

Image

Nova Kakhovka, just south of the dam, within the last few hours. Reports suggest MLRS ammo storage was hit, which is certainly plausible given the firework-like spark trails seen on some of the video circulating of the secondaries.

These Russian soldiers don't seem too happy about what's occurring (Note: NSFW if you have Russian-fluent co-workers for strong language, also big explosion occurring)


ETA: On this video, there's a blue flash following the blast. I've previously noted a dramatic blue flash during HIMARS strikes near Melitopol, which could have corresponded to reports of a train being hit. Blue flashes in this case electric arcs as substations/powerlines are hit?

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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by jimbob » Tue Jul 12, 2022 7:14 am

Part of a thread comparing the situation in June with now as far as evidence of artillery strikes in the Russian and Ukrainian areas.


Most of the evidence (from satellite fire detection) of Russian-caused fires are on the battlefront and tactical, whilst the Ukrainians have started fewer, but more strategic ones.

https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/sta ... 9462591488
Sunday update, a discussion of range/accuracy versus mass. There is a noticeable change in the last 2 weeks in the ranged war (which is the most important in this attritional phase) and that is that Ukraine is now showing the ability to hit back.
https://twitter.com/PhillipsPOBrien/sta ... 6426967049
End of the day update. Really low fire in the Donbas compared to the last few days. We have now passed 19 of the 24 hours of the day there and there is more indicated fire behind Russian lines than forward. Compared to two days ago, difference is signficant.
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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by TopBadger » Tue Jul 12, 2022 9:57 am

Looks like HIMARS / MLRS is being put to very good use by Ukrainian forces.

And to think Russia was seen as a conventional threat to NATO... imagine if NATO's crushing air superiority was also being bought to bear?

I think the new launchers being shipped should also come with longer range missiles... no Russian convoy or dump on Ukrainian territory should be safe.
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Re: Blyatskrieg

Post by EACLucifer » Tue Jul 12, 2022 1:42 pm

TopBadger wrote:
Tue Jul 12, 2022 9:57 am
Looks like HIMARS / MLRS is being put to very good use by Ukrainian forces.

And to think Russia was seen as a conventional threat to NATO... imagine if NATO's crushing air superiority was also being bought to bear?

I think the new launchers being shipped should also come with longer range missiles... no Russian convoy or dump on Ukrainian territory should be safe.
While Ukraine has been hammering Russian depots and HQs and lines of supply, Russia blew up a residential block in Chasiv Yar. The death toll is reported as thirty eight, so far.

I completely agree that nowhere within Ukraine should be safe for occupiers, and this is particularly important for Crimea, where the Russians base naval and air assets (in the case of helicopters, after they were withdrawn from further forward to due shelling). We all know the solution to this is MGM-140 ATACMS (Also known as the Army Tactical Missile System).

M30A1/M30A2 rockets would be good too. Though they don't have any greater range than the M31s already in use, they do have a very effective warhead. They are, essentially, a re-introduction of shrapnel to frontline service after about eighty years of blast-frag and cluster munitions dominating. As the rocket comes in at several times the speed of sound, an explosive bursts it open to release more than a hundred and eighty thousand tungsten pellets, which gain their effectiveness from the carrier rocket's velocity. These allow it to cover a wide area without the UXO concerns of cluster warheads. Once Ukraine has run out of ammo depots to destroy, a few pods of M30A1 would make it very difficult for Russian troops to concentrate for the attack.

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