Politics

[Tundra Tiger]

I voted for him twice. Some truly great things were accomplished during his term - I recognize that and agree. HOWEVER... He could have accomplished SO MUCH MORE, and been there for a second term, if he'd just tried to be the adult in the room once in a while, instead of being a petulant 5 year old so often. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

I sincerely hope we have another choice in 2024.

 

[Rob404]

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

Let Trump be king maker, let De Santis be king.

 

[Nature Boy]

I voted for him twice. Some truly great things were accomplished during his term - I recognize that and agree. HOWEVER... He could have accomplished SO MUCH MORE, and been there for a second term, if he'd just tried to be the adult in the room once in a while, instead of being a petulant 5 year old so often. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

I sincerely hope we have another choice in 2024.

or if the election wasn't rigged.....

 

[Nature Boy]

Let Trump be king maker, let De Santis be king.

Agreed. I've never seen more people who voted for someone who still don't like him as they are controlled by their feelings and now we are being destroyed at record pace. Guess feewins ruined the USA as people can't separate feewins from policy. Wonder how they like a depression and 3M people pouring over the border so far this year and a total frontal assault on capitalism. Communism won't be good foe these people's feewins. lol

 

[VertigoBE]

If we had kept out of WWI, either London would have occupied Berlin, or Berlin would have occupied London. Either way, it would have been better than what we ended up with which was a hundred years of wars for the United States of America.

American military cemetery outside of Luxembourg (where Patton is buried) has a quote in the Chapel that reads "Grant us grace faithfully o lord so that we may make no peace with oppression". But we always do, don't we. It always comes back to bite the next generation in the ass. If you are not willing to finish what you start, then you're better off not starting at all.

People say what they will about ancient barbarism, but Carthage stopped being a problem to Rome after it was annihilated

I’m not quite sure what you are trying to prove or point out…

 

[Red Leg]

Back to the war - this is video of HIMARs strikes against Russian artillery and armor. I am an old M270 MLRS battalion commander (essentially tracked HIMARS), and this is the first tactical use we have seen. All the other targets were depots, CPs, etc. These are probably the Tungsten warhead rounds the Ukrainians have just received designed for area kills. Each warhead goes off at about twenty meters and sprays out 182,000 tungsten ball bearings at extremely high velocity (so yes safe for waterfowl). The density of each projectile is enough to shred everything from soldiers to tank turrets as you can see below. Russia has nothing remotely so lethal. So today, while Russia proudly boasts of terrifying civilians with strikes on cities, the Ukrainian Army continues its systematic destruction of the field army. Awesome awesome capability professionally used.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/y0kw5u

 

[Nature Boy]

Back to the war - this is video of HIMARs strikes against Russian artillery and armor. I am an old M270 MLRS battalion commander (essentially tracked HIMARS), and this is the first tactical use we have seen. All the other targets were depots, CPs, etc. These are probably the Tungsten warhead rounds the Ukrainians have just received designed for area kills. Each warhead goes off at about twenty meters and sprays out 182,000 tungsten ball bearings at extremely high velocity (so yes safe for waterfowl). The density of each projectile is enough to shred everything from soldiers to tank turrets as you can see below. Russia has nothing remotely so lethal. So today, while Russia proudly boasts of terrifying civilians with strikes on cities, the Ukrainian Army continues its systematic destruction of the field army. Awesome awesome capability professionally used.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/y0kw5u

wonder if Putin gets that technology if they win? Is this one of those "extra" weapon systems we have just lying around?

 

[CoElkHunter]

Back to the war - this is video of HIMARs strikes against Russian artillery and armor. I am an old M270 MLRS battalion commander (essentially tracked HIMARS), and this is the first tactical use we have seen. All the other targets were depots, CPs, etc. These are probably the Tungsten warhead rounds the Ukrainians have just received designed for area kills. Each warhead goes off at about twenty meters and sprays out 182,000 tungsten ball bearings at extremely high velocity (so yes safe for waterfowl). The density of each projectile is enough to shred everything from soldiers to tank turrets as you can see below. Russia has nothing remotely so lethal. So today, while Russia proudly boasts of terrifying civilians with strikes on cities, the Ukrainian Army continues its systematic destruction of the field army. Awesome awesome capability professionally used.

https://www.reddit.com/r/UkraineWarVideoReport/comments/y0kw5u

I'm assuming the drone(s) send the GPS coordinates to the HIMARS for a strike?

 

[mdwest]

He'd either have to have someone supply him with the munitions.. or figure out how to reverse engineer and then build his own.. without replacement rockets/missiles/artillery rounds, etc.. all he really has is really heavy steel vehicles that consume a lot of fuel..

They'd have some value for a limited time.. but.. combat effectiveness would degrade quickly..

The Iranians had a ton of modern western combat equipment at the time the Shah fell... Cobra attack helicopters.. F14 Tomcats.. French artillery.. etc...

Within just a couple of years it was all sitting in scrap yards.. unable to fly, drive, shoot, or fight in any way..

 

[Tundra Tiger]

"(so yes safe for waterfowl)" HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I literally about spit my lunch all over the keyboard when I read that.

 

[Red Leg]

wonder if Putin gets that technology if they win? Is this one of those "extra" weapon systems we have just lying around?

Take a breath. It is 1990's technology. I used it extensively and pretty decisively during the First Gulf War. The area warhead then was DPICM bomblets - 640 per warhead. This leaves no unexploded munitions and is just as lethal.

What is more impressive is that they are using Western organization for combat with initiative based tactical decision making. A Russian artillery battalion would be given a target list to fire. A US or Ukrainian battalion would be given a mission statement. "Destroy or suppress enemy indirect fire systems able to range from phase line blank to phase line blank from X hour to Y hour." The battalion commander then deploys his firing and target acquisition assets so as to accomplish the mission. Totally different approach to war. Ant that is what makes the tech so incredibly lethal.

 

[Pheroze]

So today, while Russia proudly boasts of terrifying civilians with strikes on cities, the Ukrainian Army continues its systematic destruction of the field army.

Good. With Belarus threatening to enter the fray, I hope they serve the same response. Putin's strategy is uncivilized.

 

[Red Leg]

I'm assuming the drone(s) send the GPS coordinates to the HIMARS for a strike?

Thanks to Starlink and their home grown command and control software, they can have rounds on the way within about three or four minutes of target acquisition (notice how quickly they killed the launcher and ammunition truck that had moved out and stopped.) It takes the Russians at least a half hour to accomplish the same thing if it ever gets fired at all. The Russians have top down fire planning. Someone with rank provides a list of targets for the unit to fire, and they begin working the list. And of course they would be trying to accomplish the same thing with area fire weapons rather than precision strike. Such situational and opportunity driven decision making is pretty unique to the Western way of war.

They would be using forward observers, UAVs (pretty extensively), and counter battery radars for targeting.

 

[Nature Boy]

Take a breath. It is 1990's technology. I used it extensively and pretty decisively during the First Gulf War. The area warhead then was DPICM bomblets - 640 per warhead. This leaves no unexploded munitions and is just as lethal.

then how could Russia have nothing so lethal?

 

[Red Leg]

then how could Russia have nothing so lethal?

Because they are corrupt from top to bottom, because they are not nearly so innovative as we are, and because they have an economy the size of Texas with which to try and create modern capabilities. That said, we have always credited them with peer weapon systems. We can' afford to find out on the battlefield that we underestimated them in some way. But a lot is getting exposed - which is a major reason China seems to be distancing itself a bit more every day.

 

[Nature Boy]

Because they are corrupt from top to bottom, because they are not nearly so innovative as we are, and because they have an economy the size of Texas with which to try and create modern capabilities. That said, we have always credited them with peer weapon systems. We can' afford to find out on the battlefield that we underestimated them in some way. But a lot is getting exposed - which is why China seems to be distancing itself a bit more every day.

good to hear. That's odd since I was told above they are a huge threat and we need to fight a proxy war with them.

 

[sgt_zim]

Take a breath. It is 1990's technology. I used it extensively and pretty decisively during the First Gulf War. The area warhead then was DPICM bomblets - 640 per warhead. This leaves no unexploded munitions and is just as lethal.

What is more impressive is that they are using Western organization for combat with initiative based tactical decision making. A Russian artillery battalion would be given a target list to fire. A US or Ukrainian battalion would be given a mission statement. "Destroy or suppress enemy indirect fire systems able to range from phase line blank to phase line blank from X hour to Y hour." The battalion commander then deploys his firing and target acquisition assets so as to accomplish the mission. Totally different approach to war. Ant that is what makes the tech so incredibly lethal.

You would certainly know better than I, but from my study of military history, what has made nation states and militaries which formed out of the Peace of Westphalia so effective at war fighting is they have to one degree or another placed heavy emphasis on decentralizing a lot of decision making, at least when compared to Asian armies, and I include the Russians as part of that inferior model. This decentralization common in western militaries encourages the growth of leadership qualities all the way down to junior NCOs.

“An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.” -- Alexander the Great​

I think we've done one better - we generally have lions leading lions.

Seems to me that a gunnery sergeant or sfc has much more authority and latitude to act than even mid-grade officers in the old Soviet army, and the current Russian army.

 

[steve white]

I voted for him twice. Some truly great things were accomplished during his term - I recognize that and agree. HOWEVER... He could have accomplished SO MUCH MORE, and been there for a second term, if he'd just tried to be the adult in the room once in a while, instead of being a petulant 5 year old so often. No one will ever convince me otherwise.

I sincerely hope we have another choice in 2024.

ANY choice except leftists (distinct from liberals) will be nice!

 

[steve white]

You would certainly know better than I, but from my study of military history, what has made nation states and militaries which formed out of the Peace of Westphalia so effective at war fighting is they have to one degree or another placed heavy emphasis on decentralizing a lot of decision making, at least when compared to Asian armies, and I include the Russians as part of that inferior model. This decentralization common in western militaries encourages the growth of leadership qualities all the way down to junior NCOs.

“An army of sheep led by a lion is better than an army of lions led by a sheep.” -- Alexander the Great​

I think we've done one better - we generally have lions leading lions.

Seems to me that a gunnery sergeant or sfc has much more authority and latitude to act than even mid-grade officers in the old Soviet army, and the current Russian army.

With regard to conventional warfare it seems like both their models have been typified by waves of Chinese soldiers in Korea, or waves of every-other-man-armed soldiers in the battle for Stalingrad thus depending on masses of uninformed, obedient cannon fodder for success. Now they are having refusals from certain quarters to be said cannon fodder. Interesting.