Man you hate the Ruskies Red Leg, its a real pure deep down hatred, may cause a biased opinion
l do appreciate the response seeing that you are happy to explain - ignorance, wilful or otherwise
and it is especially pleasing that you got so many LOL's added in, LOL, l always like to see people happy in what they are doing LOL, to be honest l haven't had such a good laugh for ages and you were having a really good time writing it out
as l said it looks like we will be seeing drone wars LOL
but anyway
one thing l would like to take a little further is your explanation of "the cross", l can see an argument for using a symbol that identifies you to friendly fire and could even see an argument for using a symbol to stick it up the Russian propaganda machine that is painting your side as nazi"s and claims it is de-nazifying the country
but yea naaaa the Ukrainians are not using the official emblem of Ukraine's armed forces that includes the countries coat of arms in the centre that was adopted in September 2009
the Cossack cross you talk about,
The isosceles cross is an important part of the symbolism of the Ukrainian state, and it dates back to Cossack times. It was part of the coat of arms of the founder of the first Cossack Sich, Dmytro Vyshnevetsky, also known as Baida. It was located on the flag of the Zaporozhian Sich in the form of a white isosceles cross, the arms of which widen at the ends.
A very similar cross can also be seen on the Cossack flag from the mid-seventeenth century.
l cannot see in any of the photo's ect... an attempt at widening at the ends of the arms of the cross's anywhere
l also cannot see an explanation for the use of the Wehrmacht Balkenkreuz symbol used as it is nothing like the Cossack cross or the official emblem of Ukraine's armed forces
l dont see using the cross as the Ukrainian's being seriously nazi, my point was that Ukraine being the "good guys" wouldn't it be better not to attract a bad image but l do see the humour in it as l have seen posts on here where the Russians were described as "the Commies" and then "Nazi's"
now that is something to LOL about dont you think
So let us try to have a serious discussion about this. I admit I reacted to the "LOL" in your post that responded directly to me. I find it a particularly annoying acronym. It seems to have annoyed you as well.
You do not know me at all, so allow me a few lines to describe my personal appreciation of "Russians." I italicized the term because Russia is really the last pre-20th century empire made up of a host of ethnic minorities - most still held in thrall to European Russia's military and security might. Most of the Russians with whom I have dealt professionally or personally over the last fifty years were Great or White Russians - modern European Russians or Ukrainians. I have found them professionally and personally interesting, often likeable, and occasionally annoying - particularly when drunk.
What I actually hate is how first the Communist regime and now Putin's dictatorial oligarchy have taken the worst aspects of Russian history and culture - totalitarian single-man (or woman - let's give Catherine her due) rule, apathetic and largely obedient populations, centralized economic control and centralized profit, and made them the defining characteristics of the modern Russian state. I am likely wrong, but one potentially positive outcome of the current fiasco Putin has created is to give the Russian people one last chance to create a government that works in their collective interests rather than their collective exploitation.
First to the cross marking. If I over simplify this, please tell me. But I also do not know you or your professional understanding of military operations. The profession of arms has been my trade my whole life, and I sometimes assume people understand fundamental things which they would have no way of actually knowing.
The Ukrainian Army began marking their vehicles shortly before initiating offensive operations in Kharkiv and Kherson. Up to that point, they had been fighting a purely defensive campaign. Any mechanized formations moving toward their defensive positions were clearly Russian elements and could be safely engaged with anti-tank weapons or artillery with little likelihood of fratricide.
Offensive operations are far more complex and inherently confused. Units become intermingled on the battlefield and the chance of fratricide increases dramatically. This is particularly so where both sides are using the same basic vehicles. It is why Russian forces were ordered to mark their vehicles with a large letter "Z" before initiating their offensive against Ukraine. Coalition forces during the First Gulf War did the same thing, marking all of those vehicles (which included Syrian T72's!) with a "Delta" symbol.
For Ukraine, the situation has become exacerbated over the last several months as fully half the Ukrainian armor strength, both tanks and armored fighting vehicles are now captured Russian weapon systems. More the shame on NATO for not providing them with the Leopard 2 and Marder - but I digress.
In the middle of ongoing combat operations, the friendly symbol needs to be applied quickly
by the crew in a field expedient way. There is neither the time nor need to send out stencils and professional painters. Two quick swipes with white paint solves the requirement. It is also a marking that is significantly different than the three most used by Russian units - "Z," "V," and "O." The fact that it harkens to the nation's symbiology is a bonus - were it even a consideration which I frankly doubt.
With respect to drone wars, we are watching Ukraine's efforts very closely. Their real revolutionary use is with regard to artillery observation. Simply adjusting rounds onto a target by a drone (or a manned aircraft) is difficult. Saying short/long/left or right is meaningless to the firing battery unless the observer knows the relationship between the target, impacting round, and gun target line. That situational awareness is difficult to manage with a six-inch screen and a commercial UAV with neither GPS nor a laser designator. Yet, they perfected it in the first months of the war.
They are now employing large numbers of GPS guided munitions - both rockets like the GMLRS and artillery rounds like the 155 mm Excalibur. These rounds have unclassified sub - 5 meter accuracy. Such accurate munitions require equally accurate targeting or it defeats the purpose of the accurate munition. The targets for GMLRS (the munition fired in HIMARS) are fairly easy to determine. Bridging, depots, and rail yards are fixed sites and easily and accurately geolocated. But doing the same thing to a tank or armored fighting vehicle that pauses along a wood line is a wholly different and far more difficult challenge.
Ukraine is scoring remarkably consistent one shot kills on tanks and AFVs marrying these commercial drones with their smart munition stockpiles. They seemingly have successfully adapted mapping software, satellite communications, and responsive firing units in a way that is both professionally admirable and at the same time cautionary to those militaries closely watching this campaign. The Russian Army, on the other hand, seems mired in WWI / II mass firing TTPs that achieve little real damage to anything other than cityscapes while making targets of their own firing units.
Finally, I believe Putin's ambitions for a revitalized and aggressive Russian Empire represent an existential threat to the Western democracies. I believe the comparisons to Hitler and Czechoslovakia in 1938 are overwhelmingly obvious and valid. I have posted this quote before, but Churchill's prescient remarks as he watched Chamberlain cravenly set the stage for the coming World War are as valid today as they were then. "An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile — hoping it will eat him last." We should be doing more to aide Ukraine - not less.
