Arming Ukraine

Carl Lee27 said:Estonia has sent more gear over again: ammo, armored vehicles, and D-30 howitzers
View on twitter

And there's more:
Estonia handed over howitzers, anti-tank mines, automatic weapons and grenade launchers to Ukraine
Estonia handed over anti-tank missiles, howitzers, anti-tank mines, recoilless anti-tank guns, automatic weapons, ammunition, disposable grenade launchers and hand grenades to Ukraine.

On top of that, I guess some Estonian businessmen, working alongside government agencies and the Estonian Armed Forces, passed along helmets, vests, comms gear, drones, night vision, laser rangefinders, med supplies, and even chemical protection gear to the Ukrainian military.

https://novynarnia.com/2022/04/06/es...dala-ukrayini/

hollowdriver13 said:https://twitter.com/MarkHertling/sta...C-sYHp5_UpAAAA

Check this out. A retired US Army Lieutenant General breaks down why dropping high-tech Western gear into the mix—stuff Ukraine hasn't really touched before—is such a massive headache. It’s basically his take on all those questions about why the US isn't just sending over M1 Abrams, Patriots, or F-15 Eagles right away. He also touches on the logic behind hunting for anyone still running old USSR-era hardware who might be willing to pass it along instead.

At the end of the day, what else are they going to send,😁 if not Russian hardware that the Ukrainians actually know how to operate or have experience maintaining?

An M1 Abrams isn't invincible, and honestly, it’s far too expensive to risk seeing one get taken out by a Russian infantry anti-tank system.We've seen two examples already, though I'm not entirely sure if that second one was a Russian Fagot or a Konkurs ATGM.☕

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFoota...ting_hit_with/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ttlefield.html

Journalists are clueless. 🤦

It’s not 100, it’s actually 1,000 drones.
(That's 100 systems with 10 lethal drones each).

Anthony Perez9 said:Journalists are clueless. 🤦

It’s not 100, it’s actually 1,000 drones.
(That's 100 systems with 10 lethal drones each).

The article claims they sent over 10 new Type-600 systems, which totals 100 units according to their own math.

However, if one bothers to look at the facts, 100 older Type-300 systems were dispatched previously, amounting to 1,000 drones total.

Every single system carries 10 drones.

Is providing them with drones, Javelins, and Starstreak truly enough to halt the Russian advance at the Donbas?

velvetbadger11 said:Is providing them with drones, Javelins, and Starstreak truly enough to halt the Russian advance at the Donbas?

I suppose there's also the armor they've sent over from the Czechs, plus those howitzers the Britons are providing, and even the Poles have that massive deal swapping out their T-72s for 250 M1 Abrams.🤔

Looks like those Baryaktars are about to get some serious upgrades with some fresh ordnance.

The US is actually shipping out laser-guided rockets 🚀 specifically to boost the punch of those Turkish made drones. https://t.co/nFo4plqtnG

goldenowl73 said:Looks like those Baryaktars are about to get some serious upgrades with some fresh ordnance.

The US is actually shipping out laser-guided rockets 🚀 specifically to boost the punch of those Turkish made drones. https://t.co/nFo4plqtnG

This one right here is a legendary troll job aimed at the Russians:
"Since the Russians are now claiming they've wiped out 37 out of the 35 Bayraktars in the Ukrainian fleet—talk about an impressive 106% kill rate!"

Andrew Miller102 said:At the end of the day, what else are they going to send,😁 if not Russian hardware that the Ukrainians actually know how to operate or have experience maintaining?

An M1 Abrams isn't invincible, and honestly, it’s far too expensive to risk seeing one get taken out by a Russian infantry anti-tank system.We've seen two examples already, though I'm not entirely sure if that second one was a Russian Fagot or a Konkurs ATGM.☕

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFoota...ting_hit_with/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ttlefield.html

No tank is indestructible, really, and one shouldn't view a tank as an isolated entity; rather, it’s just a single cog within a much larger system. I suspect a mediocre tank integrated into a well-functioning system is arguably better than the most modern machine being used inadequately.

Ukrainian soldiers training in the US on how to fly killer drones

velvetbadger11 said:Is providing them with drones, Javelins, and Starstreak truly enough to halt the Russian advance at the Donbas?

People seem to forget that Ukraine didn't exactly declare independence just last month.
They have an army, and honestly, it isn't some incompetent mess.

About a month and a half ago, they managed to halt an entire armored push toward Kyiv, even if they were caught off guard.

Now, the force ratio might even be tilting in Ukraine's favor.
It’s probably not about whether the Russians can make some minor breakthrough here or there... I guess the real question is whether they can actually sustain those losses long-term, and how the Russian public is going to react once they finally catch wind of what's really happening.

Andrew Miller102 said:At the end of the day, what else are they going to send,😁 if not Russian hardware that the Ukrainians actually know how to operate or have experience maintaining?

An M1 Abrams isn't invincible, and honestly, it’s far too expensive to risk seeing one get taken out by a Russian infantry anti-tank system.We've seen two examples already, though I'm not entirely sure if that second one was a Russian Fagot or a Konkurs ATGM.☕

https://www.reddit.com/r/CombatFoota...ting_hit_with/

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ttlefield.html

But here's the thing—unlike that Soviet-era Russian junk, the percentage of Abramses getting trashed is way lower, and the crew's chances of actually walking away alive are much higher.

Morgan Wright5 said:No tank is indestructible, really, and one shouldn't view a tank as an isolated entity; rather, it’s just a single cog within a much larger system. I suspect a mediocre tank integrated into a well-functioning system is arguably better than the most modern machine being used inadequately.

Exactly.

Side note—the people obsessed with how "powerful" the Rafael system is will never get that.

Anthony Hill5 said:The article claims they sent over 10 new Type-600 systems, which totals 100 units according to their own math.

However, if one bothers to look at the facts, 100 older Type-300 systems were dispatched previously, amounting to 1,000 drones total.

Every single system carries 10 drones.

The crew is heading back from training:

The Americans are training Ukrainian soldiers on how to pilot killer drones. They'll be heading back to the front lines shortly.

Christian Torres3 said:Exactly.

Side note—the people obsessed with how "powerful" the Rafael system is will never get that.

I suspect it almost doesn't matter which aircraft we ended up purchasing. Honestly, none of the options on the table would have integrated seamlessly into our current framework anyway. It felt more like we had to build the entire infrastructure from the ground up first, and then select a plane that actually fit that newly designed system.

Morgan Wright5 said:I suspect it almost doesn't matter which aircraft we ended up purchasing. Honestly, none of the options on the table would have integrated seamlessly into our current framework anyway. It felt more like we had to build the entire infrastructure from the ground up first, and then select a plane that actually fit that newly designed system.

"...a system that actually works" matters way more than some arbitrary power rating. Period.

Morgan Wright5 said:I suspect it almost doesn't matter which aircraft we ended up purchasing. Honestly, none of the options on the table would have integrated seamlessly into our current framework anyway. It felt more like we had to build the entire infrastructure from the ground up first, and then select a plane that actually fit that newly designed system.

Building an entire defense network is expensive, but on a parade ground, people only notice the shiny jets flying overhead. It’s much more efficient to skim the budget from the invisible infrastructure—the parts no one sees anyway—and spend the remainder on hardware that makes for good optics. Perhaps, if you buy your planes from the right vendors, you might even secure some personal favors or enough political leverage to cut through the red tape in Washington. That is the "new normal" for national procurement: maximize the public spectacle, minimize the actual investment, and pocket a little something for yourself along the way. And the most effective part of the whole scheme? Praying to God that a war never actually breaks out.

goldenowl73 said:Looks like those Baryaktars are about to get some serious upgrades with some fresh ordnance.

The US is actually shipping out laser-guided rockets 🚀 specifically to boost the punch of those Turkish made drones. https://t.co/nFo4plqtnG

The real issue with these 70mm rockets is that the backblast is just incredibly intense and obvious. It practically leaves a massive scorch mark right on the sky where you launched them!
Since those Bayraktars are mostly flying at night, I guess they'll be pretty easy to spot. They might just end up getting picked off by AA guns way too easily... maybe.

Maybe we should think about modifying the MQ-9 Reaper to carry some different gear? I guess it could work! The GBU-39 is such a cool piece of tech! It’s one of those precision-guided bombs that just gets the job done. I guess it’s pretty impressive how much impact it packs for its size. Maybe that's why everyone is talking about it lately!Theoretically, we're looking at the payload capacity of the Bayraktar (about 240 lbs). If they can really nail the training on those, they could pretty much reach any part of Crimea or the Donbas! Just imagine being able to "drop off" 130 lbs of explosives anywhere deep behind Russian lines. That would be huge!

velvetbadger11 said:Is providing them with drones, Javelins, and Starstreak truly enough to halt the Russian advance at the Donbas?

Yeah, if you use them precisely and pick your targets carefully—like hitting command staff or anything that creates those massive fireballs—it changes everything. You basically snap their chain of command and mess up their fuel supplies. Before you know it, they can't keep an offensive going like nothing happened. It forces them straight into defensive mode, whether they want to or not, I guess!

Coming straight from the UK with both Mastiffs and Jackals
https://www.usnews.com/news/world/ar...aine-the-times

Timothy Nelson5 said:People seem to forget that Ukraine didn't exactly declare independence just last month.
They have an army, and honestly, it isn't some incompetent mess.

About a month and a half ago, they managed to halt an entire armored push toward Kyiv, even if they were caught off guard.

Now, the force ratio might even be tilting in Ukraine's favor.
It’s probably not about whether the Russians can make some minor breakthrough here or there... I guess the real question is whether they can actually sustain those losses long-term, and how the Russian public is going to react once they finally catch wind of what's really happening.

Well, I doubt the public will care much; they’re acting like mindless drones, much like those folks who were waving flowers at tanks heading toward El Paso. Honestly, one has to wonder what kind of person would truly believe they are marching in to liberate anyone from Nazis.