"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (4 Viewers)

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It took the Taliban Afghans twenty years to get the US and its allies to exit Afghanistan. We can't expect Ukraine to force out the Russians in 2-3 years.

The Ukrainian armed forces are a skosh more equipped, trained, and organized than the Taliban. It's not a good comparison. I think a better metaphor would be Giap's Vietnamese forces, supplied by USSR and China, fighting with outside reinforcement and guided by a solid doctrine.

I doubt Russia can afford this for twenty years. I doubt they can afford it for five. At least, Putin's regime can't -- and that's what's important here.

Much more powerful than modern-day Russia, the USSR was collapsed by only eight years fighting the mujahadeen, factional as they were. A weaker Russia against a united Ukraine supplied with much better kit ... I'm selling, not buying.
 
Talking with my son he said he had heard on a radio that Russian men are breaking their own legs and amputating minor limbs to avoid being drafted.

Is this a reality of just another urban legend?

Foot-shooting parties were alleged to happen in America during Vietnam. Who's to say? I do know we had draft-dodgers out the wasinga for that show.
 
The footage in the link sounds like ten rounds before kill.
Are the rounds radar proximity fused to explode when near the target or non-explosive APDS like a Phalanx CIWS to smash the target?

Edit, I found this…. No mention of proximity fuse. We've had those since WW2.

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I wonder how many 35mm rounds are needed to take down a Shahid drone. The wastage rate must be huge.
I would imagine that the electronic aimed Gepard, along with comparable AA batteries, will be far more efficient than older AA batteries.

Just imagine the excess ammo that would be used to down an target by a manually aimed AA battery like the Wirbelwind.
 
Gotta' cost less than a SAM.
I agree. I'm still surprised by the lack of a doppler proximity fuse. There is the Rheinmetall Wotan 35 ABM (air burst round) described below, but I don't know if Ukraine's Gepard has it.


AIR BURST AMMUNITION
Rheinmetall's airburst ammunition (ABM) is the ideal solution for contemporary vehicle main armament, ground-based anti-aircraft guns and naval applications. Based on NATO-qualified Ahead technology, each ABM round contains a large amount of sub-projectiles and a programmable fuse, which is supplied with data from the fire control computer via an electric fuse programming coil as it departs the barrel. After measuring the current velocity of the round, the electronics calculate the optimum detonation time, inductively programming each round as it passes through the muzzle. Since the ejection interval can be altered, the insensitive Rheinmetall airburst ammunition can be used to engage a wide spectrum of modern battlefield threats.
The ABM round is available in calibre 30 mm x 173 and 35 mm x 228.
 
I would imagine that the electronic aimed Gepard, along with comparable AA batteries, will be far more efficient than older AA batteries.

Just imagine the excess ammo that would be used to down an target by a manually aimed AA battery like the Wirbelwind.
Absolutely. Plus the trade off consideration of the damage they would do if not shot down.

The Ukrainian armed forces are a skosh more equipped
Forgive the 'other country lack of knowledge re terminology' here but is a 'skosh' bigger than a 'tad' ?
 
The Taliban are only an effective fighting force if they're fighting terrified civilians - there is no real comparison.

The Ukrainian military has emerged as a top-tier fighting force that honestly has few peers.
They are clearly in the hallowed halls of the f**k around and find out club, in company with Finland and Israel. So with that in mind, I do not see this conflict lasting another year.

Ukraine is gaining momentum along with newer weapons and a stream of fresh but highly trained troops while Russia is scraping the barrel for weapons and warm bodies.
 
The Taliban are only an effective fighting force if they're fighting terrified civilians - there is no real comparison.

The Ukrainian military has emerged as a top-tier fighting force that honestly has few peers.
They are clearly in the hallowed halls of the f**k around and find out club, in company with Finland and Israel. So with that in mind, I do not see this conflict lasting another year.

Ukraine is gaining momentum along with newer weapons and a stream of fresh but highly trained troops while Russia is scraping the barrel for weapons and warm bodies.
Add to that the financial aspect with 300 billion Euros of Russian central Bank reserves blocked in various countries (2/3 in EU).

70% of the Russian banking system assets are under sanctions and 20 billion euros of individuals and other entities are frozen overseas.

This seriously affects the Russian governments ability to purchase anything through the back door. They have lost access to overseas
funds while most of the companies or people who could have channeled money for them can't even access their own accounts.

The Russian economy shrank by 2.5% in 2022 and although it may even out this year Russia has missed out badly on the income
they would have got from higher oil prices (which they are partly responsible for but only partly).

Ukraine is benefitting from the economies of every country that is sending financial or material aid as most looks to be coming
directly from the economies of the senders.

This is another aspect where Ukraine is getting stronger while Russia is decidedly weaker.

Logistics are tied to economics and Putin has lost control of both.
 

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