"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (12 Viewers)

[GTX]

After Losing a Leg, One Ukrainian Army Officer Is Mad At His Commanders. But He’s Not Mad at His American-Made M-2 Fighting Vehicle.

The M-2 saves Ukrainian lives. After Mykola Melynk stepped on the mine that took his leg, an M-2 speeded in to evacuate him.

www.forbes.com

 

[GTX]

White House announces Ukrainian Defense Industrial Base Conference | InsideDefense.com

The U.S. government intends to host a two-day Ukrainian Defense Industrial Base Conference next month that aims to connect industry representatives with government officials to “explore opportunities for co-production and other industrial cooperation in Ukraine,” according to the White House...

insidedefense.com

 

[GTX]

Included due to the comments on proposed use of A-10s for Ukraine:


View: https://youtu.be/a4wOer4UIhA?si=hdtqqfznyrIxb-fe

 

[fubar57]

Ukrainian sniper destroys record for longest kill

A Ukrainian sniper and special operations serviceman from the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, successfully hit a Russian soldier at 3,800 meters (2,36 miles), establishing a new global record for a successful sniper shot. The previous record stood at 3,540 meters. To substantiate this...

defence-blog.com

 

[GTX]

Australian man fighting with Ukraine killed in Russian artillery strike

An Australian veteran is among several foreign soldiers killed by a Russian artillery strike during recent intense fighting in eastern Ukraine.

www.abc.net.au

 

[fubar57]

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

 

[MiTasol]

When my wife and I were in Baden-Baden we heard similar stories about how rude Russian tourists were. At one spa they no longer allow Russians there.

There have been a lot of news items recently on how Bali and Thailand have had a gutfull of rude Russian draft dodgers and are making it difficult for them to arrive and stay.

The Russians I have worked with were good people so Russian people are like any others - mostly good with a layer of scum.

 

[GTX]

I missed this one a month or so ago:

Ukraine's military has invested heavily in resilience training. The ADF should take note

To prepare their soldiers for the psychological challenges of combat, the Ukrainian military has developed a sophisticated resilience training program. Its insights may be very valuable to other militaries — including the ADF, writes Mick Ryan.

www.abc.net.au

 

[GTX]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=La4aM82Kexc

 

[Admiral Beez]

Included due to the comments on proposed use of A-10s for Ukraine:


View: https://youtu.be/a4wOer4UIhA?si=hdtqqfznyrIxb-fe

The A-10 is significantly slower than the Su-25. With prolific proliferation of MANPADS, speed matters. Ukraine needed the A-10 in Feb and March 2022 to smoke that undefended convoy that stalled outside Kyiv. But in 2024-2025, the A-10 will get shot out of the sky, wasting pilots that would otherwise be piloting F-16s.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Presumably Russia will continue laying tens of thousands of mines in front of the two likely Ukrainian routes, that of the Tokmak and Kherson City counteroffensives. Ukraine has three options: go through, around or over the minefields. How feasible are any of these?

 

[GrauGeist]

The A-10 is significantly slower than the Su-25. With prolific proliferation of MANPADS, speed matters. Ukraine needed the A-10 in Feb and March 2022 to smoke that undefended convoy that stalled outside Kyiv. But in 2024-2025, the A-10 will get shot out of the sky, wasting pilots that would otherwise be piloting F-16s.

The A-10 (as has been exhaustively explained many times prior), has new threat upgrade countermeasures that protect it from portable (man and fixed) surface to air ordnance.

And again, the fact sheet for the A-10C is provided:

A-10C Thunderbolt II

The A-10C Thunderbolt II is the first Air Force aircraft specially designed for close air support of ground forces. They are simple, effective and used against light maritime attack aircraft and all

www.af.mil

 

[MiTasol]

But any factsheets put out before Feb 2022 said that Ukraine could not last three days against Russia.

Factsheets are, at best, someone's analysis and it only needs one of a hundred factors to be given the wrong value and the whole thing comes crashing down.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The A-10 has countermeasures that protect it from portable surface to air ordnance.

It doesn't matter. Ukraine wants F-16s that can engage targets while still behind Ukrainian lines. The A-10s plodding circuits over the front in 2024-2025 would put the pilots at great risk, especially when drones are seemingly doing the same anti-armour role the A-10 was designed for, but at zero risk to the operator. This is the future for Ukraine.

 

[Snautzer01]

To compare A-10 with a drone is a bit much.
A drone can kill a tank. A-10 can kill a lot of them. It has also a lot of other tricks in its sleeve.

 

[Admiral Beez]

A drone can kill a tank. A-10 can kill a lot of them. It has also a lot of other tricks in its sleeve.

Given that Russia has to date lost something like fifteen thousand tanks and AFVs, I don't think Ukraine is lacking in anti-armour capabilities. What Ukraine needs is a means to get through, around or over the "Surovikin Line" and its hundreds of thousands of landmines and defensive works.

If Ukraine can achieve aerial and anti-air superiority over their Tokmak-leading salient in western Zaporizhzhia, then I agree the A-10 could do wonders to tear the Russians defending Tokmak apart. That's where the F-16 would help.

 

[Snautzer01]

I see what you mean. And agree

 

[GrauGeist]

Yes, the A-10 was deadly against AFVs, but it was also superb in scouring trenches, hardened emplacements and entire city blocks infested with lurking enemies.

 

[Admiral Beez]

I'd like to discuss how Ukraine's offensive to Melitopol and how the AFU can overcome the land mines and fortifications between their current salient and Tokmak.

Is going through the minefields the only reasonable way forward? How can Ukraine pull that off? Most, if not all mine clearing and other engineering vehicles are slow moving and need air superiority to order to operate without getting destroyed. So, that means Ukraine must wait until its air force is significantly updated, likely by autumn 2024.

What other options are there? Can you go over or around the minefields?