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

[GrauGeist]

Here's a good read on Ukraine's NCOs and how they changed the face of the invasion:

Ukraine's battlefield success surprised Russia, but US troops who trained Ukrainians saw it coming, National Guard chief says

Many expected a Russian victory over Ukraine in "a matter of days or weeks," but not US National Guardsmen, Army Gen. Daniel Hokanson said this week.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[buffnut453]

Has the fight to succeed Putin already begun?

Wagner Group leadership in disarray amid "significant" war losses: ISW

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was reportedly in a recent "altercation" with former Russian army commander and nationalist rival Igor Girkin.

www.newsweek.com

 

[GrauGeist]

Has the fight to succeed Putin already begun?

Wagner Group leadership in disarray amid "significant" war losses: ISW

Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin was reportedly in a recent "altercation" with former Russian army commander and nationalist rival Igor Girkin.

www.newsweek.com

Well, this should be interesting to see how it plays out.

Prighozin needs to remember that he's private sector and should not piss-off the military.

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

Maybe french fighters on the way to Ukrainia some time from now:

France Is Considering Transferring Fighter Aircraft To Ukraine

The Ukrainian Air Force says that talks also involve the possible transfer of advanced Rafale multirole fighter jets.

www.thedrive.com

 

[ThomasP]

putta-putta-putta, vroom-vroom, (buzz-buzz), BRRRRRT-BRRRRRT

 

[Admiral Beez]

Maybe french fighters on the way to Ukrainia some time from now:

Didn't France play this game with the LeCerc MBTs, saying they were considering to send some to Ukraine, and then everyone else sent MBTs, but France.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

I was surprised to read that Canada's Leopards are neglected. We have a Canadian division of Rheinmetall that was supposed to be focused on Leopard maintenance, shown below.

View attachment 704459

Rheinmetall

Rheinmetall Canada is a longstanding partner of the Canadian Armed Forces and offers innovative defence and security solutions and systems.

www.rheinmetall.ca

But if Ottawa doesn't pay them, they're not going to work. CAD$5.1 mil a year isn't going to keep 90 plus Leopards in good fettle.

Rheinmetall

The Government of Canada spent an estimated $45.4M in 2021-2022 on contracts with Rheinmetall. The average contract duration was 2.22 years, and the average contract value (not including contracts under $10k) was $5.1M. The longest contract was 8.05 years. The largest contract by value...

govcanadacontracts.ca

The phrase "penny-wise and pound-foolish" comes to mind.

 

[Admiral Beez]

The phrase "penny-wise and pound-foolish" comes to mind.

The CAF needs a total refresh and strategic rethink. The Leopard 2s were bought for the Afghan war. We're never going to deploy MBTs overseas again in anything but penny packets, and they should be disposed of - I'd donote the lot, after refurb to Ukraine. I'd like to see us consider the US' new easier to deploy light tank, the MPF.


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BdPmpidUbWo

It's the RCN and RCAF where desperate investment is needed. We need to replace the ex-Upholder SSKs with SSNs for sustained under ice ops. This means we must push to join and be invited to AUKUS. Those nations won't take a laggard like Canada until we get our forces properly funded and equipped, combined with a coherent strategy of what Canada wants to be, militarily in the world.

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

Didn't France play this game with the LeCerc MBTs, saying they were considering to send some to Ukraine, and then everyone else sent MBTs, but France.

If that kicks off the training and transfer of western jets I think is as good as the actual transfer of Mirages & Rafales

 

[Glider]

If that kicks off the training and transfer of western jets I think is as good as the actual transfer of Mirages & Rafales

I would worry about the Mirage 2000. I read an article a few month ago and it was with the assistance of the last unit flying the Mirage 2000. It was clear from the article that it had reached the end of its life and wouldn't be up to taking on modern Russian fighters

 

[RogerdeLluria]

Wagner Group promised Russian prisoners freedom if they fought in Ukraine — then buried them

Hundreds of graves on the edge of a small farming community bear the insignia of Russia's feared Wagner Group — yet some relatives say they did not even know their loved ones had been recruited.

www.abc.net.au

Yeah, their soul will be free from their earthly body.

 

[buffnut453]

Yeah, their soul will be free from their earthly body.

They have souls? Wouldn't have guessed that to be the case.

 

[Macandy]

Also, many of the Ukrainians fled or even turned sides during the initial invasion, especially during Russia's offensive from Crimea into the Kherson and Zaporizhia oblasts. Compared to Kyiv and Kharkiv those two folded quickly. Hopefully the UAF has weeded out those types from their ranks.

To be strictly accurate, the Russians had invested heavily in buying influence in the politicians of that region.
See things like the local Mayors not ordering the blowing of bridges across the Dnipro.

 

[Macandy]

There's a political cost in that equation that might be glossed-over here.

Well, Vlad has been very careful so far to utilise mostly village hicks from the sticks not conscripts from the metropolitan regions around St Petersburg and Moscow.
Its a Win-Win again for Moscow, rids itself of a whole generation of non slavic Urals and Siberian 'Russians'

 

[RogerdeLluria]

My understanding is that the Spanish Leopards are in such disrepair that they're essentially useless.

This is old news from August, and I guess those declarations were influenced by both, the far-left partners in the coalition government who oppose sending offensive weapons, and the refusal of Germany to send leopards at that time.

Here I mentioned that
There are apparently 53 "available" 2A4. Of those, about 20 require minor repairs and I guess those will be sent in a matter of a few months.
About 20 more require significant repairs and probably won't be ready this year.
The rest have been cannibalized for spares and probably can't be rebuilt.
Source (in Spanish)

Defensa entregará a Ucrania los viejos Leopard almacenados desde hace una década en Zaragoza

Robles dice que se está estudiando cuáles de los carros pueden volver a ponerse en funcionamiento

elpais.com

 

[buffnut453]

The Chally 2s won't be decisive in combat due to the small number provided....but strategically, I think their impact has been huge, opening the door for Leo 2 and Abrams.

Good to see more progress in getting modern MBTs to Ukraine:

Ukrainian servicemen arrive in Britain for training on Challenger 2 tanks

On Sunday, the Ukrainian military arrived in Great Britain to train on Challenger 2 main battle tanks. — Ukrinform.

www.ukrinform.net

 

[Escuadrilla Azul]

I would worry about the Mirage 2000. I read an article a few month ago and it was with the assistance of the last unit flying the Mirage 2000. It was clear from the article that it had reached the end of its life and wouldn't be up to taking on modern Russian fighters

The retired 2000 were the C version, older and unupgraded, lacking long range AAMs but with a limited guided bombs capacity but the AdA still operates the 2000-5F, a much improved version with long range AAMs.

Either one could be an improvement over the MiGs in use today by the UAF but I think that the importance of the announcement is that sending western fighters to Ukrainia isn't off the table anymore

 

[RogerdeLluria]

I would worry about the Mirage 2000. I read an article a few month ago and it was with the assistance of the last unit flying the Mirage 2000. It was clear from the article that it had reached the end of its life and wouldn't be up to taking on modern Russian fighters

Any product that reaches its end-of-life has to be properly recycled

Anyway, my understanding is that mig-29 and su-27 in the UAF are from the soviet era (maybe upgraded), so I guess those Mirage 2000 are probably newer and more capable than what Ukraine has now.

 

[Thumpalumpacus]

Well, Vlad has been very careful so far to utilise mostly village hicks from the sticks not conscripts from the metropolitan regions around St Petersburg and Moscow.
Its a Win-Win again for Moscow, rids itself of a whole generation of non slavic Urals and Siberian 'Russians'

Right. that's part of it. The other part is that another round of conscription will almost certainly arouse another round of protests.

 

[GTX]

Pentagon to ship Stryker combat vehicles to Ukraine

The U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed the country will supply its Stryker armored combat vehicles to Ukraine in an upcoming aid package. The U.S. announced on 19 January a new aid package yet, worth $2.5 billion, which includes 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers (APCs) with 20 mine...

defence-blog.com