"All of Vlad's forces and all of Vlad's men, are out to put Humpty together again." (3 Viewers)

[buffnut453]

Um… why is a flight of B-52s flying without a pair of F-22s as escort? If the Russians are willing to shoot down a Malaysian airliner and ram US drones, why does the Buff think it's safe solo?


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KFGG9qgPxCk

There should be no need to escort any slow military aircraft (bomber, transport, AWACS etc) operating within international airspace. To do so is tacit acceptance that Russia has some ownership.

All that said, the manoeuvre by the Su-27 was a completely dick move. It was dangerous, contrary to good airmanship, and needlessly provocative. Then again, that's about what we're accustomed to from the likes of both Russia and China these days.

 

[Warspite63]

Um… why is a flight of B-52s flying without a pair of F-22s as escort? If the Russians are willing to shoot down a Malaysian airliner and ram US drones, why does the Buff think it's safe solo?


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KFGG9qgPxCk

That's a weird clip ... the first couple of minutes clearly show the SU-27s and the BUFFs, but around 3 minutes in, it shows MiG-29s .... with Blue and yellow roundels......and there's a caption saying the video (or part of it) dates from August 28th, 2020

 

[Admiral Beez]

.and there's a caption saying the video (or part of it) dates from August 28th, 2020

Dammit, why can't we trust the internet. Thanks for catching that.

 

[Warspite63]

Dammit, why can't we trust the internet. Thanks for catching that.

No worries ... the internet is a place of hidden pitfalls and traps

 

[Jabberwocky]

Um… why is a flight of B-52s flying without a pair of F-22s as escort? If the Russians are willing to shoot down a Malaysian airliner and ram US drones, why does the Buff think it's safe solo?

Because shooting down a USAF B-52 in international airspace would be a casus beli for direct US involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

 

[MiTasol]

Exactly. I'm responsible for global procurement at my employer's, and have moved the entirely of our necessarily-SEA purchases from PRC to Thailand, Malaysia and Taiwan.

The big boys are looking to do the same:

Apple accelerates plans to move more manufacturing out of China

In light of recent geopolitical unrest and COVID-19 lockdowns by the Chinese government, Apple appears to be ramping up plans to move more iPhone and MacBook production out of China to reduce risk. India, Taiwan and Vietnam are all likely alternatives.

www.computerworld.com

China is losing its place as the center of the world's supply chains. Here are 5 places supply chains are going instead.

Trump's trade war and China's COVID restrictions have pushed companies to move manufacturing out of China to places like India, Vietnam, and Thailand.

www.businessinsider.com

Companies Are Fleeing China for Friendlier Shores

“Friendshoring” is the new trend as geopolitics bites.

foreignpolicy.com

For things like twist drills I buy Indian. They are made of quality steel instead of plastic steel

 

[MiTasol]

I find political pomp and circumstance to be cringe-worthy, ridiculous, and hilarious, all at the same time.

Today's proceedings in Moscow had Putin and Xi enter a long, red-carpeted room from opposite ends, and then walk to greet each other in the centre.

View attachment 712290

Apart from an intense desire to hear the theme from "Love Story" while they walked towards each other, I have to question the sanity of men who think that this imagery is in any way positive. If I was Xi, I'd be saying "What? You want me to walk halfway down a room to shake hands...just to take photos? Sorry, but I have better things to do with my time!"

Am I missing something here?

Both have massive egos that fill the room so they need to walk slowly to let the egos blend

 

[MiTasol]

View: https://twitter.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1637745269289746437

Take it with a grain of salt, some sources say the first image is from 2020.

Which doesn't invalidate the conspiracy theory that Putin might have sent a double.

and the third one has a different nose shape

 

[special ed]

Using the old police method, Bertillon, the pic on the right is not Putin by his ears. Pics one and two are positive.

 

[Admiral Beez]

Because shooting down a USAF B-52 in international airspace would be a casus beli for direct US involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

The drone takedown wasn't?

 

[Jabberwocky]

The drone takedown wasn't?

There's a qualitative difference between destroying a thing and shooting down a manned aircraft.

 

[Admiral Beez]

There's a qualitative difference between destroying a thing and shooting down a manned aircraft.

IDK, we're perhaps two generations away from deploying large fleets of unmanned combat aircraft.

Meet the Future Unmanned Force | Air & Space Forces Magazine

Two new autonomous aircraft concepts that promise to redefine the Air Force’s unmanned fleet are moving forward.

www.airandspaceforces.com

Can a country shoot those down with impunity?

 

[manta22]

IDK, we're perhaps two generations away from deploying large fleets of unmanned combat aircraft. Can a country shoot those done with impunity?

The whole "Geneva Convention" will need to be re-written in the near future.

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Um… why is a flight of B-52s flying without a pair of F-22s as escort? If the Russians are willing to shoot down a Malaysian airliner and ram US drones, why does the Buff think it's safe solo?


View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KFGG9qgPxCk

1. Because it is international waters. Everyone has a right to be there.
2. We know Russia is not stupid enough to shoot down a B-52 over said international waters. Doing so would bring the US into the war. Putin is dumb, but he is not that stupid.

 

[manta22]

1. Because it is international waters. Everyone has a right to be there.
2. We know Russia is not stupid enough to shoot down a B-52 over said international waters. Doing so would bring the US into the war. Putin is dumb, but he is not that stupid.

Dumb is not the same as having bad judgement.

 

[Jabberwocky]

Looks like Ukraine is continuing to perform ground work for offensive operations in the not too distant future. Or, at the least they want to be seen as doing so.

OSINT and pro-Ukrainian accounts are showing a lot footage of Ukrainian artillery conducting strikes well beyond the front edge of the battle area.

HIMARS and other MLRS activity seems to be concentrating on headquarters and logistics targets, including ammunition depots, transport/distribution nodes and communications. A certain portion of strikes also appears to be focused on SAM/radar targets.

Tube artillery is still mostly used for front line support, but there seems to be more of a focus on counter-battery work in the last week or two. Particularly for large caliber stuff - there's been an uptick in reported numbers of towed and self-propelled 152mm and 155mm guns destroyed, as well as an increase in Russian losses of MLRS systems. Lots of 220mm systems destroyed, as well as smaller numbers of 122mm and even some 300mm launchers.

EDIT: Quick check of Ukrainian claims and visually confirmed losses shows Russian tube artillery losses have increased from an average of an average of about 6-9 per day at the start of March to about 10-15 per day as of the previous week.

 

[buffnut453]

That's a weird clip ... the first couple of minutes clearly show the SU-27s and the BUFFs, but around 3 minutes in, it shows MiG-29s .... with Blue and yellow roundels......and there's a caption saying the video (or part of it) dates from August 28th, 2020

Yeah, there's some definite weirdness to that video. Some of the footage is reversed - the MT tail codes (for Minot AFB - "Freezin's the reason!") on the Buff are backwards. Just before the MiG-29s, there's also footage of Ukrainian Su-27s.

That said, the dodgy manoeuvres at the beginning are definitely Russian. I just don't know when they happened....was it 2020 as per the later part of the video or is it more recent?

 

[buffnut453]

More money for Ukraine...wonder what strings might be attached?

Ukraine to clinch first IMF loan to nation at war

The $15.6bn financing package is expected to be approved in the coming weeks.

www.bbc.com

 

[J_P_C]

View: https://twitter.com/i/status/1638488137893552130

what next?? T-34??

 

[michaelmaltby]

For the first time (probably), the Ukrainian Air Force has provided the list of incoming missiles they can or can not shoot down.
According to the spokesman Yuri Gnat.
Intercepted:
Kalibr 3M14
Kh-101/555/55
R-500 (9M728)
Kh-59
Kh-35
Not intercepted:
Iskander-M (9M723)
RS-3B Smerch
Kh-22 (120 launches since Feb 2022)
R-800 Onyx
Kh-47 Kinzhal (said to be the most dangerous)
Kh-31P and similar short-ranged AGM

According to the spokesman, any Russian missile with a ballistic trajectory is impossible or the most difficult to shoot down. He included S-300 and Tochka-U in the "ballistic" list yet did not say clearly whether were they ever intercepted or not.

Original article (in Ukrainian):

Які ракети може збивати Україна та для чого нам F-16: інтерв'ю з Юрієм Ігнатом

Захист неба став одним з найважливіших елементів у війні України з Росією. Від початку повномасштабного вторгнення Росія намагалася придушити українську ППО, але зазнала невдачі, хоча й має набагато кращі літаки й високоточні ракети.

24tv.ua

... that is most interesting. Why do you think that such a 'Balance Sheet" was released now. Such vulnerability .... is this a picture for the West to see Russian escalation .. and do more?
But the government is perceived as transparent in this country and THIS info seems transparent, no?
Care to spec on possible motive for this?