Russia's War Against Ukraine

[GDS_Starfury]

I wonder how much of a resource draw all of this is for the soviets.

[Con]

That should work and is a pretty low cost solution that allows them to keep AD on the front lines
Id say both sides have an innate sense of ingenuity around this war that NATO and others should take note of
Con

[Uberhaus]

That should work and is a pretty low cost solution that allows them to keep AD on the front lines
Id say both sides have an innate sense of ingenuity around this war that NATO and others should take note of
Con

It looks like it could defeat smaller drones, however, a heavier drone in a vertical dive wouldn't be stopped by the 2-3" steel pipe.  Hopefully, the Russians will be wasting a tremendous amount of resources on this that could otherwise be directed to the direct fighting.  Maybe they could top the structure off with a solid disk of 6" thick steel to protect against kamikaze dives!
I'm not sure if the towers are new with ECM capability; there are three of them (two with antennas) but maybe someone in the know can say they are just for diverting lightning.

As to curbing innovation, the US criticized China during its high level meetings.  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-68905475

Mr Blinken told the BBC that one of the key routes for "better relations" between China and both the US and Europe would be for Beijing "or some of its enterprises" to stop providing "critical components" that help Russia make more munitions. The components include items such as "machine tools, micro-electronics, and optics".

"It's helping Russia perpetuate its aggression against Ukraine, but it's also creating a growing threat to Europe because of Russia's aggression," he explained, adding it was "helping to fuel the biggest threat to [Europe's] insecurity since the end of the Cold War".

"We've taken action already against Chinese entities that are engaged in this," he said. "And what I make clear today is that if China won't act, we will."

Mr Blinken - who hinted at sanctions as a possible route - was keen to stress that China was not directly supplying Russia with weapons.

Even Canada could have helped the Ukrainian cause greatly by providing an alternative to Russian oil and gas, wrecking the Russian economy.  However, the PM would not.  https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/touting-clean-energy-pm-trudeau-questions-business-case-for-exporting-liquefied-natural-gas-to-europe-1.6037556  Even after being approached by German, Japanese and US leadership, the Canadian PM would not go back on his anti-petroleum campaign.  This was short sighted because he would have had considerable leverage to forge a new international agreement to develop technology to reduce and eliminate carbon release, rather than clinging to the broken Kyoto Protocols that only he follows.  This is pie in the sky, but imagine a summit led by US, German, Japanese and even Canadian leadership to tackle Russian aggression and carbon emission.

No, I am not smoking what he decriminalized.

[Uberhaus]

Kazakhstan has sold Soviet aircraft to the U.S., likely to go to Ukraine for decoys and spares. https://ca.news.yahoo.com/us-buys-81-soviet-era-145127753.html

Not a great success for their old Russian masters, who see Nazism at work. 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the central Asian country in March 2023, where he said that the US "strongly supports Kazakhstan's sovereignty, its independence, its territorial integrity," according to news agency AFP.

Some of Russia's outspoken propagandists have suggested that Russia should look to Kazakhstan next following its invasion of Ukraine.

One notable Russian TV commentator, Vladimir Solovyov, said that his country "must pay attention to the fact that Kazakhstan is the next problem because the same Nazi processes can start there as in Ukraine."

[JasonPratt]

Well, for a change of pace inspired by the Ukrainian War apparently, but in a truly awful way, let's check in with Korea!

https://youtu.be/2eTvSUJhxuw?t=528

The forum engine wouldn't let me hit the time mark at all with the YT insert button, and YT itself gets spotty doing it this way. But it's at 8:48 of the Enforcer's news update today. Here's the overall link if the other doesn't want to play ball:

(I did test the timing link and it looks correct however.)

[GDS_Starfury]

overview of the current front line with maps:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1784666963060412882.html?utm_campaign=topunroll

[ArizonaTank]

Ukraine says F-16s will begin operations as soon as this week.

Some sources have been talking about an increase in Russian CAS in recent months due to a Ukrainian shortage of short range SAMs and MANPADs. Some have even attributed recent Russian success to this fact. So it will be interesting to see if / how F-16s move the needle on that dynamic.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/surprise-f-16-update-issued-by-ukraine/ar-AA1nYDLB?ocid=msedgntp&pc=NMTS&cvid=ea2385b56e184e989ec6aa04d58f606a&ei=6

[Jarhead0331]

I thought Ukrainian military officials said they needed the F-16s in 2023 and that employing them in 2024 wouldn't be the "right time"?

https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-f16s-russia-air-defenses-1886769

[ArizonaTank]

I thought Ukrainian military officials said they needed the F-16s in 2023 and that employing them in 2024 wouldn't be the "right time"?

https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-f16s-russia-air-defenses-1886769

I guess we shall see. You would think the Ukrainians would want to deploy initially as part of some greater effort. But if it is true that Russian CAS is currently hammering the Ukrainians...maybe 'the truth has changed.' I don't hear the Ukrainians talking about an offensive anymore...they seem to be just trying to hang on.

[FarAway Sooner]

I'm sure that the Ukrainians would have loved to have been able to employ F-16s in combat earlier.  But my sense is that this particular comment came because in 2023 there were still some hopes for a more fluid battlefield, and a high-value platform like the F-16 could have been MUCH more useful in that environment than for the war of attrition we see today.

Like it did to you, that very comment stood out to me when I read that Newsweek article this morning.  I viewed that earlier Ukrainian comment as an expression of frustration and cynicism intended for political consumption, as opposed to an incisive military insight intended to inform Americans about the battlefield.

It's also my sense that, among those who weren't just interested in pimping F-16s as the latest wonder weapon that would win the war for Ukraine (there were plenty of journalists doing THAT), operational F-16s would have been at their best IF the Ukrainians had been able to clear an alley free of SAMs between Ukrainian air space and the Sea of Azov. 

I forget the exact details or the weapons loadout, but I recall reading that the promised F-16s were coming with weapons systems that could prove VERY useful in hunting down Russian transports and in menacing the Kerch Street Bridge.  This could have been a game-changer in terms of severing supply lines to all Russian troops in and beyond Crimea.  It also would have put additional strain on Russian abilities to fly CAP over the battlefield, which currently relies on a very limited number of Mi-31s with standoff weapons capabilities.

[JudgeDredd]

...I don't hear the Ukrainians talking about an offensive anymore...they seem to be just trying to hang on.

I don't blame them for focussing on holding on. They haven't had the support they needed for a few months now and, frankly, I'd be sceptical of long terms support from the West.

I think for every 15 shells the Russians could send over, the Ukrainian's could fire 1...something like that.

[JasonPratt]

2023 Falcons were never going to be realistic, due to the training needed for flight and combat, and needing quite a bit of coddling on the ground. If I recall the realistic timetable correctly (which I might be mis-remembering), getting them now would be a few months earlier than expected, so 

I would suppose Russia's focus against them will be going after the runways and ground support they need.