OT: Putin's War in Ukraine

[Vespers War]

Originally Posted by kato13

I have read that (perhaps lower tech) ammo can come from Poland and Turkey (and perhaps Norway).

https://www.army-technology.com/cont...tion/mesko-sa/
Mesko produces 35x228mm which wiki says the Gepard uses. I have not found the Turkish manufacturer but they are 35mm users and I can see them producing locally.

Aselsan is a Turkish manufacturer. They make an airburst round with tungsten pellets as the payload. NAMMO also manufactures ammo in 35x228mm, although I'm not sure where, given their multinational nature. And Rheinmetall makes some types of rounds in that caliber. I think Romarm in Romania also manufactures high explosive rounds (and training rounds), but not the more advanced rounds.

[kato13]

Like I needed another reason to support Ukraine. Tapping into my (and perhaps some US policy makers) childhood nostalgia is brilliant.

Recent photos of disabled Russian vehicles in Ukraine

[shrike6]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REKLC3s30Mw


Admin edit. The need for this video led me to fix video embeds on the site (apparently YouTube changed the code a while back)

[Milano]

This is the best picture I have ever seen!

I am printing out a bunch of copies and replacing the photos in my wedding album. Maybe. I was just a kid when my Dad rented Red Dawn from Movies to Go. It may have been the reason why I got into Twilight 2000, or vice versa.

It has been my favorite movie since then, and I am at the least putting this as my screen saver...since my wife would probably eradicate my wedding tackle if I did anything to her album.

[kato13]

Fixed the youtube embed code, so we can see the scene that made us all love this movie. (starts 66 seconds in)




May the list of names on any future "Freedom Rock" be as short as possible.

[shrike6]

Originally Posted by kato13

Fixed the youtube embed code, so we can see the scene that made us all love this movie.

Thanks!

[Raellus]

I don't know how they're doing it. I wonder if they really are going to "fight to the end". What end? Will they surrender when their ammo runs out? When their food and water and medical supplies are exhausted?

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ed-steel-plant

They must realize that there will be no rescue. I suppose their main objective now is to tie down as many Russian forces as possible for as long as possible. Perhaps they're hoping for the kind of immortality won by Sparta's 300 at Thermopylae but, really, how many people are actually willing to go that far and fight to the death?

Whatever happens from this point on, I really admire their bravery and resolve. The Azov Battalion's (now regiment?) political origins and alignment are troubling, to be sure (those, I don't admire), but maybe this ordeal will somehow be redemptive, in that regard.

Do they fight to the death, or surrender with honor? What do you think?

-

[Trooper]

Originally Posted by Vespers War

Aselsan is a Turkish manufacturer. They make an airburst round with tungsten pellets as the payload. NAMMO also manufactures ammo in 35x228mm, although I'm not sure where, given their multinational nature. And Rheinmetall makes some types of rounds in that caliber. I think Romarm in Romania also manufactures high explosive rounds (and training rounds), but not the more advanced rounds.

Nammo is marketing 35 mm ammo for Oerlikon. So far, they have only managed to sell training rounds to Turkey.

History goes something like this. In early 90s Finland bought seven Marksman SPAAGs. Finnish policy was during that time that Finland should have production capacity to all calibers we have in use.

Only weapons that used 35 mm Oerlikon rounds were sixteen Oerlikon GDF guns and those Marksman tanks. Anyway, Vihtavuori made one batch of 35 mm ammo and that didn’t go too well. Oerlikon rounds are not easy to manufacture. Rounds should have small dispersion and high velocity. After some embarrassing incidents armed forces stopped using Finnish ammo and relied in Swiss quality.

Probably Vihtavuori (part of Nammo group) still have some capacity to manufacture 35 mm rounds, but probably it would be better that some “international arms dealer” just happens to find Swiss ammo for Gepard.

[swaghauler]

These drone strikes are being done by the Ukrainian made 8-motor quadcopters that they assemble from kits. The "bombs" are plastic bodies (to reduce loaded weight) with fixed plastic fins (made from sheet plastic found in craft stores), with a metal nose cone and "percussion/striker" detonator. The bomb's payload is 1/2lb of explosive and 2lbs of fragmentation material (everything from gravel to small metal fragments). The smaller drones can carry one or two bombs but the larger one Ukraine has started to make is capable of carrying up to 6 bombs. The control range is a few kilometers and the controller is a STANDARD (ie commercially sold) controller.

https://youtu.be/XQ4HxpQQ3Sg

Swag

[kcdusk]

Russian T-90 tank destroyed in Ukraine.


I'd love to know the story behind how this happened. Did the T90 rumble into view, & surprise an anti-tank crew who took an opportunistic shot?

Or was it seen a few days ago, and a Ukraine crew stalked it through the woods, before the kill shot?

Was it a one shot kill? Or many?

Did a soldier, or group of soldiers, have to act as bait?

So many backstories that fit our T2K world, and would be interesting to know.



https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ank-in-ukraine

[swaghauler]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

Russian T-90 tank destroyed in Ukraine.


I'd love to know the story behind how this happened. Did the T90 rumble into view, & surprise an anti-tank crew who took an opportunistic shot?

Or was it seen a few days ago, and a Ukraine crew stalked it through the woods, before the kill shot?

Was it a one shot kill? Or many?

Did a soldier, or group of soldiers, have to act as bait?

So many backstories that fit our T2K world, and would be interesting to know.



https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ank-in-ukraine

According to YouTube, it was killed by one of the OLDEST weapons on the modern battlefield! The Ukrainian military hit it with a Carl Gustaf Recoilless Rifle!

[Vespers War]

Originally Posted by kcdusk

Russian T-90 tank destroyed in Ukraine.


I'd love to know the story behind how this happened. Did the T90 rumble into view, & surprise an anti-tank crew who took an opportunistic shot?

Or was it seen a few days ago, and a Ukraine crew stalked it through the woods, before the kill shot?

Was it a one shot kill? Or many?

Did a soldier, or group of soldiers, have to act as bait?

So many backstories that fit our T2K world, and would be interesting to know.



https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ank-in-ukraine

Just to clarify, it was a surprise because it was the first known T-90M Proryv lost in Ukraine. Russia's lost at least 19 of the T-90A, which are an earlier variant (first ordered in 2005, while the Proryv was first delivered in 2020).

The best estimate of what happened that I've seen so far is that the Carl Gustaf shot hit one of the fuel tanks and started a fire in the rear of the tank, which spread until it set off the ammo carousel.

And here's where I note that Paul doesn't have the T-90M on his page, because of course I went to go check, and noticed the T-72B3 and T-72B3M are also not listed. (Also, the writeup on the T-90 implies the T-90A existed first and then the T-90S was a derived export version, when it's the other way around - the T-90S was sold to India in 2001, and then Russia bought the "export version" for themselves as T-90A in 2005).

[pmulcahy11b]

Originally Posted by Vespers War

And here's where I note that Paul doesn't have the T-90M on his page, because of course I went to go check, and noticed the T-72B3 and T-72B3M are also not listed. (Also, the writeup on the T-90 implies the T-90A existed first and then the T-90S was a derived export version, when it's the other way around - the T-90S was sold to India in 2001, and then Russia bought the "export version" for themselves as T-90A in 2005).

I've been busy updating EV pages; I haven't been paying attention to other vehicles; I guess I need to upgrade at least some of Russian Tanks...and US tanks, and British tanks, and US APCs, and British APCs, and International APCs, and Russian APCs, and Russian LAVs...I could go on, but I'll give myself a panic attack.

[kcdusk]

Paul: the way the "best way to travel overland" thread is going, your best bet is to prioritise a whole page on horse stats!

[Vespers War]

Originally Posted by pmulcahy11b

I've been busy updating EV pages; I haven't been paying attention to other vehicles; I guess I need to upgrade at least some of Russian Tanks...and US tanks, and British tanks, and US APCs, and British APCs, and International APCs, and Russian APCs, and Russian LAVs...I could go on, but I'll give myself a panic attack.

Yeah, it's going to be a project without end since there are always odd updates being done, even excluding the introduction of entirely new vehicles. At least everything I noted wouldn't be in use in a tradition T2K scenario - the T-90M was first publicly shown in 2017, while the T-72B3 dates to 2010 and the T-72B3M to 2016.

And on the theme of odd updates, the Polish T-72M1R that were sent to Ukraine have been fitted with mounts for Kontakt-1 ERA, with the armor blocks being provided by Czech Republic. The M1R has a thermal imaging camera for the gunner, improved radios, a new fire control system, and a battlefield management system. As a quick and dirty stat-up, I'd just use the T-72M1 with Fire Control increased to +3, Thermal Imaging, and a second PKT. The gun mount isn't mentioned as receiving any upgrades, so Stabilization remains at Fair. The Kontakt-1 ERA would add 80 to AV against HE only to the front and sides, and doesn't protect against top-attack munitions or mines.