OT: Putin's War in Ukraine

[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.

[Raellus]

It's hard to believe that any Ukrainian helicopters got in or out of there during the siege. IMHO, those aircrews deserve Ukraine's highest decoration for bravery.

Inside Ukraine’s Daring Helicopter Missions Into Russian-Occupied Mariupol:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...upied-mariupol

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[Bestbrian]

The gear comes with a learning curve.

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/06/w...-training.html

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by Bestbrian

The gear comes with a learning curve.

Thanks for the link. I've long been wondering how the UAF has been keeping up with the profusion of donated weaponry (especially artillery and combat vehicles), and am concerned that a lot of this "new" gear will be rushed into the field before its crews know how to use it effectively. This concern has only grown with reports of Western AFVs and artillery arriving in Ukraine in increasing quantities. A week ago, it was reported that Norwegian M109s SPGs had arrived in Ukraine. A couple of days ago, the Russians posted video of a battery of said M109s being hit by rocket-deployed cluster munitions. That's a quick turnaround, with unfortunate results. It's one thing for the Ukrainians to employ systems with which they have familiarity and experience (like T-72 variants and Buka SAMs), but quite another when it's HIMARS and Leopard 2s (gracias, España!)

I posted this link over in the Out of Mothballs thread already, but it's worth sharing here as well.

https://twitter.com/UAWeapons?ref_sr...0408%2Fpage-10

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[ToughOmbres]

Earlier in the conflict the Russian Army seemed to have forgotten most of the lessons of World War II or even 1995 Grozny at least as far as Command and Control decisions.
This also seemed to apply to logistics-logistics stopped as many Red Army offensives as the Wehrmacht during World War II. Russian logistics seemed to be in really pitiful shape.
Fast forward to late June-the Russians seem to have rediscovered massive artillery pulverizing everything to perdition ala World War I or the Artillery divisions of World War II.
We'll see.

[kcdusk]

Russia version of the last submarine. Pun intended.

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

[Raellus]

Lysychansk fell to the Russians:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...-on-the-donbas

The Russians abandoned Snake Island:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...eadly-response

Ukraine might get replacement MiG-29s (from Slovakia) after all:

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...ir-patrol-deal

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