Apparently, UKR plan to cross some rivers that have bridges that have been destroyed.
Here's a Video of the Bridge Laying Tank.
Here's a picture of the Bridge Laying Tank:
Posted on 12/02/2022 7:05:38 AM PST by SpeedyInTexas
This list only includes destroyed vehicles and equipment of which photo or videographic evidence is available. Therefore, the amount of equipment destroyed is significantly higher than recorded here. Small arms, ATGMs, MANPADS, loitering munitions, drones used as unmanned bait, civilian vehicles, trailers and derelict equipment are not included in this list. All possible effort has gone into avoiding duplicate entries and discerning the status of equipment between captured or abandoned. Many of the entries listed as 'abandoned' will likely end up captured or destroyed. Similarly, some of the captured equipment might be destroyed if it can't be recovered. When the origin of a piece of equipment can't be established, it is not included in the list. The Soviet flag is used when the equipment in question was produced prior to 1991. This list is constantly updated as additional footage becomes available.
(Excerpt) Read more at oryxspioenkop.com ...
Good sign!
“U.S. Unveils B-21 Raider, the Stealth Bomber Designed to Deter China”
“PALMDALE, Calif.—The Pentagon is poised to show off its first new bomber in more than 30 years, lifting the veil on the secret long-range jet intended as a central element in Washington’s effort to keep China in check.
Defense giant Northrop Grumman Corp. on Friday will provide a glimpse of one of the new B-21 Raider jets at a government facility north of Los Angeles, where its most sensitive military projects are developed and built, ahead of an expected first flight next year.
At a cost of about $750 million, the B-21 boasts a futuristic flying-wing design and is intended to fly thousands of miles to strike targets deep behind enemy lines, evading detection by the most sophisticated air defenses. The plane is the first part of the U.S. nuclear deterrent’s $1 trillion overhaul, which will also include new nuclear submarines and land-based missiles, countering China’s own expanding nuclear forces. The B-21 will carry conventional and nuclear arms, and could eventually fly without a pilot, Northrop Grumman says.”
“Cost: Maximum of $756 million per plane in
2022 dollars
First flight: Expected 2023
Service entry: Expected mid-2020s
Power plant: Pratt & Whitney
Top speed: Classified
Combat ceiling: Classified
Range: Classified
Weapons: Conventional and nuclear payloads
Fleet: Air Force wants at least 100
Crew total: Classified, but will later be
optionally crewed
Bases: Ellsworth AFB, S.D.; Whiteman AFB,
Mo.; Dyess AFB, Texas”
Apparently, UKR plan to cross some rivers that have bridges that have been destroyed.
Here's a Video of the Bridge Laying Tank.
Here's a picture of the Bridge Laying Tank:
Radar signature: Highly Classified
IR signature: Highly Classified
One of the B-2 lessons learned is "Crew Comfort". Some of the B-2 combat missions have been over 24 hours long. Facilities for a dual crew should be mandatory.
I hope they make enough of these to retire the B-52s.
Ukraine: military situation update with maps, Dec 1, 2022
(’Orc’ is associated with the various hoards of 13th century Mongol invaders, as well as LOTR evil villains)
War in Ukraine
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCP2QApi8G2TKc8NZmeDWSUg/videos
Artillery (key to success in this war), Fuller explanation of Orc military structure, Other Bonus articles - see previous postings in “Attack on Europe” (FR title search).
(Numbered printed material below - Some of the items below may be out of date, and not updated yet)
••Denotes Transcribed Dialogue. The entirety of the analysis is from a Ukrainian guy named War in Ukraine’s daily video - I only transcribe it. Extras are just that - from other sites, or my comments marked (Edit: .... )
-—> Current to date and past MAPS: <——
https://militaryland.net/
———————————————————————————————————————
Extras:
-—> Ukraine Situation Report: Russia Cracks Down On Military Reporting <——
A number of unclassified military topics are now being banned from public debate as Russia’s war in Ukraine has turned into a quagmire.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukraine-situation-report-russia-cracks-down-on-military-reporting
Excerpts:
Just in the past month, as of Dec. 1., according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense map and others, as seen below, Ukrainian forces have liberated more than 3,800 square kilometers (1,500 square miles) from invading Russians. That’s a landmass the size of Maryland and Massachusetts combined.
The frontlines in Ukraine continue to degenerate into what many observers of history would associate with World War I.
Ukrainian troops overran a Russian military position near the Svatove-Kremina front. The video below shows several abandoned Russian tanks, self-propelled howitzers, fuel trucks, and other equipment. Most vehicles look in workable condition, though it is difficult to tell in such a quick clip. The vehicles that are not damaged beyond repair could be repurposed for service with Ukrainian forces in future battles against their former owners or at least stripped for useful parts.
—
-—> Surge In Russian Bombers At Air Base Not As Unusual As Reports Claim <——
A review of months worth of satellite imagery shows a recent uptick in Russian bombers at Engels Air Base in well in line with known trends.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/surge-in-bombers-at-russian-base-not-as-ominous-as-media-claims
Excerpts:
Recent satellite imagery of Engels Air Base in western Russia has shown a very near-term increase in the number of Tu-95MS Bear and Tu-160 Blackjack bombers deployed there. This has prompted a flurry of media reports that claim a new massive cruise missile strike on targets in neighboring Ukraine may be imminent.
While this may be the case, additional historic imagery The War Zone has reviewed shows that the total number of bombers observed at Engels this past weekend is well in line with established trends in the force posture at this base since Russian forces first spilled over the Ukrainian border en masse in February. As such, these conclusions, based on very little data, are highly questionable if not outright unsubstantiated.
—
-—> Su-57 Felon To Enter Service With Elite Russian Air Force Unit <——
A historic unit in Russia’s Far East will be first to receive Su-57 fighters, but until then, its Su-35s are fighting in the war in Ukraine.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/su-57-felon-to-enter-service-with-elite-russian-air-force-unit
Excerpts:
After many delays and more than one mishap, Russia’s new-generation Su-57 Felon fighter jet is finally headed toward frontline service. The first operational - as opposed to test and evaluation unit - within the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS, to give its Russian acronym) to receive the new fighters will be the 23rd Fighter Aviation Regiment (Istrebitelnyi Aviatsionnyi Polk, IAP) based at Dzyomgi near Komsomolsk-on-Amur in Russia’s Far East. But it will likely be a good while until these advanced aircraft are able to take on regular combat missions with their new operators.
The regiment’s deputy commander, Lt. Col. Ilya Sizov, told the Eastern Military District newspaper Suvorovsky Natisk in November that the unit’s pilots are currently undergoing theoretical training on the Su-57 at the crew conversion center in Lipetsk. The 4th State Air Personnel Preparation and Military Evaluation Center at Lipetsk is tasked with conducting the military evaluation of initial batches of tactical combat aircraft, training pilots in the combat application of the aircraft, and developing air force tactics.
———————————————————————————————————————
Summary:
no major changes.
Key areas:
- Oskil river area: no changes.
- North Donbass area: no changes.
- Central Donbass (Donetsk West): no changes.
- Zaporizhya: no changes.
———————————————————————————————————————
••There were some some interesting information on Ukrainian state budget.
••Long discussion on Ukrainian money - skipped.
Ukraine is receiving financial aid from the West that really helps reduce inflation, then Ukraine buys whatever it needs abroad & it exports its inflation to the world. Ukrainian authority stated that Ukraine is needs extras 3 billion cubic meters of natural gas to get through the winter because there’s not enough natural gas & will cost about US$4 billion.
In May, the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian Parliament passed the laws that put punitive taxation on natural gas production and exploration in Ukraine. As a result, nobody invests, they just milk what they have and you have shortages of natural gas.
This is not much different than European policies, than policies in the US, in the developed world; this is pretty much the same like erroneous policies that lead to the same result, no matter where you are.
If you practice communism, you will get all of the typical things that come with it: the shortages, deaths, and famine and all of that; just for the record, for those who are new, don’t know Ukraine, it can be self-sufficient in natural gas - it used to have very big deposits of natural gas, they were depleted by the Soviet Union during during Soviet times, but there’s still enough for the country to cover its own needs, and especially since the needs went down tremendously.
It should be more than enough to the point that Ukraine could have exported the natural gas, but this is why I’m mentioned all the time that Ukrainian government, like all leadership, like Parliament, and president, they are a bigger danger to the survival of Ukraine as a country than Russia.
••Energy:
Think this way: that behind every unit of GDP, you have unit of energy, and as this unit of energy gets more expensive, you’re gonna have less GDP. Your personal standard of living will go down, no matter what; if you don’t have energy or energy is expensive, you’re gonna be worse off. It’s a very simple logical chain.
Finally, European Union passed the price cap for Russian crude oil, and its at US$60 per barrel; I don’t know where exactly Russian crude, Euros is trading, but its somewhere a little bit under Brent, and Brent right now is US$86. Euros is usually very close to Brent, if you take US$30 off, that’s going to be US$60 dollars, given that Russia is already selling to many of its buyers at US$30, maybe a little bit lower discount, this whole cap is is just political posturing, populism without really doing anything - not to mention, that I think its a bad idea; it gonna hurt everyone, but even what’s done is a scam. Natural gas in Europe that its going up: yesterday it was US$1,500, now its at US$1,700.
The problems there are not going away: in Europe specifically, they will remain - as long as energy policies that are are being implemented in Europe stay, then things will stay the same. Things will get bad, they will not get any better, there’s going to be permanent pain. There is a lot of deindustrialization in Europe happening now, because its becoming uncompetitive - its always about competition.
People think, European bureaucrats think they can somehow rule out competition, they cannot change the rules of life, the rules of nature, and nature is about competition. Europe is losing its producers to to the US, even though there are bad policies there as well, but they not as horrific as in Europe.
I will try to make that video about energy called, Energy Policy Situation over a weekend, because I promised three months ago. I go I haven’t done it, and I feel bad, so I’ll try to make it this weekend. To explain: what’s being done in Europe and in the West in general, to its extent, this madness even spreads to Russia & why this whole thing is not gonna work, and its has nothing to do with saving environment, and it has everything to do with economic exploitation of people who are not part of that.
The situation in Europe is getting somewhat worse: the LNG supply is not enough to cover the the needs, and the part of the reason the price goes up is because this so-called alternative energy is not reliable; there is not enough wind, you need more natural gas to generate the same base load of electricity. You draw more from the storage facilities, and as a result, the price goes up - very simple logic again.
However that is not enough, so there is announcement in France that there will be planned blackouts or shutdown of electricity from one from 8AM until 1PM and then from 6PM until 10PM. France is the first major country in Europe announcing that, and the other one is Estonia - the government there announced citizens need to be prepared to have intermittent supply of electricity. This is again results the same failed policies, and this is just the beginning - if the winter gets cold, you’ll see rolling blackouts across Europe; its not going to be as as horrific as in Ukraine, because that’s a different situation, but I’m sure it will not be comfortable.
••China:
Today, Xi Jinping met with Charles Michelle, head of the European Council; the message from Xi Jinping don’t interfere in our affairs, or else. You can see China is becoming more and more assertive on the world scene, and that probably will continue happening, more and more.
The State is trying to help or bail out real estate sector; real estate developers in China using the three State controlled banks in China. That doesn’t really help real estate sales which continue going down; you cannot stop this implosion, because this whole economy is much larger than what government has - its the forces of the nature versus a person, and nature always wins; the only positive effect is the slow down was much smaller only 0.3% in November.
However, the cumulative decline for January-November of this year is 42.6% - that’s huge and why you’re seeing the scansions in China, and you’re gonna see more more of more of those, eventually Xi Jinping will have to do something about it.
That’s a $1 billion question: what are they’re gonna do? They can direct all of this negative energy somewhere else to Taiwan, or whatever else they’re gonna do, or it’s going to be directed internally, which means potentially civil war or something similar, and because Xi Jinping does not have vision, does not have a solution on how to move forward, how to solve this problem, and how to continue economic growth in a positive way.
However, China is continuing building its alliances, and Xi Jinping is gonna is going to visit Saudi Arabia. He is going there December 7, and they will have a summit on December 9. He’s trying to build support, and he’s probably gonna offer to all of those Gulf States that are not really viable - military-wise, or just generally not working very viably - China probably is going to offer military protection for all of those regimes: Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE in exchange for realignment of those countries with China.
This is the same was happening before, except it was US that was offering military protection for these countries in exchange for cooperation and supply of crude oil to the West. Now, China wants to hijack or switch these countries to be dependent on Chinese military support.
That’s why Xi Jinping is going there, he’s definitely not going to accomplish that this time, but he’s gonna test the waters, if its possible, if its a viable option, if there is willingness in the Persian Gulf to switch sides from US or West to China, given there is a significant alienation between Saudi Arabia and US. It’s not guaranteed, but its worth a shot for the Chinese side, because the probability is not close to zero.
••Russia:
A Russian diplomat in Vienna formally announced that there is a triangle formed by Russia, China, Iran. What we’ve been observing now is more official: there is official triangle, this is one alliance, the core of it & is going to be more countries joining it in opposition to the West.
About the Russian crude sales: Pakistan came to Russia and proposed buying Russian crude, but they were asking for 30-40% discount but Russia said they are not gonna do that - just interesting to see how the world trying to take advantage of the Russian situation.
There was a also statistics released from Gazprom about its export its cumulative so its January-November. Gazprom lost 50% of its export - it used to be 200 billion cubic meters, now its 95 bcm; its significantly worse, the export of Russian natural gas is grinding down - now no more than 25% of what used to be.
The only option for the Russia to make up this losses is to export fertilizer which is natural gas converted into solid form, and for that reason there’s still negotiation to open the ammonia pipeline which is where money is liquid so there’s a negotiation that’s going on.
There are rumors that there is significant progress has been made - we’ll see probably next week or so if that is gonna happen. Ukraine is asking for the return of all of its POWs in return for opening this ammonia pipeline.
••Commodities:
Airbus announced that it will stop buying Russian titanium which is probably wishful thinking, because there is not much titanium on the world market - they announced they are buying it from from the US and Japan, but those countries don’t have their own resources. They get or somewhere else, and then they melt it.
If you remove Russia which has about 30% of the titanium market, the prices will skyrocket. The price for aluminum on London metal exchange also jumped to US$2,500 - that’s a renewed push up. Russia is one of the largest producers of aluminum, primary aluminum, not recycled aluminum, but brand new.
This is not gonna be helpful for inflation, and that’s another reason why inflation is not going away anytime soon, even though markets are extremely exuberant, since Tuesday or Wednesday when a speech by the Jerome Powell, head of Federal Reserve, which the market took it as the end of the air era of tight money & going back to what it used to be; the market its going to be severely disappointed pretty soon.
••Ukraine:
The power situation is remains difficult: not much improvements or Ukrainian energy distribution system is on its death’s bed, and another round of Russian attacks similar to what what happened on 23rd, and its just going to be done.
The mayor of Kiev who usually is not the most intelligent person, but this time he was very honest, which was very surprising, and he said we will not be survived, we will not be able to survive, all of these people in Kiev; no matter what, there is no way to to provide heat & all the basic infrastructure necessities to support a large population.
It is close to 2 million, that’s potential number of refugees that could could go; where they’re gonna go nobody knows, in the end maybe they will go to the West, maybe they will just disperse into villages across the Ukraine.
••Military Situation:
••North Luhansk’:
Things here are slowly changing into a situation where Russia is probably going to have the initiative pretty soon, in two to three weeks towards the end of December. There are no any major Ukrainian attacks. Ukrainian forces are trying to hold the ground, and Russian troops are attacking, trying to put pressure on Ukrainian troops.
I just want to talk about the strategic military developments. Russia has a lot of conscripts, and they will be hitting the front line in large numbers which will change the power ratio into Russian favor with soldiers, probably sometime mid-December - at the earliest.
Its not going to be just as one shot, but its going to be a flow & will increase significantly, starting sometimes mid-December, the amount of Russian troops will increase from mid-December through mid-January; there will be significant increase in the number of the Russian soldiers on the battlefield, creating opportunities for the Russian military command, and I’m pretty sure that they will try to use them to launch some offenses.
One of the areas that could be more likely is the Donbas front line, that’s a top objective, but everything is a question and we’re just seeing that beginning of that story unfolding, probably starting today we’ll see what’s gonna happen in the next couple days.
••North Donbas:
Wagner mercenaries are continuing their attacks so in the northern sector - no advances Let me like talk a little bit here what’s going on in the Kurdinivka area they captured a couple days ago.
There’s a water channel that brings water from Dnipro River to the entire Donbas, and the Wagner mercenaries are probably already clearing up this whole area, and they are going to be on the eastern side of the channel - its very logical that Ukraine choose to withdrew from there - and they are trying to push this whole area to continue moving NW along the channel, and the whole Ukrainian salient and around Vidradivka is probably going to be evacuated fairly soon, sooner than later.
If the front line is going to be a straight line, going south of Krishiva and going to this channel pretty soon. Which also brings us closer to the situation where Bakhmut is going to be outflanked, at least from the south, and there is an initial situation from the north, but that can remain stable as long as Russian troops are advancing, and and that’s creating significant problems for Ukrainian troops in Bakhmut - being able to hold on to it.
The bottom line: the chances of holding on to Bakhmut are going down for Ukrainian side; its not going to happen tomorrow, not in in five days, but in a month, we might be facing situation that Ukrainian troops will be on the verge of losing.
Especially this might be more true with the flood of new Russian soldiers to the front, creating, if not numerical advantage for the Russian side, then the number of the boots on the ground will be equal, and given that Russia has more equipment, quantity-wise, it creates opportunity for Russian side to exploit that situation.
••Central Donbas:
Things here also active the same idea is being repeated here, but around of Adivka so think about Adivka as another Bakhmut.
The same the same idea: outflank and force withdrawal from of Ukrainian troops from FDF come and then as a futile attacks in Marinka where Russian troops hitting their head against the wall, the difference in this whole area is (and why Russian troops are not as successful), is because these are regular Russian troops, not Wagner mercenaries, which are a much better military machine than regular Russian army, that’s why you see a better overall situation for Ukrainian side, but it doesn’t mean that its good.
It is also developing in the wrong direction, but at much much much slower pace; its going to be bad here & Ukrainian troops may need to evacuate in 3-4 months; the situation here is not under control, but the development negative developments are much slower.
••Zaporizhya:
The front line is always sleeping, the only difference is that looks like Ukrainian command start to bring the brigades from the Kherson group. Some of them, not not all some of them probably going to bahut area so we’ll probably see more a Russian side is probably doing the same. The only change known is the128th Brigade has been brought here somewhere to the the Zaporizhya front line - as I learn more about Russian developments I’ll update that as well, but I’m pretty sure that many of those units are already here, we just haven’t figured out where.
“NO THE ORCS ARE SUPPOSED TO FREEZE AND DIE!!!!! I WAS TOLD THEY WOULDNT HAVE MITTENS!!!”
https://twitter.com/liberalmonarch/status/1598421377379344395
“Don’t have to withdraw from Ukraine if there’s no longer a Ukraine”
https://twitter.com/defnotfsb/status/1598434248054153220
‘Zelensky plays with his Oscar while this is happening …’
https://twitter.com/MyLordBebo/status/1597655474588876800
.
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‘There are no losses in Ternopol...’
https://twitter.com/Surovikin_/status/1598598205935013889
In total, 334 airplanes and 177 helicopters, 2,592 unmanned aerial vehicles, 391 air defence missile systems, 6,930 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles,
905 fighting vehicles equipped with multiple rocket-launching systems, 3,642 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 7,431 units of special military hardware
have been destroyed during the special military operation.
Russia’s army leadership said (and believed) it had achieved parity with the US due to military reforms ... Only the Southern Military Command appeared to achieve goals.
—
When in truth, they had barely achieved parity with Ukraine.
The SMC only achieved its goals because A. Yermak, head of the unelected Ukrainian Presidential Administration which runs the country (Z being just a PR guy under Yermak’s thumb), ordered the extensive minefields, separating Crimea from the rest of Ukraine, removed.
But nonetheless all of them, Z and Yermak, are personally responsible by law for, not only the destruction of Ukraine’s economy, but personally responsible for the needless deaths of Ukraine soldiers in continuing suicide attacks, and for allowing the Military Command to get away with being a little Soviet Union in its failed defenses and attacks.
Inside Bakhmut frontline 'littered with corpses' and 'colossal' losses
The Ukrainian commander of the Svoboda battalion, Petro Kuzyk, whose unit is one of those holding Bakhmut said his soldiers are staying in trenches full of corpses, fighting in extremely cold conditions and in knee-deep water against Russia's attacks.
... "I apologise for speaking slowly now, because I'm very cold – it's making me dizzy. I've now left the first line (since I was called). I'm warming up in the car, I'm almost falling asleep, because I haven't slept all this time. They charged yesterday, quite seriously. They felt a weakness in our defence, because (I will not name the numbers of the units, so as not to spoil their honour) there are units that are less motivated than ours. And yesterday they weakened our defence a little in the area just around the Bakhmut. Some units could not withstand this artillery onslaught and retreated.
###
Aside from HIMARS Ukraine's front artillery has become smaller with less reach than those systems used on the other side. That will make it easier to counter it. Ukraine also has an acute lack of ammunition for those few weapons that still exist. It has long lost the artillery war.
The war in Ukraine is waged on an industrial level. But the 'west' and its Ukrainian proxy are not prepared for industrial warfare.
###
Ukraine and NATO allies facing 'major issue' amid heavy fight against Russian forces
A retired US general has pinpointed a "major issue" for NATO as the West look to keep up with ammo demands as fighting in Ukraine continues to eat up Western stockpiles.
Ukraine is burning through ammunition and shells at a faster rate than the West can maintain according to retired US Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.
The former commander believes that NATO lacks the industrial base to replace depleted stockpiles and Ukraine continues to demand ammunition to use against Russian forces.
Mr Leighton told CNN: "The defence industrial base of all these countries, the NATO countries in Europe as well as the United States it is really not built for this kind of war.
‘It is sad when entire Ukrainian units are wiped out just because they were sent straight into a trap against superior forces, by their British commanders.
Make peace now!’
https://twitter.com/DoctorGerhard/status/1598350919959281667
“European Union officials set Russian oil price cap at $60 a barrel”
“The European Union on Friday agreed to cap Russian seaborne oil prices at $60 a barrel, after several days of intense negotiations over an appropriate level.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/12/02/russia-oil-price-cap-g-7-outline-how-it-is-going-to-work.html
“Der Spiegel: Germany to provide Ukraine with 7 more Gepard tanks to ‘take pressure off’ debate on Patriot”
“In the meantime the carnage of mangled Ukrainians goes on.
The video shows a graveyard near an Eastern town. Most Ukrainian ex-soldiers, however, sleep in mass graves on foreign soil.
Their bodies will be returned when Kiev agrees to peace talks.”
https://twitter.com/DoctorGerhard/status/1598346792084578308
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Keep it up, FR warmongers and peddlers.....
“US planning to send several NASAMS air-defence systems stationed in Middle East to Ukraine”
“he US and its allies are in talks with unspecified Middle Eastern countries regarding a potential redeployment of some NASAMS middle-range air-defence systems from their territories to Ukraine, Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes said in an interview with Politico.
“There are NASAMS deployed across the Middle East, and some of our NATO allies and we [the U.S.] are actually working with a couple of Middle Eastern countries that currently employ NASAMS and trying to direct those back up to Ukraine,” Hayes noted.”
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