Posted on 03/24/2022 12:35:11 PM PDT by Zhang Fei
Edited on 03/24/2022 1:22:06 PM PDT by Sidebar Moderator. [history]
He described the advantage Ukrainians enjoy in night-vision technology. When I told him I’d heard the Ukrainians didn’t have many sets of night-vision goggles, he said that was true, and that they did need more. “But we’ve got Javelins. Everyone’s talking about the Javelins as an anti-tank weapon, but people forget that the Javelins also have a CLU.”
The CLU, or command launch unit, is a highly capable thermal optic that can operate independent of the missile system. In Iraq and Afghanistan, we would often carry at least one Javelin on missions, not because we expected to encounter any al-Qaeda tanks, but because the CLU was such an effective tool. We’d use it to watch road intersections and make sure no one was laying down IEDs. The Javelin has a range in excess of a mile, and the CLU is effective at that distance and beyond.
I asked Jed at what ranges they were engaging the Russians. “Typically, the Ukrainians would wait and ambush them pretty close.” When I asked how close, he answered, “Sometimes scary close.”
I wasn’t in a position to verify anything Jed told me, but he showed me a video he’d taken of himself in a trench, and based on that and details he provided about his time in the Marines, his story seemed credible.
In my earlier conversation with Zagorodnyuk, as he and I went through the many reforms and technologies that had given the Ukrainian military its edge, he was quick to point out the one variable he believed trumped all others. “Our motivation—it is the most important factor, more important than anything. We’re fighting for the lives of our families, for our people, and for our homes. The Russians don’t have any of that, and there’s nowhere they can go to get it.”
I still do not believe much about what I read. But if Russia doesn’t win this war then Russia’s only claim to fame is its nuclear arsenal. In a very real way, it ceases to be a global superpower.
“Our motivation—it is the most important factor, more important than anything. We’re fighting for the lives of our families, for our people, and for our homes. The Russians don’t have any of that, and there’s nowhere they can go to get it.”
I have posted that repeatedly. Honey badgers vs cannon fodder. Same big advantage the Israelis have when cannon fodder are thrown at them.
When you don’t control the sky over your own country you have no advantage.
Yep, this is from the Atlantic l am convinced there is BS is raining down from all sides. We just don’t know what is really going on. We do know the rats and their little buddies in MSM is using the Ukraine to distract from the dumpster fire Biden has caused.
Sorry, already Russia has shown the world that its military is a paper tiger: incompetent, poor at intelligence, planning, tactics, supply lines, leadership and even technology.
Russia had no idea itself how incompetent it was, or it never would have entered Ukraine.
Russia is a superpower only because it has nukes.
And that makes it more scary than ever.
Read an article that Ukraine paid a Russian $10,000 to desert and hand over his tank.
And that Ukraine is offering “Western citizenship” (whatever that means) and money to desert the Russian army.
That’s got to be tempting given the lower morale in the Russian army.
“control the sky over your own country “
I suppose you have not heard of anti-aircraft missiles. They are a thing.
“I told him I’d heard the Ukrainians didn’t have many sets of night-vision goggles, he said that was true”
—
But not to worry, every Ukrainian soldier has been Borg-retrofitted with night vision implants. Just another reason why they’ll be defeating the Russian military within days.
All Ukrainian cities and towns should put that up on billboards at the outskirts.
[And that Ukraine is offering “Western citizenship” (whatever that means) and money to desert the Russian army.]
Turks and Mongols are apparently highly overrepresented among Russian casualties. In other words, the population ratio might be 1:6 whereas the death ratio is 6:1. And some of the Russians are guest workers from the stans who were essentially shanghaied:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/4049150/posts
On to Kamchatka!!
I don't think that there will be a lot of Russian energy in the form of natural gas or oil flowing West through Ukraine, unless the EuroDummies get tired of hammering themselves in the face with The Sledgehammers Of Economic Stupidity.
The new crop of unicorns should just be reaching maturity when the Russian oil and gas contracts with Europe expire.
A poor conventional capability will make the use of nukes more likely, not less.
The Russians do not control the sky over Ukraine.
Certainly, they have control over much of the air, much of the time.
They do not control low earth orbit. The Ukrainians (and everyone) sees almost everything they do.
The Russians see much of what Ukrainians do, but it is more difficult for them to separate the civilians from the military. That gives the Ukrainians an advantage.
We will not know how this works out for a while, and we will not know much of the details for years.
Had never heard of the place, scenery looks great though. Prob cold as freak much of the year though.
It’s easy to forget how big Russia is and , before that, how much ground the USSR covered in it’s heyday. Was 11 time zones or the like, if memory serves.
The offshoot of that, is if their military is in a shambles,
it has only one massive weapon to fall back on.
That’s not good for anyone.
Granted it would be less adventurous, you would hope.
You mean just like us after Afghanistan.
Oh,you mean like we threw down our weapons and ran from Kaul like beaten dogs, which our leaders are? We, too, are no longer a super power.
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