Posted on 02/05/2023 10:54:07 AM PST by ChicagoConservative27
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukraine’s defence minister expressed confidence Sunday that Western allies would agree to the country’s latest weapons request – warplanes to fight off Russian forces that invaded nearly a year ago.
Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told a news conference in Kyiv that Ukraine has already received everything from its “wish list to Santa,” except planes.
“There will be planes, too,” Reznikov predicted. “The question is just what kind exactly…. Consider that this mission is already completed.”
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
And are we going to flying them or do we give them a magic pill that gives them over night training?
M777 howitzers surplus to requirements. The 105mms are very much surplus to requirements.
So are Bradleys.
Stingers are obsolete. The US Army is now buying Polish Piorun.
Hawk, Avenger, M113, Humvee, MRAPs (Maxpro), TOW,
etc. are obsolete or surplus to requirements.
We can run down through the list if you like.
One thing the US SHOULD be sending is 400-500 M109 SP howitzers. Which are also surplus to requirements. And Ukraine is already using a bunch of them from Nato countries.
Next we’ll he flying them
Next we’ll he flying them
The Uke air force is over currently. And those F-16s looking to get high and shoot down cruise missiles will be right in the S400 envelope.
Nobody is going to do much in the air there unless it’s the USAF. And even they can’t unless they intend to conduct SEAD inside Russia.
The only ones panicking are supporters of US backed former state of Ukraine.
Ukraine Is Sinking, Are Western Elites Bailing Out?
https://www.veteranstoday.com/2023/02/04/ukraine-is-sinking-are-western-elites-bailing-out/
“The United States is not going to undermine its own interests to pursue the unachievable dream of expelling Russia from Ukraine. (Even the hawks no longer believe that is possible.)”
~~~~
“And, they will wonder why the US deliberately sabotaged a peace deal in March when the probability of a Ukrainian victory is near zero. The Rand report seems to anticipate all these questions as well as the ‘shift in the mood’ they will generate. This is why the authors are pushing for negotiations and a swift end to the conflict.”
Then all that stuff was surplus in 1991 then.
So it should be just fine to give it to Ukraine (or Poland, etc, they at least seem to think they need it), and moreover halve the US Army. Go from 20 divisions to 10, or less, and give their stuff to the Euros also. It should be OK if it was just all about “The long held dream of the Generals and neocons”.
Are you with me?
Zelensky is trying to get Putin to take a military response against the West. This he hopes will bring them in.
Good news, imo
“surplus to requirements.”
__________
You work for Forbes or Bloomberg?
You are the one that just posted Biden admin propaganda.
Your list sounds fancy, but the reality in most cases is when Biden says “276 Tactical Vehicles to tow weapons” he means a pile of 25 year old Dacia’s from a Romanian scrap yard.
No, it’s an evil obsession out of DC. DC neocons and some of the LeMay type Generals have been pushing for a war. They feel cheated that they never got the big game. The wars against small weak countries left them empty. Like if the Kansas City Chiefs were forced to only play high school teams.
Still flying dude.
S 400 envelope starts from @50 miles from Ukraine. They arent very mobile and subject to counterbattery, so cant get close. Coverage vs maneuvering targets is under 100 miles.
AMRAAM vs cruise missiles should be just fine to cover all the strategic bits of Ukraine without risking SAMs. Heck, even if one reserves the F16’s for deep coverage that lets you concentrate the SAMs further up front.
The Uke Air Force is suppressed. The are utterly ineffectual, rare, and uncoordinated at this point.
You are reading minds. Have you considered showbiz?
I have offered you a compromise - swords into plowshares and all that, smaller army and all. That should drive any Le May types nuts. But its no, apparently.
I wonder why
The discussions I read are all about fighter jets. I’m wondering if the venerable A10 Warthog might be of more use against Ukraine’s opposing forces.
Russian military doctrine has always been for overwhelming use of tanks and artillery which the A10 is uniquely designed to attack.
We can say the same about the Russians, who have rather less excuse. Thats because, the Ukes, like the Russians, cant deal with Soviet-era air defense. Both sides have that problem.
But the Ukes are flying around in their own airspace. They have functioning airbases and shops and etc.
The A10 is not well set up to deal with intense air defense environments. It had a role in the Cold War days when the threat was enemy tank columns running ahead of their own SAM umbrella, and the manpads of the day were pretty poor.
But unless the enemy has gone through a thorough SEAD treatment, thats not a possibility today. And since A10’s are all about low altitude weapons, modern manpads may be too much for them, and SEAD isnt going to suppress those.
These days I think the A10 should be looked at as a “colonial war” or COIN (counterinsurgency) aircraft. Not suitable for high intensity warfare.
bkmk
As an ex., the Soviet equivalent to the A10, the SU-25, has a hard time surviving while attempting CAS vs the Ukrainians. The Russians have stopped trying unless its a desperate case apparently. Its the manpads.
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