Posted on 06/19/2023 8:17:41 PM PDT by FarCenter
Some observers say that the battle now taking place in the Zaporizhzhya area of Ukraine is like the 1943 Battle for Kursk. Is that the case? Why does it matter?
The Nazi attempt to capture and defeat the Soviet forces at Kursk in western Russia was a massive undertaking, one that bears, in terms of armor, artillery, aircraft and manpower, no real resemblance in scale to the battle now raging in the Zaporizhzhya area. But by other measures there is a comparison to be made.
In Zaporizhzhya the Ukrainians are trying to establish bridgeheads with the ultimate goal, if they have success, of splitting Russian forces and gaining a position on the Sea of Azov.
The Ukrainians have some 12 brigades trained by NATO for this purpose. Nine of those brigades have Western tanks, infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), armored personnel carriers (APCs), mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) vehicles and plenty of other equipment.
The front is a long one and there are multiple battles going on as the Ukrainians are seeking a breakthrough against dug-in Russian forces arranged in defensive lines with significant depth.
In the Kursk battle, both sides deployed their air forces. Overall, the Luftwaffe had significant success on the battlefield – but at a very high cost. The Luftwaffe deployed fighters, ground attack aircraft and bombers.
The Russians also put up a good fight deploying hundreds of aircraft including the storied IL-2 Stormovik and the Lavochkin LA-5. In all, Russia lost 1,130 aircraft compared with German losses of 711. But Germany would have major problems replacing aircraft and having enough fuel to keep them in the air. Germany also lost some of its best pilots while, at the same time “green” Russian pilots learned from combat.
Kursk’s Operation Citadel featured the largest tank battle in history. The Germans had 2,700 tanks for this offensive; the Russians, 3,600. German tanks either destroyed or seriously damaged numbered 1,536. Russian tanks either destroyed or damaged numbered 2,471. Tanks were often repaired and sent back into action on the battlefield, sometimes two or three times.
Feld Marshal Eric von Manstein during a meeting with Colonel General Hermann Hoth, commander of the 4th Panzer Army, June 21, 1943. Photo: Wikipedia In the ongoing Ukraine battle, aside from drones and precision-guided long-range weapons such as the UK’s Stormshadow, the Ukrainian air forces have barely been in the battle.
The Russians however, have been using their airpower and their drones effectively. Most impressive have been the Ka-52 helicopters equipped with Vikhr missiles. The Ka-52s are fitted with directed infrared countermeasure systems (DIRCM), the Vitebsk L-370.
The Russians say the Vitebsk system has defeated a large number of Ukrainian man-carried air defense systems. The Ka-52s have knocked out many tanks, IFVs, APCs and MRAPs. In the last week Russia upped the number of helicopters in the battle.
Both sides are using aerial delivered mines (sometimes called scatterable mines). Mine clearance systems, including advanced ones supplied by the United States and other NATO and near-NATO countries (ie, Sweden) have not been successful. Recently the Ukrainians introduced an autonomous mine clearance vehicle that may be a captured Russian UR-77 mine clearer.
I have a “hunch” that is only my subjective assessment based upon my memory of daily loss reports (which, of course, may be exaggerated when it comes to reports of enemy losses). What i think has occurred is a reduction in the RATIO of number of REPORTED UKRAINIAN personnel losses RELATIVE to the number of REPORTED UKRAINIAN armored vehicle losses.
If that subjective assessment is correct, what I think it means is that once a danger to their vehicles is perceived the UKRAINIAN crews and passengers are leaving their vehicles to temporarily seek shelter/cover away from their armored vehicles. An armored vehicle STANDING STILL IS AN EASIER TARGET than one moving. This situation is resulting in an INCREASE in armored vehicles being destroyed or damaged without a corresponding increase in personnel losses.
https://kyivindependent.com/isw-28/
ISW: Ukrainian forces may be temporarily pausing counteroffensive operations to reevaluate tacticsby Olena Goncharova June 19, 2023 6:51 AM
The Institute for the Study of War quoted the head of the Estonian Defense Forces Intelligence Center Colonel Margo Grosberg who said on June 16 that "we won't see an offensive (operation by Ukraine) over the next seven days.”
The Wall Street Journal similarly reported on June 17 that Ukrainian forces “have mostly paused their advances in recent days” as Ukrainian command reexamines tactics.
These reports are consistent with ISW’s recent observations of the scale and approach of localized Ukrainian counterattacks in southern and eastern Ukraine.
[...]
No
This is a proxy war to hide China Joe’s massive corruption.
If we had an honest media, this madness would’ve never occurred.
A lot of folks have blood on their hands.
The Ukrainians gave away the timing of their offensive.
This allowed the Russians to invest defensive resources more efficiently.
Regards,
I did a dive into the Asia Times. Rather China centric is an understatement. Conspicuously absent is anything about the ownership, location or other such detail to to inform a or equip a reader on how to evaluate the objectivity of its so called reporting on much of anything.
Oh well…. I guess you gave Putinistas or trolls or whatever their shot of adrenaline for the the day. Long live the troll farms.
“Conspicuously absent is anything about the ownership, location or other such detail to to inform a or equip a reader on how to evaluate the objectivity of its so called reporting on much of anything.”
Asia Times used to be an independent outlet based in Singapore, but when they reorganized as an online-only outlet, they moved their base to Hong Kong. So now they are in effect captured by the CCP.
Thank you…
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.