Posted on 07/17/2022 3:00:06 PM PDT by AndyJackson
Good grief. They are selling off all their aid.
They are a great power. But they aren’t one of the two superpowers any more. Maybe in a few years you could say the same for us.
I think he was being sarcastic.
The fact is that the Russians presume that Americans will have air superiority and will fight through it. And, there is a difference between air superiority and air dominance, which is what we came to love and expect in our wars with goat-herders, who, it might be remarked, prevailed in the end.
We have forgotten what it is to fight against a peer on the ground man for man, inch for inch, building for building, artillery round for artillery round. And despite not being real peers, the Chinese handed us our ass on the ground in North Korea. We never figured out how to control territory in South Vietnam. Air dominance is a wonderful thing, but there is a lot of evidence that it is not a substitute for a real ground war, and it is awfully expensive. Very very expensive.
Over there, on the ground, on the Eurasian plain.
You mean like the Ukrainian army did? Russian combined arms has dwindled to Russian artillery with a few supplementary arms.
In the war in Ukraine, Russian artillery is ascendant, at the moment.
Lets see what happens in the next three months.
We will have a much better picture then.
Russia has a small economy compared to ours, and to most first world countries.... so in that regard, they might well lose to us or to China.
However, Russians are much more used to doing without, and are made of sturdier stuff than Americans. Man for man, without a vast technical superiority, we might find Russia to be a solid opponent. Many armies have marched into Russia, only to limp back out.
In a very short amount of time, manned planes will be relagated to the second-line and drones and drone technology will emerge as the primary offensive and defensive air projection means. Current American tech superiority in manned craft will be much less meaningful.
You might want to review that conclusion after Russia starts selling 100% of its natural gas, oil, wheat, and fertilizer ONLY to non-Western countries.
I don’t think they are overly impressed with our latest show of
superpowerness.
Correct. I was in Russia in 1998, and the grocery stores all resembled small American family-run shops of the 1940's, and most valuable products were behind glass. When I was relating to a Russian who came over here, she was utterly blown away at our typical grocery store.
She was most blown away by the variety of brands. In Russia, especially in the Soviet Era, you bought RICE. One brand. No markings other than identifying the product. You bought BUTTER. You bought BREAD. There were no competing brands.
Russian military maintenance and the corruption surrounding it utterly crushed the initial offensive thrusts. Couple that with completely incompetant use of tanks without adequate support, and it became a (surprising) bloodbath.
I would have expected the Russians to excel at war, but they got clobbered on tactics, logistics, and maintenance.
I trust the Chinese have taken notes and will perform much better.
You're either Russian or trying to influence us public opinion, or you're a non-Russian being paid to do so.
“Over there, on the ground, on the Eurasian plain.”
You mean in the vastness of Russia, between, say 30 degrees east longitude and the Pacific Ocean.
In such a scenario Russia would simply retire to its interior, and we would let them; we would not pursue them. What that does is just shrink the size of Russia. So, how is that defeating us on the ground?
Those are fair points. I'd just point out that nobody is discussing marching into Russia. The discussion is All about Us and other forces were spotting to a Russian invasion of other nations. Sort of like the Brits, the Russian personality/culture is predisposed to incredible tenaciousness on defense, but comparatively lackluster offensive performance.
And of course, the fact is that we do have a vast technological superiority. Also, tenaciousness of individual citizens aside, our military personnel are far more professional, well-trained, and disciplined than their Russian conscript and short-contract counterparts.
And the Deep State had the poor citizens of the US who had no idea what an expensive and frivolous and dangerous luxury the great crack den of the world has become. Hunter is actually our intellectual and moral leader. He is the face of America, what we are, what we have become.
The simplest and cheapest car on the Russian market, the Granta is assembled at the AvtoVAZ plant in Togliatti. Some typical customer reviews state that the car is “reliable and without problems” or that “I didn’t have big illusions and got what I expected.” A sedan without air conditioning costs 560,000 rubles ($7,800), and the LUXE version with a heated windshield, cruise control and an automatic transmission costs 780,000 rubles ($11,000).
You know what I kinda dig?
Almost to a fault, generally, when I make some observation or another on Free Republic, I seem to get 'Good point' or 'Fair observation' as a response.
We all need feedback; we all need to know that our view of reality seems to coincide with what reality really is.
I routinely get that here. I'm grateful. Tells me that my mind is still working well. :^)
Sort of like the Brits, the Russian personality/culture is predisposed to incredible tenaciousness on defense, but comparatively lackluster offensive performance.
Yes, though it was not always so. In WWII, the Soviet counterattacks on Nazi Germany were quite breathtaking in their success. They also did fairly well crushing satellite states. But lately.... not so great.
Also, tenaciousness of individual citizens aside, our military personnel are far more professional, well-trained, and disciplined than their Russian conscript and short-contract counterparts.
Of all the factors that set the American military apart, I'd say this is the most important. I think we'd excel against the Chinese for this reason, as well.
Russia has moved to a new tactic of attacking the “decision makers” though it appears one recent effort may not have succeeded. They launched a missile to bila tserkva (about 50 miles from Kiev where the government lives.) Don’t know what they were targeting; but videos are on the internet of a Ukrainian Mig fighter firing a missile at the missile before it could land. Quite impressive for a fighter jet to hit an inbound missile; area is obviously well protected...:-)
It appears that these 3 “decision maker” attacks are what prompted the Pentagon to order Americans out of Ukraine (and Ukrainian mayors to leave, too.) The Kiev and Odessa embassies are now closed and services will no longer be offered.
But, here are the details about the other two that did succeed.
House with officers: a meeting on the supply of aircraft was interrupted by “Caliber”
The Russian Defense Ministry announced the goals and results of the missile attack on Vinnitsa
UKRAINE RUSSIA DONBASS
Highlight
The Russian Armed Forces began to destroy the decision-making centers of the AFU of Ukraine on a regular basis. On July 15, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that the day before, Kalibr missiles had been struck at the House of Officers in Vinnitsa, when a meeting of the command of the Ukrainian air forces with foreign arms suppliers was held there. All present are destroyed. This is the second such strike in less than a month. On June 19, the headquarters of the Ukrainian group “Alexandria” was destroyed, more than 50 generals and officers died there. Experts note that the result of the missile attack on Vinnitsa was a serious blow to the existing system of aviation equipment supplies to Ukraine.
With one blow
On July 15, the Russian Ministry of Defense shared the details of the attack on the decision-making center in Vinnitsa.
“On July 14, Caliber high-precision sea-based missiles attacked the building of the garrison House of Officers in the city of Vinnitsa. At the time of the strike, a meeting of the command of the Ukrainian Air Force with representatives of foreign arms suppliers was held at this military facility on the transfer of the next batch of aircraft and weapons to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as the organization of the repair of the Ukrainian aviation fleet, ”said Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, official representative of the Russian Defense Ministry.
According to him, the meeting participants were destroyed. In Vinnitsa, a blow was struck at the decision-making center, which has been talked about a lot lately, said military expert Vladislav Shurygin.
“Destroying such groups of leaders is certainly a stroke of luck, ” he explained. “Their loss will lead to great disorganization. These are the best people in their industry, they know the situation well. The destruction of representatives of foreign military-industrial complexes is a serious blow to the entire existing supply chain, but, most importantly, to their planning. Now this work will have to be done again. It is also important that foreign leaders are now unlikely to want to go to Ukraine. As a result, the Ukrainian side will have to travel to many countries on its own - this will increase the time for decision-making. These are not fatal losses, but they will certainly throw off the rhythm of the process of delivering aircraft and weapons to Ukraine.
The destruction of representatives of the air forces of Ukraine is another success, he said.
“It takes years to bring up a competent commander,” he noted. - It will not be so easy to select competent and responsible people to replace them.
According to Vladislav Shurygin, the number of strikes against decision-making centers should be increased.
“In the armed forces, these include headquarters, starting from the level of the corps and armies,” he noted. - It is important to remember the centers where military-political decisions are made.
This is the second blow to decision centers in less than a month. On June 19, the military department reported that the sea-based Kalibr destroyed the command post of Ukrainian troops near the village of Shirokaya Dacha, Dnepropetrovsk region. At the time of the strike, a meeting of the command staff of the Alexandria group of troops was taking place there.
As a result, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, more than 50 generals and officers of the VFU were killed, including those from the general staff, the command of the Kakhovka group of troops, air assault troops and formations operating in the Nikolaev and Zaporozhye directions.
Interesting story going on about the “Kraken” (an AZOV battalion in Kharkiv who are responsible for torturing and murdering captured Russian soldiers.) They were ordered to move to the front line in Severesk and absolutely refused because they know the Russians are looking for them and they will not be taking prisoners from that group.
The Ukrainian command would not let them refuse the order and sent in some mercs who engaged in a battle with them. 6 of the Kraken officers were killed.
“Kraken” suffers losses
The Russian Armed Forces continue attacks on Ukraine’s military infrastructure. As a result of high-precision strikes on the points of temporary deployment of the 40th and 45th artillery brigades, the Kraken and Right Sector national formations (the organization is banned on the territory of the Russian Federation), about 570 nationalists, including about 50 foreign mercenaries, and 49 weapons and military equipment were destroyed the military department said.
And a lot of Europe.
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