Posted on 12/05/2022 2:58:50 AM PST by marcusmaximus
And you are happy that the Russians will react to this.
Like I said, what would we do if Iran or North Korea sabotaged
8 B-52’s at Minot or 8 B-2’s at Whiteman? Surrender to their demands?
D.oh.
@WarMonitor3 6h
Ukrainian forces are reportedly in final stages of development of an attack drone with a range of 1000km and warhead of 75kg.
Final stages would include DT (Developmental Test) and OT (Operational Test).
I would be most interested in the design specification, but would guess that it is highly classified.
My personal suggestions would include:
GPS/INS navigation
Terrain Following Capability
RWR with integrated defensive maneuvering
Terminal Guidance
Different types of warheads...blast for soft targets (parked aircraft & electric substations) and shaped charge for hardened targets (POL and ammo storage).
75kg of HE can do a lot of damage.
“Final stages would include DT (Developmental Test) and OT (Operational Test).”
I am willing to waive those requirements in wartime, under the “hurry up and kill those bastards before they kill us” exemption.
War is the most realistic operational test anyway.
There are certainly ways to expedite the process. For example:
Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) decision could be made after the first successful test flight.
DT and OT could be combined.
Etc.
I wonder what this new deep strike capability will do to Russia’s strategy of attacking the Ukrainian electrical grid?
It seemed to me that the drone attack on Sevastopol suppressed the Russian use of Black Sea launched cruise missiles significantly (although Naval missiles still came from the Caspian).
There has been much discussion about wearing out Russia’s stockpile of cruise missiles, but the launching platforms might be an even lower number to attrit.
Again, you miss the point.
What is the point of that inventory? When it was manufactured, what was it’s intended target?
If we are talking naval assets or air assets…then China would be reasonable.
Infantry and anti-tank weapons? We aren’t fighting China on land anytime soon.
Does Moscow believe that their missile attacks against indiscriminate targets are going to break the morale of the Ukes:
————
Moscow is precision bombing the electrical grids and military targets. The seemingly civilian targets are harboring Ukie arms and equipment…Remember the “ shopping mall” in Kiev, it had Ukie armor and trucks in the lower parking garage.
Make no mistake, Vlad is shutting down Ukraine, on his timing….he has been very restrained, he is now tightening the screws….and the inept West can not stop him.
The sub zero weather will accomplish his goals for him, in many different ways.
Russia needs to evaluate their overall strategy.
The first thing I would do is forward deploy enough S-400s to provide overlapping coverage of the border between Ukraine and Russia. (This could be tricky as this could bring the S-400s within HARM range.)
Then they need to decide whether to keep doing what they are doing. Or do they escalate.
My guess is Russia will continue what they are doing simply because they don't have the assets in place to escalate.
There has been much discussion about wearing out Russia’s stockpile of cruise missiles, but the launching platforms might be an even lower number to attrit.
BeauBo...this is one time where I would have to disagree.
I know that RU military are basically stupid, but even they would be smart enough to move their bombers east, out of range.
The point of the inventory is to defend our strategic national interests. We used to have a two and one-half war strategy when I was in the military a long time ago. We have now rationalized it down to one major war. We have no treaty obligation to defend Ukraine. Our national strategic interests are not a stake. If they were, we would have done more in 2014 after the US/NATO engineered coup of the duly elected Ukrainian government that spawned the separatist movement in the Donbas and the Russian invasion that led to the annexation of Crimea.
If we are talking naval assets or air assets…then China would be reasonable. Infantry and anti-tank weapons? We aren’t fighting China on land anytime soon.
Is China your only concern? What about other possible conflicts? If you review the weapons that are listed in the link I provided you, you will see anti-aircraft and anti-ship weapons, which would be helpful in defense of Taiwan. There are also radar and communications systems. Do you think the US should respond militarily to a Chinese invasion of Taiwan? How much trust do you have in the Biden/Blinken/Sullivan/Nuland/Austin/Milley brain trust to make the right decisions on national security issues? Do you believe what they are saying about Ukraine?
Raytheon CEO to @JenGriffinFNC on U.S. weapon shortages after 9 months of war in Ukraine: "We've essentially used up 13 years worth of Stinger production and 5 years worth of Javelin production. So the question is, how are we going to resupply, restock the inventories?"
The U.S. and Europe are running out of weapons to send to Ukraine
When Joe Biden became president 23 months ago, the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve contained 638,085,000 barrels. Since then, because of Biden's various oil releases, the SPR now contains 389,116,000 barrels (as of the end of November), a 39.01 percent decrease and the lowest level since 1984.
On Friday, Mike Sommers, the head of the American Petroleum Institute, told the Fox Business Network, "This should be a real concern for all Americans."
"The Strategic Petroleum Reserve has become the strategic political reserve. And we have grave concerns about how it has been so politicized," Sommers said.
"This is for emergency purposes, not to lower gasoline prices during a time -- during a political season. So, of course, it's important to make sure we have the proper reserves in the SPR."
Sommers warned that we may face another oil crisis in the next few weeks, "depending on what happens with the Russian sanctions, depending what happens with OPEC." (OPEC+ is expected to hold a virtual meeting on Sunday to discuss production quotas.)
Sommers noted that in 1984, when the SPR was at the current level, "we were using 20 percent less oil. So today, as the economy has continued to grow, we're going to need more in the SPR, of course.
The SPR's maximum capacity is around 714,000,000 barrels.
Losing their Black Sea flagship wasn’t a game changer.
Probably the russian navy junior officer who would have the answer to that question was later himself mobilized to the front and turned into sunflower fertilizer. Simple answer, “all”...
The Ukrainian war machine is running on empty because the 'west' can no longer provide weapons and ammunition in meaningful quantities. The chance to change that in any reasonable time frame is low:
“High-end conflict consumes a lot of munitions and a lot of weaponry,” Mike McCord, the Pentagon’s top budget official, said in an interview. “We are also looking at the supply chain limitations. We haven’t got this figured out just yet.”
Top Pentagon and industry officials maintain that efforts are finally ramping up to replace the weapons that the United States and its allies have shipped to Ukraine — depleting stockpiles that are deemed crucial to deterring China or other potential adversaries for years to come.
...
She cited recent deals for tens of thousands of 155mm artillery rounds that the Ukrainians are using up almost as soon as they arrive. By the spring, “we will be able to do 20,000 rounds a month,” she said.
20,000 rounds is what the Russian army uses in Ukraine on a quiet day. 40,000 rounds per day may be the average consumption, 60,000 rounds per day are fired when things get hot. It also produces enough to replace those rounds.
We have destroyed exponentially more “obsolete” US military hardware in recent times than anything we will ever give to Ukraine. Interestingly, the Putin pumpers never took umbrage at that. It seems that truly their only concern is Making Russia Great Again.
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