Russian invasion of Ukraine | Fewer tweets, more discussion
- Thread starter Wednesday at Stoke
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Isn't it clear that RA would not be able to prepare like last year with all the equipment losses? That does not mean that the offensive is not on the way. Not that journalists would know what UA is preparing.
But, yeah, same guys probably said RA was not going to invade them last year, ironically...
Oh Olaf
What a bunch of morons. It's hardly surprising that Taibbi is all over Hersh's nuts though.
Looks like Prigozhin has been put in to place by Russian MoD as Wagner is terminating the recruitment of prisoners:
Excerpt from a military analysis of the type of jets Ukraine needs:
The Royal Air Force had exactly the right kind of airframe for such a task and had enough in stock to be able to offer some away to a friendly nation in need - the Tornado GR4.
Unfortunately, all of those aircraft were retired from service four years ago to save money.
The Royal Air Force had exactly the right kind of airframe for such a task and had enough in stock to be able to offer some away to a friendly nation in need - the Tornado GR4.
Unfortunately, all of those aircraft were retired from service four years ago to save money.
Come on Roger. Stick to music, even though you have to mime to your records when performing live.
You are embarrassed yourself.
It saddens me that I once paid to watch him. How deep he has fallen.
A friend send me this. Article in Croatian papers is just repeating that that journo has discovered American divers did the damage and Peskov said that story should be covered more. As I understand source of course is some unnamed source. Sounds legit. Was done in 2021 so goes nicely in hand with theories of US provoking the war and poor Russians just couldn't not go into Ukraine. They really didnt want to but were provoked.
https://app.handelsblatt.com/untern...w-ueber-den-export-des-panthers/28970680.html
I doubt that will really happen, but news is news... Rheinmetall is in talks about selling the KF51 Panther MBT to Ukraine. So far only a prototype of that exists, but Rheinmetall claims that they could start deliveries in 15 to 18 months (so summer next year).
The Panther is an industry initiative to create a successor to the Leopard 2, it rivals the government funded MGCS program which is a German/French cooperation led by Nexter and KMW. Rheinmetall is a junior partner in that program and apparently unhappy with it's role and the overall progress.
We have seen something similar before - Rheinmetall was involved in the state-funded and quite slow and expensive development of the Puma IFV and then created the KF41 Lynx as an IFV for the international market. The KF51 Panther in a way can be seen as its big brother.
So on one hand I doubt that this is going to happen, on the other we have already seen that Germany isn't shy to promise bleeding edge systems as soon as the general type of weapon system has got green light (IRIS-T SLM, RCH-155 as the successor to the PzH-2000)
I doubt that will really happen, but news is news... Rheinmetall is in talks about selling the KF51 Panther MBT to Ukraine. So far only a prototype of that exists, but Rheinmetall claims that they could start deliveries in 15 to 18 months (so summer next year).
The Panther is an industry initiative to create a successor to the Leopard 2, it rivals the government funded MGCS program which is a German/French cooperation led by Nexter and KMW. Rheinmetall is a junior partner in that program and apparently unhappy with it's role and the overall progress.
We have seen something similar before - Rheinmetall was involved in the state-funded and quite slow and expensive development of the Puma IFV and then created the KF41 Lynx as an IFV for the international market. The KF51 Panther in a way can be seen as its big brother.
So on one hand I doubt that this is going to happen, on the other we have already seen that Germany isn't shy to promise bleeding edge systems as soon as the general type of weapon system has got green light (IRIS-T SLM, RCH-155 as the successor to the PzH-2000)
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I've also been reading about this guy's attempts to discredit the Magnitsky Act, seems like he just works for Russian Intelligence.
Once this is over I expect Ukraine's Armed Forces to be updated with the all the very latest stuff, so they are a major world power. It will be important to deter any future occurrence and maintain security in the area, whether they join NATO or not.
Planning for this should have already begun, on top of aiding the current situation. So suggestions like this I think are more planning for that time period, as I suspect the abrams supply mostly is.
The hatred for Zelensky on twitter is unreal. But I guess that is to be expected since its the favourite nest of Russian bots and bloody idiots. I mean Ukraine has defied all odds, you'd think he deserves some bloody praise.
It has to be the latest Russian bot campaign because the general sentiment about Ukraine is pretty positive on most non Russian controlled social media.
Just like that, after months and months he has decided that? Smells fishy.
Still it is usually considered to be the best and most innovative German tank of WW2. Rheinmetall definitely sees the KF51 in that tradition. I hope by the time it may arrive this war is over, but if not, then at least this is the kind of technology that's far superior to anything Russia has available (or really anyone else). The 130mm L/51 cannon alone has 50% more power than the currently used 120mm L/55 of the most recent Leopard 2 versions, which already is more powerful than the older Leopard 2 or the Abrams( that's still using the L/44)
I don't know about that. So far, Ukraine hasn't received the very latest stuff from what I can tell with my very limited knowledge about warfare but pretty basic stuff by Western standards, respectively the high tech equipment arrived in rather small quantities. Which seems to be enough to ensure that they have a technological advantage in terms of fire power and intelligence despite being outnumbered. But I don't expect NATO and EU to provide them with gear that'll see them emerge into a major global power. I think there still are too many concerns about corruption and destability over Ukraine to provide them with weapons with which they could rival the stronger NATO members in terms of military leverage.
But there are first contracts in place. For example Ukraine got the first IRIS-T SLM air defense system that was produced. They will also be the first army to receive the new RCH-155 howitzer. They might be the first who get the KF-51 Panther MBT.
And that's just German systems.
Not going to argue against this since you're obviously much better informed on this topic than I am. Do you believe this gear (and what's hopefully still to come), will elevate Ukraine's army on a level comparable to, say, France or the UK? With my limited knowledge, that's what I would classify as "major world powers"
I'm more of a Panzer IV guy myself. The Panther was innovative and all, but it was completely over-engineered and unsuited for what Germany needed, and it kept breaking down.
Might be getting a bit off topic here.
At least in certain areas it does. Ukraine has ordered 100 PzH 2000 and 18 RCH-155 - these two orders alone give them a comparable number of armoured SPGs as the UK have. And that's just the contracts for new production, that doesn't take into account the dozens of different SPGs they already had before the war and which they are getting as support during the war.
What a cnut (Orban).
Not that I put any credibility into this, but we could do with a nice chunk of pro-Putin nuts in permanent exile away from North America.
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Trump wanted to buy Greenland - we could locate them all there and then scuttle the ships?What a cnut (Orban).
Not that I put any credibility into this, but we could do with a nice chunk of pro-Putin nuts in permanent exile away from North America.
It will make Vlad happy.
And me too.
Panther? Again? Wouldn't it be a good idea to avoid the Nazi WW2 naming scheme? Why can't they find any other names?
It's because they want to invade Greece again.
Your right about the concerns over corruption and stability. Conditions will of course need to be met to give western countries assurance that the latest tech won't fall into the wrong hands. Ukraine knows this, one US Senetor specifically commented on how impressed he was with their accounting of US aid after a trip to Kyiv: https://www.ibtimes.com/us-very-impressed-ukraines-accounting-military-aid-sen-king-3655136
It still no doubt plays some part in the decision not to supply the best gear right now, along with not wanting to piss off Russia too much and play into the war vs NATO narrative, rightly or wrongly. This costs innocent lives but it is what it is, difficult decisions.
I'm imagining a point in time after this current war, in whatever form that takes, hypothetical at this point in time of course, but looking toward world security for the long term. Ukraine will at some point be free to purchase arms from whoever is willing to sell, as any free country is. Two points on this:
1. It will be practically or literally written in their constitution to maintain maximum military deterrence against future Russian aggression, economy allowing, much like Israel or Finland post WW2.
2. NATO/the west will want them to do just that and therefore subsidise it. If Ukraine ever falls to Russia, it greatly increases the risk of a future conflict with NATO.
I'd also draw comparisons to Poland. Since Russia proved what a threat it now poses, Poland now has plans to build a military force that far surpasses the likes of the UK or France (Navy excluding of course) and they don't even border Russia. Ukraine will follow suit, they have to in my mind. NATO membership alone isn't enough, they need to ensure they can protect themselves on their own terms. We've all seen how fragile politics is and the threat someone like Trump poses.
How many cats do you think exist out there? Most of the German armored hardware since WW2 have had cat names and the list is already near exhaustion.
Nyancat would be a great name. Pussy too. Though sending pussies somewhere might be missinterpret
Actually a lot of other animals have been used to name German armoured vehicles. Cats have been mostly used for MBTs, with the exception of the reconnaissance vehicle Luchs (Lynx) and the IFV Puma if I recall correctly. There is a lot of other stuff, like the Fennek (reconnaissance vehicle), Buffalo and Wisent (ARV), Badger (combat engineering), Fox (APC), Mammoth (Tank Transporter) etc.
There is a deeper history here. The PzKpfw V Panther was designed as a reaction to the Soviet T-34. The KF-51 is explicitly designed as a reaction to the current Russian T-14. Nonetheless that reasoning might be a bit tone deaf, I don't disagree here.
"Ukraine could carry out strikes without U.S. help but because Kyiv doesn’t want to waste valuable ammunition and miss, it usually chooses not to strike without U.S. confirmation, the official said, adding that there are no complaints about the process."
East Germany will be free!