• Thanks for stopping by. Logging in to a registered account will remove all generic ads. Please reach out with any questions or concerns.

The War in Ukraine


Many have been noticing these events and drawing the same conclusions for tens of months. Myself included. Yet the NATO establishment (at least publicly) are channeling a flock of ostriches. The Baltics Poland, Finland Sweden being the exception.

Add the repeated actual statements of Russian leadership and deliberate cruise missile or drone overflying (and even striking) NATO territory it seems glaringly obvious that even if NATO flat out refuses to acknowledge it, Russia has declared war on NATO.

Are they planning a mechanised breach and invasion of a NATO state, not soon. But what they ARE trying to do in my estimation is to weaken the trust and cooperation (such as it is) between NATO states and ideally make it even more dysfunctional than it is now.

Then in 20 or so years taking back former USSR republics becomes a lot easier and NATO's willingness (and ability) to stop Russia greatly decreased.

I am not factoring in the current state of affairs of the Russian army and its equipment as Russia has been on a total war footing with its economy converted to a war production economy - and these long term strategies and their current tactical operations were set in motion a decade ago or more and are part of a many year long plan. Fortunately Putins desperation has led to parts of the plan being implemented weakly or early and thus being discovered after the fact).
 
I note that Ukarine is adopting a interesting standardized "Cope cage". It appears to be able to fold and likley is meant to be dual purpose, meant to snag FPV drones and be used as a framework for cam nets. Likely Ukraine looked at the efficiency of several adhoc designs and adopted this as the best effect to weight/complexity ratio.

https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dbb39b4-8e0c-40f5-be73-9394f0b31832_1080x641.heic
 
I don't hang out on Telegram even though it is a well known maxim that you need to understand your enemy before you can beat him. I leave that to those with stronger stomachs and better protected psyche than I.

Using FPV drones to literally hunt down civilians in occupied areas around and in Zaporozhye is so far beyond the pale I just cannot comprehend the mindset. It is almost as bad as the OMON torturers using their knives on a live prisoners head like an apple trying to get a single long piece of skin. (Not exaggerating, was from an intercept of a troop to his mother in the first few months. He bragged that he finally had achieved it).

Russia is sick. The whole society. Individuals that manage to escape it physically may manage to become re-civilised, but the bulk of the population, and the entirety of its social structure are sociopaths (with a high percentage of psychopaths within it) who only know the language of force and dominance. It must be beaten so obviously and thoroughly that its structure can be destroyed and rebuilt over 2-4 generations. Unconditional surrender with a 'Marshal Plan' analog.

Rant off. Tine for a stiff drink. I almost hope I don't sleep tonight.
 
The Bread Guy said:
Big money, apparently, in fraudulent health chits to keep UKR folks outta the fight ....

Heads Of Military Recruitment Centers Detained Near Kyiv

The heads of two recruitment centers near Kyiv have been detained on suspicion of accepting bribes in exchange for exempting conscripts, Ukrainian law enforcement officials said on August 16.
www.rferl.org
Google translation of original UKR govt Telegram posting (archived link)
Click to expand...
This is a time honoured way to dodge military service.
 
Colin Parkinson said:
I note that Ukarine is adopting a interesting standardized "Cope cage". It appears to be able to fold and likley is meant to be dual purpose, meant to snag FPV drones and be used as a framework for cam nets. Likely Ukraine looked at the efficiency of several adhoc designs and adopted this as the best effect to weight/complexity ratio.

https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dbb39b4-8e0c-40f5-be73-9394f0b31832_1080x641.heic
Click to expand...
Two articles by Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo a staff writer for Defence News:

----------​

Cheap first-person-view drones now hunting larger prey in Ukraine​


Low-cost first-person-view drones are proving increasingly capable of striking larger platforms — such as combat helicopters — in Ukraine, as their pace of development has accelerated to allow them to fly faster and further.

On Aug. 7, the Ukrainian military released footage showing one of its unknown models of FPV drones successfully hitting the tail rotor of a Russian Mi-28 Havoc attack helicopter over the battlefield.

The hit represented one of the first filmed strikes on a manned Russian helicopter, in flight, using a Ukrainian FPV platform. While these variations of drones have been used widely across the battlefield, experts say efforts to use them to bring down larger, expensive aircraft have been previously unsuccessful.

“There were numerous attempts of Ukrainian FPVs trying to chase Russian helicopters before, but all such attacks were near misses,” Sam Bendett, a research analyst at the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses, said. “It’s difficult to pilot an FPV drone towards a military helicopter flying at high speeds.”

Although it is not possible from the available recording to certify the overall impact of the hit on the aircraft, Bendett says that the fast-paced evolution of these small drones and the ways they can be used should be watched closely by militaries globally.

“The sky over the [Ukraine] battlefield is now teeming with fast-flying FPVs hunting much larger prey, and assuming one can be piloted to the helicopter’s vulnerable part — like its rear propeller — major damage can be done,” he said.

Helicopters have proven especially vulnerable throughout the war in Ukraine, due in part to the proliferation of ground-based air defenses that have rendered manned flight across the battlefield extremely difficult.

As of July 27, Ukraine’s military intelligence unit, HUR, reported that Russian forces have lost up to 326 helicopters since the start of the invasion. Bendett notes that some of Moscow’s rotorcraft are larger and fly at slower speeds than the Mi-28, which could offer more occasions for a successful FPV attack.

FPV drones were introduced relatively early on in the war to fulfill different tasks. In late 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the country’s intention to produce one million of the platforms in 2024.

Whereas initially the drones had a significantly limited range, between 3 to 5 kilometers on average, Bendett says that number has expanded to 15-20 kilometers today.

The future use of FPVs in combat will likely involve them flying “in swarms and groups in order to overwhelm adversary defenses,” according to Bendett.

Beyond this, other military experts argue that the rise of this new threat alongside the already exposed vulnerabilities of helicopters will necessitate a reconsideration of the use and role of rotary aircraft.

“The future use of helicopters in combat can and should be rethought, especially with the growth of unmanned systems,” Serhii Kuzan, a former adviser to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, told Defense News. “It is quite likely that their role as strike means may change after the Russian-Ukraine war, as potentially this feature will be used by attack drones or even unmanned helicopters.”

----------​

And, from the Globe and Mail:

It’s about time Canada’s lagging counterdrone industry gets a revamp​


After years of underfunding, it is high time that Canada’s lagging counterdrone industry gets the revamp it desperately needs to effectively defend its skies against unmanned aerial systems.

This rapidly evolving technology, commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft that can fly without a human pilot. Drone threats come in many shapes and sizes, including miniature ones – dubbed “mini” and “micro” aerial vehicles in defence jargon – which weigh less than 250 grams.

The wide-scale deployment of these weapons in the Ukraine war has military experts warning of the serious threat they pose to civil and military targets, as their low-altitude flights allow them to operate outside traditional radar coverage and go undetected by existing air defence systems.

“We’re seeing the pervasive use of micro and mini drones on the battlefield in Ukraine and every major military is taking note – they are cheap, fast and the technology is evolving on the time scale of months rather than years,” Jae Daniel, co-founder of AIM Defence, a Melbourne-based anti-drone company, told me.

The Canadian military seems to be paying attention. Concerns about the country’s military readiness to confront new threats from adversaries were voiced by the new Chief of the Defence Staff, General Jennie Carignan, during a press conference after her appointment ceremony in July.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is increasingly conducting exercises with a focus on countering these unmanned systems. One official told me at a recent training event in Romania that they view small drones as one of the most significant current threats in military conflicts.

Canada recently became the fifth NATO country to test above-the-horizon lasers to defeat drone threats in open space as part of the Innovation for Defence Excellence and Security (IDEaS) program’s Counter Uncrewed Aerial Systems contest in Suffield, Alta.

Dubbed the Sandbox, the three-week initiative was organized by the Department of National Defence (DND) and the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to accelerate the testing of a variety of counterdrone technologies.

Three prior editions have been held at Defence Research and Development Canada’s Suffield Research Centre, as it possesses one of the world’s largest outdoor laboratories, with about 500 square kilometres of terrain, essential for conducting these types of demonstrations. Participants hailing from Canada, Australia, the United States, Israel and Britain competed for three monetary prizes based on their performance and growth potential as assessed by the DND and the CAF.

“This was the first time that directed energy [weaponry] was allowed to enter the Sandbox – prior years have focused on more traditional defeat technologies, such as jamming and bullets,” said Jessica Glenn, the other co-founder of AIM Defence, which took home the $1-million first prize. Fractl:1 was the system brought by AIM, which integrates a high-power laser with the company’s own AI tracking system, able to precisely target specific parts of the drone and neutralize it from more than a kilometre away.

“During the testing, a provided ‘Red Team’ flew a range of drone types, including first-person-view, fixed-wing and quadcopter drones, in different patterns and with different payloads – some of these were representative of real-world engagements and others were designed to safely push the edges of Fractl,” Ms. Glenn said.

The joint second-place prize went to Canadian company DARIT Technologies and the University of Toronto’s Prandtl Dynamics, which both won $375,000.

High-energy lasers are optical devices that produce a very focused beam of light, through which they can destroy an unmanned aerial vehicle’s electronics. These systems have gained interest in recent years owing to their lower cost and their ability to mitigate threats more quickly than other counterdrone technologies on the market.

According to Matt Ceh, who was the lead defence scientist at this year’s contest, Canada is increasingly exploring this type of equipment, as lasers “can provide a solution that minimizes collateral damage when compared to guns.”

While investments in both research and development in the counterdrone sector should have been made years ago, these types of events and the expansion of the IDEaS program are a good indication that Ottawa is taking drone threats seriously.

In order to be a technologically advanced fighting force, as highlighted in the latest national defence policy, the DND and the CAF must double down on efforts to match the pace of drone proliferation. This begins by dedicating greater funding to the maturing industry and committing to acquiring effective weapons.

Dr. Daniel said his company is hopeful that their win will represent the beginning of a long-term partnership with the Canadian military.

Ultimately, what will be paramount is for the DND to translate this testing and interest into concrete orders to acquire a variety of counterdrones systems. Only then will Canada be ready to protect soldiers from the imminent threat posed by drones.

----------​

For information and consideration by those who are far better informed than I about UAVs and the modern, 21st century battlefield.
 
Colin Parkinson said:
I note that Ukarine is adopting a interesting standardized "Cope cage". It appears to be able to fold and likley is meant to be dual purpose, meant to snag FPV drones and be used as a framework for cam nets. Likely Ukraine looked at the efficiency of several adhoc designs and adopted this as the best effect to weight/complexity ratio.

https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F6dbb39b4-8e0c-40f5-be73-9394f0b31832_1080x641.heic
Click to expand...
But, does it work against mosquitoes?
 
nice timing Germany!


NATO once again proving how serious they are
 
suffolkowner said:
nice timing Germany!


NATO once again proving how serious they are
Click to expand...
Time for Spain, Italy, France and even the UK and CAN to step up if the US and Germany cant or wont deliver right now?

www.ifw-kiel.de

Ukraine Support Tracker - A Database of Military, Financial and Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine

The Ukraine Support Tracker lists and quantifies military, financial and humanitarian aid promised by governments to Ukraine.
www.ifw-kiel.de www.ifw-kiel.de
 
Good2Golf said:
Things are about to get real in Kursk…Goat Brigade to deploy new technicals into theatre…
Click to expand...
Just another example of Elon Musk attempting to support Russia, shocker.

Mind you think will probably degrade their forces more so…
 
suffolkowner said:
nice timing Germany!


NATO once again proving how serious they are
Click to expand...
some clarity on the German decision



www.ifw-kiel.de

Ukraine Support Tracker - A Database of Military, Financial and Humanitarian Aid to Ukraine

The Ukraine Support Tracker lists and quantifies military, financial and humanitarian aid promised by governments to Ukraine.
www.ifw-kiel.de www.ifw-kiel.de

sad when Russia gets support from NK and Iran
 
an update to the sloppy leaky sanctions on Russia

 
From UKR prez's chat of the night: hellooooooooo, we need some "weapons free" on the long-range stuff, please ....
... We are doing everything to provide our warriors with the necessary weapons and reinforcements. And in this regard, it is undoubtedly important for us that our partners remove the barriers that prevent us from weakening Russian positions as required by the course of the war. The long-range capabilities of our forces are the answer to all the most important, to all the most strategic issues of this war. The courage of our warriors, the resilience of our combat brigades are currently compensating for the lack of necessary decisions by our partners. And we could effectively deprive the occupier of any opportunity to advance and wreak havoc if our long-range capabilities were sufficient.

We will intensify our diplomatic work. We will insist on the need for bold steps, bold decisions. We need things that truly change the course of the war, leading it to a just peace, to a real conclusion – the kind of conclusion we need. And we need all of our partners, who can really help, to do so. This includes the United States, the United Kingdom, France and other partners.

In particular, we have seen throughout this war that the United Kingdom has shown real leadership. In weaponry, in politics, and in supporting the life of Ukrainian society. This is what has saved thousands of our people. This is what reflects the strength of the United Kingdom. But now, unfortunately, the situation has slowed down. We will discuss how to fix this. Because long-range capabilities are a matter of principle for us. And the entire world sees how effective Ukrainians – our whole nation – are when defending their independence ...
Click to expand...
And some UKR border townies a bit ... underwhelmed at hosting RUS guests from next door.
www.rferl.org

Will Ukraine Embrace Russian Refugees? Border Residents Are Not Excited

Skepticism prevailed in the Ukrainian border city of Sumy when locals were asked about government plans to accept refugees from Russia's Kursk region. Officials have said that civilians displaced by Ukraine's ongoing military incursion in Russia could be relocated and offered humanitarian aid.
www.rferl.org
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

George Wallace
SEP 2024 - Kiel Institute Report - "Fit for war in decades: Europe's and Germany's slow rearmament vis-a-vis Russia"
2
Replies
26
Views
5K
Kirkhill
Kirkhill
Yrys
US base priority target for Russia
Replies
3
Views
1K
lenaitch
lenaitch
Kirkhill
Europe
3 4 5
Replies
87
Views
5K
Kirkhill
Kirkhill
Blackadder1916
    • Like
    • Insightful
What will medicine on the battlefield look like?
Replies
9
Views
3K
KevinB
KevinB
Kirkhill
    • Insightful
Short War Illusion
Replies
0
Views
965
Kirkhill
Kirkhill
Back
Top