War in Ukraine

Putin mocked for ‘using body double’ as Ukraine minister spots odd chin clue

 

https://www.usnews.com/news/world-r...t-claim-victory-in-ukraine?rec-type=blueshift

US military and private think tanks not exactly propping up Russia’s chances, with some caveats.

 

More likely an indicator that Russia can buy the munitions from China at a cheaper cost than what it costs to produce them at home.

 

That might be a possibility, but I doubt you actually think that’s more likely.

 

The US will take 2-3 years to ramp up to producing the same number of shells that Russia fires in three or four days. The US cannot win an industrial war.

 

Artillery shell production for Ukraine is ramping up right here in Scranton, PA. WW1 shell producion facility is getting spit, polish and a big Gov't check to "ramp up" - currently at 6,000 shells every 5 days with an expansion program in the works to increase that by 10X.

On average Ukraine shoots 6,000 large caliber rounds per day.

The Scranton experience is not a "one off" - the US and NATO allies are increasing spending on military infrastructure projects to support Ukraine.

Whom would you rather have ramping up production and supply? N Korea and China or Western Europe / USA? LOL I know whom my choice would be.

Abrams Mfg. facility in Lima, Ohio, was down to 100 workers a few years ago and was basicly turning out an M1A1 "tank upgrades" (not a new tank) of 1 tank per month. There are now 1,100 working and still expanding. I can't find production totals but it's more than 1 upgrade a month, that much I am sure of.

 

“Bakhmut will go down in military history as the graveyard of the Ukrainian army.”

— Col (ret) Douglas MacGregor —

 

Just like Lend-Lease, this is a good way to ramp up production to wartime goals before we jump in with both feet.

 

Must admit I am a bit confused by the strategic and tactical situation in Ukraine.

Russia is making SLOWWW progress in some theaters. So slow that progress is measured in metees or yards.

Ukraine? One day I hear - time to get out of Bahkmut NOW! Followed the next day that Ukraine may be about to launch an offensive there or perhaps further south.

Given the current situation I am not impressed with Russia's supposed offensive. An offensive that apparantly is stuck in place. Russia has two pincer's in place at Bahkmut separated by 2 kilometers. Been that way for weeks now. Very little progress to close the vice.

I would like to see what a Ukrainian offensive on the battalion level (44 main battle tanks and associated armor, artillery and infantry support) could do.

I suppose we shall see.

 

Indeed. We know what this glacial “offensive” has cost Russia in time. We don’t know what it has cost them in casualties.

A “battalion” sized offensive is not very big, by the way. The division is the chess piece for this war, and an offensive of any note would involve at least two corps, say, four to six divisions (based on the open-source information available, this was the size of Ukraine’s force involved in the Kharkiv Counteroffensive). For scope, Germany launched the Ardennes Counteroffensive (aka Battle of the Bulge) with 30 divisions, and a total of 33 Allied divisions (larger and more fully manned than German equivalents) were involved by the end of the battle.

 

You have to love the name of the Russian installed head of the area's administration:
Ihor Ivin. This guy REALLY needs to change his middle name to "4."

 

How Russia and China overtook the West

 

seems the Russians have learned they are way exposed with long thin lines with their inability to logistically keep up. The strategy has changed back 75 years to slow attrition. Don’t over extend. Grind out the Ukrainian best soldiers then roll over the replacements

 

Except if that is their strategy, then they don’t seem to be doing that well either. Reminds me of Muschamp’s strategy to win ball games by winning time of possession. He certainly did the latter, but it never translated into the former.

 

hard to tell. As we all know the first casualty in war is the truth. I don’t believe much of what either side says is going on.

 

A virulently anti-Russian site’s estimate of Russian dead actually pretty much agrees with the Russian MOD’s estimate ...

Mediazona and BBC News Russian confirm that more than 15,000 Russian servicemen died in the full-scale war’s first year — Meduza

Why no estimates from Kyiv ?

 

Russia says jet scrambled as US B-52 bombers fly over Baltic Sea

Hard to say what happened here, but missteps, misunderstandings, or misrepresentations can have big consequences in this high stakes situation.

 

Real information is hard to come by.
Especially truth.

I simply base my opinions based on the battle maps and location of forces.

Generally speaking I believe them to be fairly accurate.

Those maps "to me" suggest a grinding war of attrition not unlike the battlefields of WW1.

Until the lines "move" it appears to be a terrible killing zone. My instincts tell me Ukraine is playing a clever game of having Russia engage, and then exhaust itself.

As long as Ukraine makes every meter a costly man and equipment venture for Russia I think that's the general plan until the mobilization of NATO equipment is in place for a serious counter offensive.

Uftaipan - Thank you for the force correction. I like your full blown divisional concept! Why play around!!!

 

U.S. tanks to arrive sooner rather than later. We will give Ukraine our older Abrams tanks instead of spending time and money to downgrade our newest version of the tank. I'm a little surprised that the army didn't think of this before. Was Captain Obvious not in charge of this decision?

The older tanks should also be easier to operate and maintain.

US speeds up Abrams tank delivery to Ukraine war zone

I don't know why we aren't sending a couple hundred Abrams tanks, unless the Pentagon thinks that would be overkill. We have something like 5,000 of these things.

 

Blinkin rebukes Russia and China. Worried that the war might not go on forever ...