War in Ukraine

back to the war in Ukraine,

UK is providing a large assistance package including paveway bombs, a uk version of the jdams previously provided. these should help with any sort of counterattack and pairing them with f-16's will give them greater range than the platform ukraine is currently having to launch jdams from


Ukraine is getting a new type of laser-guided bomb that can pummel 'soft' Russian targets, analyst says (msn.com)

Britain is giving Ukraine a cache of Paveway IV bombs as part of its latest aid delivery, its defense ministry told Business Insider.

Paveway IV bombs are dropped from planes, and weigh in at around 500 lbs. They have laser guidance that means they can operate even in bad weather, or through enemy smoke screens, per the UK's Royal Air Force.

 

longer range atacms already in play. Will they take out the crimean bridge with them? lot of ukranians have died and suffered because these were withheld for so long. if ukraine could have taken out fuel, ammo, and C & C centers within 150 miles of the lines, russia could not have mounted the offensives they have. weird justification that they agreed to release them after russia got NK missiles.

Strategic Shift: Ukraine Launches First Strikes with US-Supplied Long-Range ATACMS Missiles (msn.com)

Ukraine’s military has significantly improved its counter-offensive capabilities by deploying long-range ballistic missiles secretly provided by the United States. This is the first reported use of the long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) against Russian forces, targeting strategic locations in occupied Ukrainian territories, such as a Russian military airfield in Crimea.

The introduction of ATACMS, which can strike targets up to 300 kilometers (approximately 190 miles) away, almost doubles the range of previously supplied mid-range weapons. This leap in striking distance enables Ukrainian forces to reach deeper into occupied territories and target logistical and command centers without breaching the frontline. Admiral Christopher Grady, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated, “long-range weapons will help Ukraine take out Russian logistics nodes and troop concentrations that are not on the front lines.”

The decision to supply these weapons comes after President Joe Biden approved the delivery in early March and included a “significant” number in a $300 million aid package. The Biden administration has faced mounting pressure to enhance Ukraine’s firepower as Kyiv rationed weapons amid acute shortages and escalating Russian attacks. Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, have been vocal about the necessity of long-range capabilities for “the quick restoration of a just peace.”

White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed additional ATACMS would be sent following the signing of a new military aid package. Concerns that Ukraine might use them to strike deep into Russian territory—thus escalating the conflict—had restrained the U.S. from providing long-range missiles. However, the administration’s stance shifted following Russia’s acquisition and deployment of long-range ballistic missiles from North Korea, used on the battlefield against Ukrainian forces.

 

Short answer: we’re good and Russia and China are bad now where’s my dog biscuit and belly rub ?

 

Taking out the Kerch Bridge may be what Ukraine really needs right now to regain a bit of confidence and momentum.
They have been suffering from the Russian "Grind" of constant suicide missions by overwhelming artillery bomboardment, drone strikes
and the seeming inexhaustable supply of armor and manpower from the Russian side.

Putin has certainly shown that he is willing to exhaust Russias military and economic resources "to win".

This is now the defining conflict between Russian totalitarianism and expansionism and NATO / the West.

I noticed the ski's are once again threatning the "Nuclear Option" due to ATACAMs now. Lets see, by my observation,
anytime a new funding package or weapons system is introduced from the West, Moscow parrots the "Nuclear" option.

What are we up to now? 20+ such threats over the course of the conflict?

I say bleed Moscow dry, let mothers weep and lament the loss of sons and daughters. The Kremlin does not care.
Applies to the economy too. So when do Russian citizens have to begin "rationing" resources?

Russia has never had concerns about the suffering of it's own people to gain a political or strategic objective.

Talk about cynical. They empty their prisons and give the prisoners two options - The "front" or a 22 to the back of the head.
But they may be running out of prisoners and are making good "Slav" boys go to the front now.

If the US and NATO don't follow through and do whatever it takes to keep Ukraine viable, Putin will win. NATO will never be in such a good position, merely supply the guns and ammo.

Failure to do so will see NATO ultimately having to honor the intent of the NATO alliance and commit troops once Putin invades the Baltic States or Poland. (or not should the GOP win in Nov.) The Kremlin loving traitorous GOP will happily hand Europe over to frumps "butt buddy".

 

Russia was supposed to have run out of missiles in April 2022.

 

Reminder that the U.S.’ longstanding aim was to see Putin ousted. Results to date ?

Putin wins landslide election (unless you’re a crazy MAGA-type election denier).

Russian economy humming, 3% growth last year and projected 4.5% this year.

Russian war machine larger and more powerful than it’s been in decades. In fact, it’s not too much of an exaggeration to say the whole damn country has become a war machine.

And with seemingly maddening patience Russia is killing off the remnants of professional troops the U.S. sought to lose to wear down Russia.

 

take out their fuel supplies, rails, and bridges within 150 - 200 miles of the front and all that except drones stops. these long range atacms can do that with a little targeting help. no logistics, no supplies, no chance.

 

It’s not a date thing. It’s a seasonal thing.

 

^ Russia has built an all-season war machine.

 

I realized I misread your question and deleted my post.

 

When did the anti-war left become the flag-wrapping love it or leave it war faction ?

 

When Russia began bulldozing its neighbor.
Americans should all be on the same page on this issue.
Stop making it more than it is. Russia needs to be weakened and pushed back.

 

When the chicoms bought and paid for enough influence levers to turn our leadership suicidally agsinst ourselves, and deploying its puppet mouthpiece minions to echo support for our own national suicide, to the point of making support for it a matter of patriotic orthodoxy, and any off the res resistance, subject to ostracization.

Like all orthodoxy ever works.

But....

***RUSSIAN BOOGEYMAN EVERYWHERE!!!***

 

I don’t know how to respond to people who seem to believe that American history began on the Russia-Ukraine border on Feb 22, 2022.

 

I don’t know what that means.

 

Is Ukraine part of NATO?

When and how did we ever get so invested in Ukraine, that we concern ourselves more with their borders, than our own?

...and why pray tell, NATO at all, if we're going to gratuitously extend NATO protection to non-NATO countries anyway?

....and as a matter of *patriotism* under penalty of being deemed a traitor if you fail to toe the party line, to boot???

 

Well, since there is an ongoing war between a large powerful aggressor and a weaker country defending itself ANDthe large powerful aggressor is NOT the good guys, what are they?

 

I’ll go ahead and answer. There’s a window every year where the sea states, ocean temperatures, tides, and weather would best support an amphibious assault of Taiwan. That window is roughly May to September. There are many open-source indicators that the PRC would have made its move in 2022 had the Russian invasion been successful. As it was, though, Russian incompetence (at a far less complex mission), Ukrainian determination, and the collective will of the liberal democracies gave China enough pause to postpone until it reaches its strength goals in 2025. Note that the PRC did not start supplying Russia with munitions until the window closed in 2022. The PRC does not want this to go on and on. They need Russia to pull off at least a partial victory, sooner rather than later, to set a new international norm for armed conquest. Nor is the PRC trying to siphon off strength from the U.S. with all of the aid to Ukraine. The munitions the U.S. is sending to Ukraine are wholly different from those that would threaten a PRC amphibious assault on Taiwan. I ask @NavyGator93 to confirm or deny the truth of my words.

 

interesting take. Putin can't let the war end or the economy will collapse???. not sure that I agree as all that spending could be redirected to much needed infrastructure repairs if the kremlin is willing to keep spending this high post war.

Russia's economy is so driven by the war in Ukraine that it cannot afford to either win or lose, economist says (msn.com)

Russia's GDP grew 5.5% year-over-year over the third quarter of 2023, according to data from the Russian government. But most of that growth is being fueled by the nation's monster military spending, Foucart said, with plans for the Kremlin to spend a record 36.6 trillion rubles, or $386 billion on defense this year.

"Military pay, ammunition, tanks, planes, and compensation for dead and wounded soldiers, all contribute to the GDP figures. Put simply, the war against Ukraine is now the main driver of Russia's economic growth" Foucart said in an op-ed for The Conversation this week.

Other areas of Russia's economy are hurting as the war drags on. Moscow is slammed with a severe labor shortage, thanks to young professionals fleeing the country or being pulled into the conflict. The nation is now short around 5 million workers, according to one estimate, which is causing wages to soar.