Yep, pretty convincing evidence for once.  Well, it ended with about a 5,000:1 KD ratio, so I guess it was worth it.

Russian propaganda can be clumsy, ludicrous, and subtle at the same time.  I think the fact he’s wearing a Chinese-inspired costume is part of the message.

It’s called a MAO suit.

Yes, in Summer 2022 they had enough to use them against Ukrainian armor.

There is going to be a lot of hype about the Russian gains in the months ahead, but keep in mind this is their offensive and of course Ukraine gained a lot of territory back in early 2023 when Russia was going into its defensive posture.  So, I think it's important to put this stuff in context and that obviously there will be some gains by the Russians, perhaps even one large gain of territory.  However, it's one thing to take ground and another thing to hold it as Ukraine is discovering after its 2023 pick-ups.  

I have to say I'm impressed by the Azov Battalion's performance time and time again.  Say what you will about their political beliefs, but that's one Hell of an ground force.  

I think we may have seen the very first instance of CAS by the Russians (possibly SU-24s) though (I"ll go find the name of the town again where I think it occurred).  The Russians are definitely getting slightly better at combined arms and have fairly decent coordination, they're not being push overs right now at all.   The Russians are taking, as I think would be expected during an offensive, a fair number of loses.  It's a bit vague though what the actual kill ratio is looking like at this point.  

Interesting point, it appears that some UK and U.S. International Legion voluteers may have been taken prisoner.  If so, that's extremely unfortunate and I hope they are treated fairly under the Geneva Convention.

Sure they probably captured some, but I mean enough to distribute to every combatant in the BSF not to mention their ground forces.

They have a helo launched system comparable to hellfire, but not a man portable fire and forget system like javelin.

My question was more along the lines of a Javelin-type weapon, not the actual Javelin. Surely a sea drone gives off a thermal signature of some sort, backdropped against the ocean, which would, I assume, make a IR seeker very effective. I'm just kind of surprised they're still getting schwacked by these.

The Kornet has a fire and forget upgrade.

Right, they don't have a system like Javelin, they have the original Javelin.

Riding on a beam controlled by an automated system of the launching vehicle.

Same with me in Army 12B (Combat Engineer) school...put it on the engine block they said.

lol, that ship had other options as well with the 57mm cannon if the boats get closer.

You’re closer if you fly south of Crimea.

FIFY

Not yet, but they will try to built a reverse engineered version. China and Iran might got some examples too.

No it doesn’t. It has a laser guided missile that it connects to a new fire control system that includes an optical target tracking system to keep the crosshairs on the target. In theory I guess you could pull the trigger and run away but you have to leave the fire control system in the open.

China has HJ12 and Iran captured and reengineered Spike. When the first sidewinder was captured since it was all analog it was easy to copy. Javelin has a digital system, even if they copy the hardware they have to design the program from scratch. It was engineered to be captured.

Damn!!

Those missiles going off looked pissed!

Hopefully will be replaced by 2X more...

They tried to develop a real fire and forget version, 9M133B, but as far as I know the project was scrapped.

Only after distributing a few in the ME and blame Ukraine for selling them...

What's the cost of a Jav? Like $280K? For the Russians (and most armies) it would be much better to spend that on 1000 RPG's or 100 Kornets or whatever.

Yeah, the nerve of those guys wanting an independent Ukraine so badly they'd fight, kill, and die for it. Fuck that noise, right?

\uD83C\uDDEA\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 Ukraine has procured over 350,000 artillery shells themselves from European defense industry

This was disclosed by EU VP Josep Borrell, who stated that in addition to ammunition donated and procured by EU states, Ukraine had acquired 350k shells via their own contracts. pic.twitter.com/woAxDSFrfp

— Colby Badhwar \uD83C\uDDE8\uD83C\uDDE6\uD83C\uDDEC\uD83C\uDDE7 (@ColbyBadhwar) March 5, 2024

Yes.

This is the first visually confirmed destruction of a Ukrainian \uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 HIMARS by Russia

Ukraine now has at least ~18 HIMARS remaining, and about 17 M270s. Additionally, 19 more HIMARS were ordered by the US for Ukraine, possibly some have arrived, also some HIMARS have been repaired pic.twitter.com/ZnoVzXhxk6

— Ukraine Battle Map (@ukraine_map) March 5, 2024

"The number of airstrikes by the Russians in the last two to three weeks has decreased by one and a half to two times,"

Dmytro Lykhoviy, the spokesman for the "Tavria" area, https://t.co/5ATBEeK6vo

PS01  (@PStyle0ne1) March 5, 2024

Strikes on several Russian MLRS. Presumably three BM-27 Uragan 220mm MLRS. 26km from the frontline (47.4094722, 36.5261111)https://t.co/bhzHBW3Jjw pic.twitter.com/iB2lQi5DKt

— Special Kherson Cat \uD83D\uDC08\uD83C\uDDFA\uD83C\uDDE6 (@bayraktar_1love) March 5, 2024

I really don't see any scenario where Ukraine is going to make any meaningful gains at this point.   It would take a massive influx of Western ammo, and increase in well trained bodies.  A handful of F16 and Abrams isn't going to make a dramatic difference.  I think it is pretty obvious that Russia is all in at this point and will continue to stack bodies and vehicles to hold or gain territory.  

Even if Ukraine somehow does make some big gains, they are only gaining absolutely destroyed land that would not be of much use for a long time with all the uxo.  The summer offensive that only made moderate gains last year was the last chance to make any real progress.  We haven't seen Ukraine take nearly any new gains since then and are losing ground slowly, at what is an extremely high cost to the Russians.  Apparently those loses are acceptable to Russia and they are very far from running out of men and seem to have plenty of equipment.  Ukraine needed to be more bold in the offensive, and as Russia dug in deeper and deeper with massive minefields, the chances for real gains passed them by.  

Ukraine should be trying to solidify important resource rich land they are capable of holding along with major strategic areas, and do like Russia and mine the absolute shit out of everywhere else.  In the end, even with massive Western imput the chances of pre 2022 borders are looking very grim, and pre 2014 looking pretty much impossible.  I tip my hat to them for the effort they have put in and hope for the best, but I just don't see any option besides coming to a ceasefire with new borders.  NATO or mutual defense packs or Western bases pretty much immediately being established post ceasefire to stop further aggression, and give Ukraine and the rest of the NATO pussies some time to restock and rearm- although I don't think many outside of the Polands and Baltics of the world will be doing much of that.

There was a time on was all in to help Ukraine, F16s in mass and Abrams and longer range missiles.  I don't see any of those making a real difference if the goal is pre 2022 borders.   Sadly that ship has sailed (unlike the Russian Black Sea fleet which is mostly reefs).

The lengths to which you guys will go to deny Russia of its agency and blame this war on the US, all while claiming not to be pro-Russian, are legitimately stunning.