Originally Posted By Jame_Retief:
Flares Chaff launches when the system perceives a threat based on conditions; IE-it receives the correct combination of RF transmissions that say the radar of a SAM has locked on.

Or the pilot hits a switch.

Originally Posted By kncook:


We’re they just dropping simple 60mm mortars?

Originally Posted By m35ben:
The formula shortage and Russian invasion are not related. Russia attempting to occupy a country did not cause the shortage nor was the amount of formula sent close enough to effect supply here.

Originally Posted By CletusRoundbelly:



C'mom, man. Biden said Putin is responsible for all of our woes.

RUSKA LOZOVA, Ukraine May 15 (Reuters) - (Note profanity in paragraph 2.)

While three of his men heaped dark soil into a chin-high berm to shield their trench, Ohor Obolenskiy gestured on Sunday across sun-dappled fields to a tree-clad ridge line sweeping the nearby horizon.

"We can see the Russian positions from here and say, 'Fuck you, Russians,'" the 35-year-old Ukrainian commander joshed in rough English, his grim face creasing into a wide grin.

The amalgam of National Guard and volunteers he leads seized Ruska Lozova in fierce fighting on May 8, four days into a counteroffensive that has thwarted Russia's bid to seize nearby Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city.

The counter-offensive has been Ukraine's most successful since it expelled Russian troops from the north of the country and the area around the capital Kyiv at the end of March, and signals a new turning point in the battle for the east.

For the first week, the troops in Ruska Lozova said, Russian shelling was so intense they only could move about the now-devastated village at night.

While they remain ever-alert to the high explosives regularly hurled by Russian artillery and tanks, Obolenskiy and his men made little effort to conceal themselves from the foe hunkered along the ridge line three kilometers away.

One reason, they said as Reuters toured their positions, was because the patchy cloud made it difficult for Russian drones to target their positions.

Another was because they believed the Russians, while trying to keep them pinned down, have been pulling their forces out in a withdrawal to their border. From there, they think, those troops are redeploying south to bolster a Russian drive to seize the entire Donbas region, which largely has stalled.

"There is less shelling from the Russians," said Mikhayl, one of Obolenskiy's lieutenants, giving only his nom de guerre as he sat in a basement ripe with the odor of the unbathed troops encamped in its gloom. "We think they are retreating."

Yet, the troops holding the village, deserted by all but a few of its 5,000 residents and a horde of abandoned cats and dogs, are not ready to celebrate what some media outlets have begun hailing as their victory in the Battle of Kharkiv.

They still are fighting the Russians - they lost two soldiers on Saturday - whose helicopter gunships search for their positions in low-level runs to avoid the U.S.-made Stinger missiles with which Obolenskiy's troops are armed.

Moreover, Obolenskiy and his aides said they remained concerned that despite high loses in men and equipment, Russian President Vladimir Putin could launch a new offensive against Kharkiv, 20 km south.

"We think it's possible that the Russians will come back," said Mikhayl, a large man who declined to reveal the contingent's total casualties. "Putin will never forgive us. It will be difficult for him to explain to the Russian people why his special operation is over."

Putin said that he launched what he called a special military operation on Feb. 24 to protect his nuclear-armed country from a threat posed by what he calls a fascist government in Kyiv. Kyiv and its foreign supporters call it an unprovoked war of aggression to subjugate Ukraine.

'ALL THE WAY TO SIBERIA'

The Ukrainians bunkered in deserted homes, cellars and garages around Ruska Lozova have no doubt that the Russian forces arrayed around the Kharkiv region will retreat across the border. But they disagreed about comes next, with several saying they want to take the fight into Russia.

"I want to go all the way to Novosibirsk. The videos that I have seen of what they have done leave me no choice," growled Mihkayl, referring to a city in Siberia, and to alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces against Ukrainians. Moscow denies targeting civilians.

Obolenskiy, however, said he is concerned that Russian forces will shell Ukrainian troops from inside their border in a deliberate ploy to trigger return barrages that would allow Putin to justify an escalation of the conflict to suck in NATO.

"Putin wants to start a war with NATO," said Obolenskiy, who believes an escalation should be avoided by creating 10 km-wide buffer zones on either side of the border.

The fighting for Ruska Lozova devastated the village that sits in a fold cut by the Lozovenka River through rolling hills north of Kharkiv. A bridge across the river has been smashed into two fire-blackened halves.

The detritus of war litters fields and rutted lanes pitted by shell craters and lined by destroyed and damaged homes.

A Russian T-72 tank captured by the Ukrainians in working condition sat in the shadows of a carport, ready for use against its original owners.

A young officer, who gave only the first name of Klem, walked briskly through untended orchards, taking a visitor into abandoned Russian bunkers littered with molding rations and military gear.

When the Russians advanced to the outskirts of Kharkiv in February, he said, the village was a rear base.

"Now," he said, "their frontline is in those trees, three kilometers away."

Originally Posted By spydercomonkey:


A real military tarp would have thermal blocking; those are already on the market these days.

I suspect future wise, we'd see an anti drone tarp combining thermal blocking with a core of 1-2 layers kevlar to prevent gravity dropped munitions/drones from tearing through the tarp.

Originally Posted By gODZOOKIE:
crazy. Rain of fire.
some kind of cluster fu$& bombs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw20xeLwDbk

Originally Posted By CPT_CAVEMAN:

WP?

Originally Posted By iggy1337:


If I was Zelensky I'd lease Snake Island for 99 years to the US for taget practice. Completly legal and binding under international law

Like this @0:15 and just repeat ad infinitum al legal like. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqcNt92VeKU @CIA @the fellow firearms enthusiasts here

Originally Posted By Chokey:

After months of intense fighting, Ukrainian troops fighting near #Kharkiv have made it to the border with Russian. Absolutely incredible. https://t.co/DfICJfIsjO

The Intel Crab  (@IntelCrab) May 15, 2022

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— ???????? (@nakipeloua) May 15, 2022

Originally Posted By ecophon:

Ukrainian forces reportedly destroyed the railway bridge between Severodonetsk and Rubizhne. https://t.co/ZYZvSM0XwS pic.twitter.com/9ZV9tjYuYf

Rob Lee  (@RALee85) May 15, 2022

Ukrainian forces reportedly destroyed the railway bridge between Severodonetsk and Rubizhne

Apologies if dupe but worth a rewatch:-)

Originally Posted By realwar:
NEW AUDIO - Moskva crewman calls for help after being hit by anti-ship missiles.


The Moskva's last moments: Audio recording reveals crew frantically calling for help from Putin's sinking flagship and saying 'communication with bridge is cut' as sirens blare

AUDIO

https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2022/05/15/20/57843827-10818839-The_Ukrainian_military_published_the_audio_from_the_sinking_Mosk-a-21_1652643925802.jpg


More

Originally Posted By Wreckshooter:
Telegram. NSFW! Pretty gnarly video of a Russian BMD-3 crew after their vehicle exploded.

Telegram

Originally Posted By GTLandser:


Jesus Christ. Well, if you want to be cured of any desire to visit Ukraine for the fighting, Spook's Telegram thread ought to do it.

Originally Posted By CPT_CAVEMAN:

WP?

Originally Posted By ecophon:

Ukrainian forces reportedly destroyed the railway bridge between Severodonetsk and Rubizhne. https://t.co/ZYZvSM0XwS pic.twitter.com/9ZV9tjYuYf

Rob Lee  (@RALee85) May 15, 2022

Ukrainian forces reportedly destroyed the railway bridge between Severodonetsk and Rubizhne

Apologies if dupe but worth a rewatch:-)

Originally Posted By CarmelBytheSea:
I don’t mind people having differing views but hold fuck Scott Ritter says some dumb ass shit mixed with Moscow talking points from time to time. Plus he can’t even be consistent. Is Moscow going to kill Zelensky or is Moscow only protecting Donbas.