Originally Posted By 4xGM300m:


More than once. But I would like to see the video anyway.

Originally Posted By stone-age:


I will get it posted here later today so other people can watch it. Until then is there some kind of a consensus on the impact these glide bombs will have? It sounds pretty scary to me.

Originally Posted By AlmightyTallest:


Honestly, we haven't seen much evidence of Gepard being used as direct fire support.  It certainly makes more sense for the guns to use the HEI for the anti air role.  I am a bit surprised at this report.

Originally Posted By AlmightyTallest:

Russia is now visually confirmed to have lost 100 T-62 Tanks! Today's loss, after it's been properly checked against the older losses and added to https://t.co/DclqLFpfCL would make 101. It's the orange section at the bottom of the graph. I have not made a graph of T-62 Varisnt,… pic.twitter.com/LrvQkoxXnM

Richard Vereker  (@verekerrichard1) March 12, 2024

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/GIeb_bWXUAA25FA?format=jpg&name=small

Originally Posted By AlmightyTallest:



The one company uses slightly larger frame FPV drones carrying heavier explosives.

Thermobaric explosives are great at causing building or bunker damage if it gets inside.

Originally Posted By jungatheart:

Supposedly a bird strike.
http://images.dinosaurpictures.org/Pterodactyl-facts_b1c1.jpg

Originally Posted By Capta:

Holy shit, no way a drone made that boom.  Must’ve hit stored ammo.

Originally Posted By Evintos:


I'm seeing some other tweets about Germany claiming 60% out of their own stockpiles sent to Ukraine but I can't find any legit sources for those claims. The French General's claim of 40% if accurate might also reflect Germany's (and the rest of Europe's militaries) personal stockpile issues.

Even though France (and the rest of Europe) is ramping up production, I don't think Ukraine should expect much in terms of quantity delivered in 2024 and even 2025 versus what politicians promise/pledge. EU acknowledgement of delays in delivery last month and France, a country with one of the largest militaries in Europe, claiming personal stockpile issues (Germany likely having same issues) combined with recent efforts by the EU to source munitions from anywhere they can (versus February where Germany and France were arguing over where the money should be spent to acquire munitions) reinforces the idea that Europe is just about tapped out with production and delivery (gotta emphasize delivery). Ramped production will likely not being enough even by the end of the year. It will likely take years for production to reach proper scale (Rheinmetall factory construction for example estimated 1 year completion before initial production even starts for example).

2024 and likely 2025 is gonna be an even rougher year for Ukraine.

The statement by the French General also runs contrary to the idea that NATO only needs or is investing/spending fractions of resources to cripple the Russian military. It is becoming increasingly clear that a significant amount of resources are required to combat a large scale "second-rate" military. I also constantly see this idea that US/NATO emptying older stockpiles means there will be better and more modern weapons but I think nations should take into account how rapidly the modern weaponry can be mass produced during major conflict. Maybe keeping an inventory of "dumb" weapons (and the factories) with simplified production is a good idea.

Europe’s arms production is in ‘deep shit,’ says Belgian ex-general

Click To View Spoiler

Originally Posted By Lieh-tzu:

Okay, Germany is pretty cool for that. Gephards have been pretty great drone killers AFAIK.

Originally Posted By MFP_4073:


more info on the new aid package from the WSJ

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U.S. Sending $300 Million in Ammunition, Weapons to Ukraine

The latest package will include more ATACMS missiles

WASHINGTON—The Biden administration said it is sending $300 million more in ammunition and other weapons to Kyiv in a stopgap move to boost Ukraine’s forces while Congress debates a new aid package.

The Pentagon plans to transfer artillery rounds, rockets for Ukraine’s Himars launchers, antiaircraft missile and antitank weapons, using funds in the Army budget left over from weapons contracts for replacing arms sent to Kyiv, officials said.

The new assistance package also includes additional shorter-range ATACMS missiles, an administration official said. That version of the weapon has a range of about 100 miles and is armed with cluster munitions.

The U.S. has already provided a modest number of the missiles to Kyiv, and the inclusion of additional ATACMS, which stands for the Army Tactical Missile System, wasn’t publicly announced. ATACMS are surface-to-surface missiles that can be fired by the Himars, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, launchers.

The new military assistance is intended to temporarily ease some of Ukraine’s equipment shortfalls, which have contributed to battlefield setbacks amid Russian assaults.

“When Russian troops advance and its guns fire, Ukraine doesn’t have enough ammunition to fire back. That’s costing terrain, it’s costing lives and it’s costing us, the United States and the NATO alliance strategically,” said Jake Sullivan, President Biden’s national security adviser, at a White House news conference.

Sullivan told reporters that the aid would be rushed to Ukraine and might only sustain the country’s military for a couple of weeks.

“It’s not going to be for a long time,” he said, underscoring the importance of securing congressional approval of the stalled aid package.

Ukraine has also been pushing the Pentagon to provide long-range ATACMS missiles, which have a range of more than 180 miles and could add to Ukraine’s ability to strike Russian forces in Crimea, U.S. officials said.

Pentagon officials had previously insisted the U.S. military needed to retain all of its longer-range ATACMS to meet its own military requirements. But the Pentagon is now open to providing the longer-range ATACMS because of progress in acquiring a follow-on system dubbed the Precision Strike Missile, U.S. officials say.

That removes a major impediment to providing the long-range variant of the missile, though officials declined to say whether President Biden will send the system.

The Pentagon last provided $250 military aid to Ukraine in December, saying then it wouldn’t send more until it had additional supplemental funding from Congress. In all, the U.S. has said it has sent approximately $44.2 billion worth of military aid since Russia invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022.

A new $95.3 billion aid package focused on Ukraine and Israel the Democratic-run Senate last month, but hasn’t moved in the House. Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) has said he wouldn’t bring the funding bill to the floor in its current form.

With a date for a vote on the package still uncertain, the Pentagon was able to find additional funds for Ukraine after contracts to replace U.S. military stockpiles with equipment and weapons already provided to Kyiv came in under budget, defense officials said.

The cheaper-than-expected contracts allowed the Pentagon to move replenishment funds back to those dedicated to supporting Ukraine, the officials said, stressing that it wasn’t clear such savings would be available again.

“This is a bit of an ad hoc or a one time shot. We don’t know if or when future savings will come in,” a U.S. defense official told reporters.

House Democrats have moved to force a vote on the aid bill for Ukraine and Israel, as impatience with Johnson prompted them to seize on a rarely used parliamentary tactic that could enable them to circumvent Republican leadership.

Democratic leaders told rank-and-file lawmakers that they would begin accepting signatures on a so-called discharge petition Tuesday morning. A discharge petition allows rank-and-file members to bypass House leaders and put legislation directly on the floor provided they can garner 218 signatures—or a majority of the seats in the House.

The additional funding comes as Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is expected to lead the Ukraine Contact Group meeting next week in Germany, where he will meet with allies, some of whom have sought bolster military aid to Ukraine amid stalled U.S. efforts.

In Brussels, European Union member states are poised to reach a deal on providing an additional 5 billion euro in funding to bolster military aid for Ukraine, EU diplomats said.

An EU fund, which has been in place since the early days of the war, compensates member states for a portion of the costs of the military supplies they deliver to Ukraine. So far, the fund has committed around 6 billion euro in repayments to EU countries.

Member state ambassadors will meet on Wednesday to make a final decision. However EU diplomats said a deal appears to be in place after France compromised on its insistence that money be used to compensate member states only for weapons purchased within the EU for Ukraine.

Ken Thomas and Laurence Norman contributed to this article.

Write to Nancy A. Youssef at [email protected] and Michael R. Gordon at [email protected]

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Originally Posted By fervid_dryfire:



WTF, indeed.


A three-engine landing shouldn't be that hard to do if you're adequately practiced/sim'ed at it.

Originally Posted By Capta:

Northeast of Moscow, so likely just an accident, buy may be ultimately related to poor maintenance/stress on the system to support the war.
I sympathize with guys who get to ride a failing aircraft all the way down though.

Originally Posted By Capta:

I think both sides would benefit from an hour-long class showing example video and boiling down say “5 dos and don’ts to improve your survival.”  Yeah you can get more into the weeds but after watching a bunch of video there are a few common points.