ClearedHot

Funny...can you imagine if these loons walked through Gaza with this sign.

Why stop there? You also need and have to pay for a license to operate that car on the road, the car must be registered (gotta pay for that), and in some states you have to pay a yearly property tax on your car. Ohhhh you are required to have insurance for your car and a targeted gas tax to operate it. Of course I am being facetious but it does show the slippery slope the anti-gunners will use if you give them an inch. Also - owning and operating a car is not in the Constitution..."Shall not be infringed"

Oddly, they didn't win despite a huge ramp to their industrial base and the employment of millions of rounds of artillery, airstrike and even chemical weapons. It's almost like an adversary employing asymmetric tactics (Stinger), blunted their advantage, bled them until they packed up and went home. Who would have thought...

Live updated Frontline Map Institute for the study of war - Great site founded by retired General Jack Keene - They have a VERY good interactive map as well. BBC has a good site as well (they leverage the Institute for War's maps with their own reporting and analysis). A bit gruesome at times but Reddit/combat hosts new videos of the conflict everyday. Three themes emerged in the video: 1. Early on the Javelin stopped the Russians cold, now they don't attempt large maneuver actions unless they absolutely pummel an area pre-strike with artillery. 2. Ukraine has been very effective at combined arms. Even through they don't have Air Superiority, they have used drones to coordinate fires in both TICs and interdiction. 3. Small drones have changed warfare. Hundreds of videos of drones dropping grenades AND being uses in a kamikaze roll to chase down individual soldiers...it is chilling to watch. If someone added AI... They have noted some gains by Russia in recent week which they attribute to the Ukrainians running short of long-range strike weapons and air defense. If the Senate approves the aid package those systems will start to flow on Friday. Also interesting to note the perceptions of those who voted against the aid, they think we are sending Ukraine pallets of cash which in fact $50B will flow into the U.S. Industrial Base creating jobs in 30 states.

In short, the Ruskies SUCK at combined arms so they are of course relying on the WWII proven tactic of mass artillery strikes. The Russians want this to be ground and pound with mass artillery strikes before an assault but weapons like Javelin have blunted those efforts. The U.S. is currently producing approximately 28,000 155 mm rounds per month, with a ramp-up plan to produce 70,000-80,000 rounds per month by the end of 2024. Perfect video to demonstrate what I was saying above. Look at the ground, artillery impact craters everywhere yet the Ukrainians using technology and asymmetric tactics are stopping Russian advances and making them pay a horrific toll for simple operations.

Another area to examine is the negative trend of their population and how the war has accelerated it. Russian's population has been in a slow decline for sometime. There was a small recovery a few years ago but the war will soon reflect on the demographics and will have a huge impact in years to come. At least 50,000 have been killed in Ukraine, many many more severely injured. They already have a huge age imbalance due to lower birthrates and a few other issues. Without immigration (which they don't like), they have a huge socioeconomic aging bubble moving through the system. While they are attempting to rebuild their military they will continue to face challenges finding qualified MAMs to meet their needs.

Paywall and I will NEVER subscribe to that fishwrap.

Well....we've responded to you for many years. 🥃

Many would disagree. Judging by the damage inflicted with limited resources AND the semi-paper Tiger Russia appears to be, yes absolutely. In some ways they have defeated Russia, Ukraine remains as a country two years after being attacked by a Super-Power. But, as always in conflict, you have to define what defeat (victory), means. Our feckless politicians have let a very tired Ukrainian Army suffer in the field much like the Continental Army did at Valley Forge. If they had more resources earlier this would be a very different conflict. Russia has been rebuilding and without our help and equipment, the Spring offensive could be very bad for Ukraine.

The you have to teach them how to fish...It is not like they know how to make the Javelin, ATACM, and M-1 Abrams...and maybe in the long run you don't want them to know how.

Kiev claiming they shot down a TU-22M3, Russia says it was mechanical failure. Regradless, they have taken some big losses on the air side. Ukraine did heavily damage another TU-22M3 in a drone strike (bottom picture - note the used tire revetment). That is a big hunk of aluminum falling down. for-the-first-time-the-anti-aircraft-missile-units-of-the-air-force-in-cooperation-with-the-main-directorate-of-intelligence-of-ukraine-destroyed-the-tu-22m3-long-range-strategic-bomber-the-carrier-of-kh-22-cruise-mi.mp4

Terramaster F4-423 with 4 x 4TB harddrives. The user interface is solid but I am have some issues getting it set up on my network. Initially it worked but knocked my network printer offline. My son needed the printer, he is doing all his end of year AP exams and projects and I have been traveling like crazy for work so I have not had a chance to sit down and sort the IP addresses and ports.

I don't think they are crapping on the Mudhen drivers. This was decided in the community long ago and interestingly the Mudhens had a large part in setting that tradition. They have previous experience crushing UAVs and it as I understand, aside from a little bit of coolness factor, it was a non-event int he squadron. Given events in Israel and obviously Ukraine, that standard may change. I believe it was discussed in one of @Steve Davies podcasts.