Sanctions against Russia

[Old Koreelah]

4 hours ago, rgmwa said:

Although the US has now relented on the F16's and training of Ukrainian pilots is likely to commence soon…

 

I would have thought it would not take too long to train experienced fighter pilots to fly these planes and learn the systems...

The F-16 is designed for a very different operating environment to the Russian jets that Ukraine’s pilots are trained for. Western experts say it would take many months for them to unlearn their current skills and learn how to get the best out of the F-16. 
 

Plenty nations use F-16; it would not surprise me if Ukraine quietly sent their pilots and ground personnel for training long ago.

[rgmwa]

You may be right OldK but I wonder if the Western experts are saying that more for the benefit of the Russians and the media than the Ukrainian armed forces.

[willedoo]

This article discusses some of the logistics of supplying F-16's to Ukraine. One interesting observation was the lack of suitable runways in Ukraine, as most of them are Soviet era short and rough strips. The F-16 needs up to 8,000' of relatively smooth runway and probably wouldn't like the rough concrete block runways. It will still be a useful aircraft, but in the long term the Saab Gripen would be a contender with it's low maintenance and short rough field capability. I seem to remember the Gripen has the tightest turning circle of current fighters, although that is not so important these days with air to air dogfights becoming rare.

 

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/22/europe/f-16-jets-ukraine-analysis-intl-hnk-ml/index.html

[willedoo]

A lot of unconfirmed reports and videos are emerging of Russian opposition forces pushing into Russia's Belgorod region. The Freedom of Russia legion and another mob called the Russian Volunteer Corps are involved, with claims they have occupied several border region villages and towns in Russia. Other unconfirmed reports have said the Russians have evacuated their tactical nukes from a storage depot near the border. putler won't be impressed. There's talk of a resistance movement pushing for independence as the Belgorod People's Republic.

 

It's unlikely to ever happen, but would be great for Ukraine's long term security if it did. Ukraine's second biggest city Kharkiv is only a few kilometers from the Russian border, and is a big military manufacturing centre where their tanks and armoured vehicles are made. The famous T-34 was designed and built in Kharkov. The city's position near the border will always be an Achilles Heel for Ukraine unless Russia's neighbouring Belgorod region becomes a de-militarised zone.

[facthunter]

Putin's had his own "Annus Horribullis" .  Nev

[willedoo]

It might be just a distraction or diversion as they are reported to be only a few kilometers over the border. Maybe it's just a morale destroying operation.

[willedoo]

A photo of Bucha rebuilt; same street last year and now.

 

[willedoo]

This is a fairly long article about Russia's economy, the effect of sanctions, and their financial ability to maintain the war. It has a paywall but can be read with Javascript turned off in the browser. One part of the article touched on the import of 'dual use' components, saying high-end washing machines are being imported in large numbers to be stripped of their computer chips.

 

https://www.economist.com/briefing/2023/04/23/russias-economy-can-withstand-a-long-war-but-not-a-more-intense-one?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social-media.content.pd&utm_campaign=a.io_fy2324_q1_prospecting_apac-au-aai&utm_content=discovery.content.prospect&twclid=2-6hppvlz3nc1zrs0m302dzv823

[Jerry_Atrick]

Looks like a few more sanctions coming Russia's way:

 

[onetrack]

A fair bit of American chest beating in that video. You gotta admit, though, the F-16's are an impressive sight.

[willedoo]

Belorussian president Lukaschenko is a sucker for punishment. He was only out of hospital for a few days when he went back to Mordor to see his mate putler again. Reports (read rumours) are circulating that he is in hospital there in a non-transportable condition after meeting putler. The Kremlin seems to have trouble getting the tea/polonium ratio just right.

 

The Belorussian opposition is getting excited about the prospect of his demise. It would be good news if true, but the fact remains that Lukaschenko, putler, Shoigu and Gerasimov have all been dying on Twitter for a long time now, but seem to always show up healthy in the end. If Luka did fall off his perch, putler would be trying for an annexation of Belarus for sure. He could use the need to secure the Russian nukes in Belarus as an excuse.

[Marty_d]

He's not doing too well in a war on one country,  you reckon he'd be game to try two?

[kgwilson]

His ego would probably get the better of him but that sure would put the cat among the pigeons.

[willedoo]

The world is starting to notice Australia's shift from active supporter to active bystander.

 

From Ukrainian defence minister Oleksii Reznikov:

 

'Dear Australian friends,

Throughout history you have repeatedly proven that Australians are a nation of freedom-loving warriors who always stand up to a bully. You are 15 thousand kilometers away, yet we are very close in our shared values and readiness to defend them. That's why during the first months of the Russian aggression Australia was the largest contributor to Ukraine outside of NATO. Your Bushmasters have been incredible in real combat operations. But our fight for global freedom is not over yet and we still need your support. I encourage you today to join the international tank coalition for Ukraine. In addition to tanks, we would be honored to receive the Australian Hawkies. They could prove invaluable to our troops during the counteroffensive. Stand with Ukraine. Together we can defend our shared values. Together, we can and we will achieve Victory.'

 

He's correct in that we did supply a fair share of military aid in the early months of the war, but from a hardware perspective, there's been almost nothing since. It's a bit embarrassing considering that we manufacture the Bushmasters and Hawkies here and have more than a thousand of each. Also we have a lot of Abrams tanks that are due for de-commissioning soon. Maybe the tanks are not logistically viable to supply to Ukraine, but there's no excuse for not supplying Hawkies and more Bushmasters. We seem to be able to find plenty of money to build Olympic stadiums. Albo's government is sitting in the back of the bus when it comes to Ukraine. We can do a lot better. 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Noe embarrassing, but shameful!

[willedoo]

It's a shame our government has dropped the ball because if we were to do the right and honourable thing now, we could forge a really good long term relationship with Ukraine. They see us now as a good friend but the potential is there to be an even better one. I can visualise a future of expanded military cooperation with exchange programs, joint training, and who knows, maybe one day we'll be buying Ukrainian and Polish military equipment. Both countries certainly have a good track record of design and production of good quality military hardware.

 

Before too long, Poland will be the strongest non-nuclear European member of NATO in terms of forces and equipment, and one day Ukraine will be right there with them if they can win this war. Now is the time for the government to pick up the ball and run again. All they need is some long term vision. A lot of people have been lobbying and petitioning Albo, Richard Marles and Penny Wong to get off their backsides and do something. Lets hope they get shamed into it because it will be bad politics if they don't. If they wimp out on Ukraine now, it will follow them around like a bad smell for years to come.

[red750]

I acknowledge the original custodians of the land on which this post was written.

 

According to a internet search and Wikipedia, they are spelt Hawkeis.

[willedoo]

4 hours ago, red750 said:

According to a internet search and Wikipedia, they are spelt Hawkeis.

That's right. The Ukrainians spelt it wrong and I followed suit from their post. It's the species name Hawkei of a death adder named after Bob Hawke. Not exactly sure why they named a snake after Bob.

[rgmwa]

Hawke Eye...

[gareth lacey]

6 hours ago, willedoo said:

That's right. The Ukrainians spelt it wrong and I followed suit from their post. It's the species name Hawkei of a death adder named after Bob Hawke. Not exactly sure why they named a snake after Bob.

Because he was a snake in the grass as well as a alcoholic and a chauvanistic pig

 

[facthunter]

He's NOT one of my favourite people. Nev

[Marty_d]

So Moscow gets hit with a few drones and the Russkis think it's unfair. 

Do these clowns not know the meaning of "hypocrisy"?

[facthunter]

Ouch . That hurts. You are not allowed to touch ME , you bully. You're just supposed to cop what I dish out and like it.  Nev

[Bruce Tuncks]

What are hawkies? If we have lots and the Ukranians want them, what's the problem?

 

[onetrack]

Hawkei's are the latest armoured patrol vehicle of the Australian Army. They've had some major production problems with them, associated with malfunctioning brakes - in particular the anti-lock braking system, when used at high speed. Low speed and off-highway driving is unaffected by the brake problem. The Defence Dept is saying they're not prepared to send Hawkei's to the Ukraine with dodgy braking systems.

 

Thales is still buggering around, trying to sort out the problem. It's probably related to some high-tech European braking setup supplied by Mercedes or BMW, this is the kind of imported European products idiocy we have come to expect from Defence and Thales in recent years - instead of using simple, off-the shelf, tried and proven U.S.-or-Australian-made components.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkei