Sanctions against Russia

[willedoo]

[onetrack]

The director of GCHQ gave a speech here about the Russia-Ukraine conflict at the celebration of the 75th anniversary of the DSD - and his excoriating summary shows how badly Putin underestimated that the Ukraine would be a pushover. Putin is on a par with Hitler in his bunker as WW2 came to a close - out of touch, watching his dream collapse, and distrusting so many of his military leaders and advisers.

 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10669969/GCHQ-boss-says-Ukraine-invasion-chaos-Russian-incompetence.html

[nomadpete]

I'm maintaining my personal trade sanction against Russia.

I haven't bought a single bottle of Russian Merlot since they invaded Ukraine.

[kgwilson]

I've never bought any Russian wine so I am maintaining my boycott.

[nomadpete]

Nor I, KG.

 

I was poking fun at the very idea that anyone can believe our little country would have much effect on Russia's economy. And I suspect that the wealthy oligarcs wouldn't be so silly as to place much of their wealth in tracable, exposed places.

[willedoo]

The breakaway republic of South Ossetia has announced that they will start legal steps to attempt to join the Russian Federation. Probably not much will happen there for a longtime. Vladolph Putler has enough problems without getting involved in another altercation with Georgia. Abkhazia, the other breakaway part of Georgia, has said they will not do the same and want to maintain independent status.

[onetrack]

What I am surprised at, is that there has been no attacks on Russian soil, or armaments factories. I reckon someone in the Ukraine would have to be really itching to lob a missile on Putins Palace.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-17730959

[willedoo]

A couple of days ago, a big military ammo storage area was hit near Belgorod in Russia. The Russians are not saying much about it, but other unconfirmed reports say it was hit by the Ukrainians. It would have been supplying ammunition to the Russians trying to take Kharkov.

[willedoo]

[Jerry_Atrick]

Zelensky addressed Aussie parliament and asked for some Bushmaster armoured vehicles to help the fight. They are ADF designed, but manufactured by Thales. That is a discussion for another thread, but, I thought, as long as we could produce replacement ones reasonably quickly, would it hurt to send a a few over? I guess it would take 2+ weeks to get there, then I am thinking what the war will look like in 2 weeks...

 

Maybe we should send our pollies over there, too.. to learn from what has become a real leader.

[old man emu]

A Hurcules could take one Bushmster and some other supplies per load, and if we used a couple of ours we could have the bushmasters on the ground in the Ukraine within a few days.

 

As for sending out pollies over there, we don' want to break the Ukrainians' winning streak. 

[Jerry_Atrick]

It seems SFM has come to the party: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-01/scott-morrison-australia-send-bushmasters-ukraine/100957634

[willedoo]

Dutton said the C-17 will take three or four Bushmasters at a time. Retired Lt. General Peter Leahy said we have over a thousand of them, more than our requirements, so plenty to spare.

[willedoo]

It's obvious Ukraine needs a lot of Western military equipment to survive short term, and to stand a chance in the long term. Considering that Putin sees such aid as a hostile action against Russia, I think the time to supply it would be now while the Russian military is weakened. It would be politically easier to do it now rather than in a couple of years time when Russia has had a chance to build back up again.

 

The war has really highlighted the use of MANPADS and shoulder fired anti tank weapons. They are a very effective weapon if widely distributed among ground troops. One that has really shone is a Ukrainian domestic design tank buster, Stugna-P. Range is slightly shorter than a Javelin and it's heavier, but it can be fired remotely. Operators can set the tripod up, then take cover and fire it remotely with a connected screen and keyboard. It can be manually guided, or fired in set and forget mode like the Javelin. Like the Javelin, it goes up about 150 metres and comes down from above to hit the thinner armour on top.

[willedoo]

The press releases coming out of the Kremlin continue to consist of 100% comedy. The Defence Minister is claiming mission accomplished around Kiev, saying they achieved their objectives and are regrouping. Regrouping usually means you've had your arse kicked, and most units, due to losses, no longer have battle strength. The idea is to amalgamate what's left of units to form compete units with a fighting strength. You start with 30 battalions and end up with 20.

 

Regrouping is a tactic used much more often by losers than by winners, but in Putler's upside down world, it's being dressed up as a victory. I guess he doesn't give a stuff what the world thinks, so long as he can continue to hoodwink a sizeable portion of Russian society.

 

[Marty_d]

Are the Russian people really fooled though?

 

I know we're allowed to be more critical of our pollies here (don't tend to get the secret police dropping in, unless you're the ABC) but pretty much anything that Scomo says is viewed with suspicion by a fairly large portion of society.  Maybe a lot more Russians truly support Putin, and if you're a true supporter it's hard to entertain any views counter to the official narrative (ask any football supporter), but I find it hard to believe that most Russians would shut their eyes and ears to the rest of the world and believe that a neighbouring country with a Jewish president is actually in need of de-nazification.

[Old Koreelah]

6 hours ago, old man emu said:

A Hurcules could take one Bushmster and some other supplies per load, and if we used a couple of ours we could have the bushmasters on the ground in the Ukraine within a few days.

 

As for sending out pollies over there, we don' want to break the Ukrainians' winning streak. 

We have a number of C-17s which chould be able to carry several Bushmasters.

[willedoo]

42 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

Are the Russian people really fooled though?

Marty. I wouldn't have a clue what the percentage would be. It could be 50,50, 60/40, 70/30. Older people are tending to believe their government more than the younger ones. Whatever the age group, it's disappointing to see the level of public support there. A lot of them only get their news and opinion from local sources. The TV talkback shows have a lot of influence, and some of them have been fierce in their support of the war.

 

I feel sorry for the ordinary people that don't want a bar of what's going on. Russians in general will have to live with the stigma and hatred for many years after this is over.

[rgmwa]

1 hour ago, Old Koreelah said:

We have a number of C-17s which chould be able to carry several Bushmasters.

Have to hope Dutton doesn't see it as a good way to get rid of the clapped out ones. 

[Bruce Tuncks]

Its amazing how many people are taken in by the crudest and silliest propaganda.

Harry Schneider was a smart bloke, but he honestly believed that the Poles started WW2. And my mother-in-law is smart too, but she still believes that the Japanese WW2 planes were made from "sticks and rags".

 

 

 

[onetrack]

I was quite surprised to see that we actually possess over 1,050 Bushmasters. Thales have obviously been very busy. One of the problems I see with them is the powerplant, the Cat 3126E engine is not exactly regarded as one of Caterpillars finest engines - in fact, it produces more than its fair share of problems.

It uses the HEUI fuel injection system, which was designed in collaboration with Navistar (Navistar actually thought up the system, and Cat worked on the design to improve its reliability), and the HEUI system relies on oil pressure to fire the electronic injectors. If you don't keep your engine oil spotlessly clean, then the HEUI fuel system starts to give trouble.

Add in a pile of electronics on the 3126E engine, and it's not exactly what anyone would call "bulletproof" - unlike the old mechanical injection diesels. I don't know how they manage to keep these high-tech units with a ton of electronics in them, going, in battlefield conditions. They must have a lower reliability factor, as compared to the old, simple stuff.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Looks like there is something going on, on Russian soil..

 

Ukraine have yet to confirm or deny they were responsible. Russia have said it will be a set back for peace talks (like aggressively invading someone is good for peace talks???), IMHO, if Russia starts taking losses on home soil, and Ukraine can hold their own, necessity may well lead to peace talks.. Of course, that is fanciful thinking...

 

https://www.reuters.com/world/russian-gas-keeps-flowing-europe-despite-putins-deadline-pay-roubles-2022-04-01/

[kgwilson]

Bushmaster being 4 wheeled vehicles may be great in Australia & Afghanistan but how will they perform in the mud of the Spring thaw? This has stuffed advances in Ukraine since the beginning of WW2 & even before that.

[willedoo]

By the time the Busmasters get there, Ukraine will have either lost or won the war. If they win, the Bushmasters might be handy for something. I think Zelensky is trying for all he can get. He has a savvy media and intelligence team and would have researched our political landscape thoroughly. He would know that this close to an election, Morrison's team are looking for grand announcements and opportunities to play world statesman. So he threw Scotty a bone and might get something in return. It would also send a signal to other countries thinking of stepping up to the plate. So for Ukraine, I think the Bushmaster deal would have two aspects, political and practical.

[onetrack]

I reckon the Govt is unlikely to give the Ukrainians any more than maybe a dozen Bushmasters - just enough to make it appear we're doing something. A C-17 can only carry 4 of them, they're bloody heavy.