Sanctions against Russia

[spacesailor]

Only One .

They outlawed the using , of the horn .

Check it out ! .

It is illegal to sound your horn ( NSW ) .

spacesailor

[onetrack]

Of course, Africa has always set the pace on road safety - for the massive number of accidents and road fatalities. I can remember when Pakistani newspapers stated they would no longer cover road accidents, unless there were more than 20 people killed in the one accident.

[nomadpete]

Still stalled in Ukraine?

The peanut gallery has sunk to gossiping while we wait for some good news.

[Bruce Tuncks]

I reckon every day that Putin doesn't fire a nuke is a good day.

[red750]

Dramatic photos of what Ukraine claims to be the destruction of a Russian long-range bomber have been released after it was attacked by kamikaze drones, according to reports.

 

The Tu-22 has been photographed engulfed in flames at the Soltsy Airfield in the Novgorod region after Ukraine reportedly used a kamikaze drone to destroy the flagship bomber on Saturday.

 

Tupolev Tu-22 is a supersonic long-range strategic and maritime strike bomber developed by the Tupolev Design Bureau in the 1960s that has been used extensively in attacks on Ukrainian cities, the BBC reports.

 

The Russian Defence Ministry said the attack resulted in a fire that was promptly extinguished and caused unspecified damage to one plane.

 

But in pictures published by Ukraine the plane is almost indistinguishable from the firey explosion and black smoke.

 

“The destroyed Tu-22M3 at the Soltsi airfield after yesterday’s arrival of a kamikaze drone,” read an accompanying caption to a Telegram post on Sunday.

 

  

[facthunter]

I'd write that one off.  Nev

[nomadpete]

1 hour ago, red750 said:

The Tu-22 has been photographed engulfed in flames at the Soltsy Airfield

I read the Russian press release.  It admits the aircraft was 'damaged '.

If that's gunnar buff out, I want to get my hands on some of their polish!

[nomadpete]

I did read somewhere that the drone involved was a short range  quadcopter type.

 

If true, it was an inside job.

[spenaroo]

Now there's an idea,
Drone carrier aircraft.

have a long range drone drop quad copters for opportune targeting.
hit multiple airfields with the one launch

[Bruce Tuncks]

Good idea Spenaroo. I would reckon that the carrier drone should only use inertial navigation stuff so as not to be vulnerable to electronic counter-measures.

 

[red750]

Z-LIVE NEWS AU
 

Russia has lost hundreds of soldiers within a few hours. This reports The Kyiv Independent with reference to data from the morning update of the General Staff of Ukraine.

 

Specifically, according to Ukrainian accounts, Russia has taken out over 460 soldiers within the last 24 hours. This brings Russia’s total losses since its escalation of the war of aggression in violation of international law at the end of February 2022 to 257,930 soldiers. In addition, there is further military equipment. Ukraine says it has destroyed 4,358 Russian tanks, 8,449 armed/armored vehicles, 7,692 vehicles and tankers, 5,264 artillery systems, 719 multiple rocket launchers, 489 air defense systems, 315 aircraft, 316 helicopters, 4,309 drones, and 18 boats.

[facthunter]

Poutain's right. It takes a VERY SPECIAL military operation to achieve THAT.  Nev

[willedoo]

5 hours ago, spenaroo said:

Now there's an idea,
Drone carrier aircraft.

have a long range drone drop quad copters for opportune targeting.
hit multiple airfields with the one launch

A bit like the drone swarm technology being developed. Big challenges in the future for air defence when they are overwhelmed by drones. In the end it will come down to cost vs benefit. Early in the war, the U.S. was concerned that some Ukrainian troops were using an $80,000 Javelin missile to knock out a $10,000 truck. The future challenge with kamikaze drones will be to make them cost effective.

 

 

[onetrack]

I don't know how much faith we can place on Ukrainian figures without independent verification, remember there's a huge propaganda effort on both sides.

 

But independent researchers track the records of Russian funerals and social media reports of deaths, so they can gauge the difference between the Russian figures and the Ukrainian figures.

 

Little is said by Ukraine about their losses, but they're substantial. The Russians have mined millions of acres and built massive trenches across the countryside with mechanical trenchers, that are staggering in their number and length.

 

However, one thing the Russians can't hide is how they're pulling down their stocks of reserve armour, which is normally stored outside. Sat photos show a reduction in Russia's stored reserve armour by at least a third, meaning they're burning up armour faster than they can build new stuff. The best thing the West can do, is to keep pouring their weaponry into Ukraine.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/18/us/politics/ukraine-russia-war-casualties.html

[willedoo]

It's now down to who can outlast the other, which is a situation putin is experienced at and comfortable with. As long as he can find meat to fill those trenches (not a problem), ex Soviet reserve supplies to use, and trickle along with some new manufacturing, then he won't stop. The risk for Ukraine is running low on troops and losing enough western supplied equipment to make the suppliers nervous. If or when that happens, the western pressure on Ukraine to cede territory for a peace settlement will increase. If they settle that way, putin is rewarded for aggressive behaviour and he will rebuild and do it again. The fact that he was barely punished for aggressive behaviour in 2014 is the reason we are at this point now. 2014 confirmed his belief in western weakness and disunity. He knew Europe was addicted to Russian energy and western corporations similarly addicted to Russian money and markets. His main problem was that he overestimated the ability of his military, which they have compensated for by throwing superior numbers at the problem.

 

I think this war will go on as long as putin is alive. Or it will stop if he has what he thinks is a satisfactory win. In that case, it would in reality just be a pause for him to rebuild. As long as there's one acre of disputed land, Ukraine can't join NATO unless they change the rules. To do that requires approval of all NATO members, and that's not going to happen while putin has allies in NATO like Hungary. putin can run a budget war continuously by holding a relatively small area and he will achieve one goal, to keep Ukraine out of NATO.

 

At this stage, summer is rapidly running out and winter not too far off. Unless Ukraine soon has a major breakthrough, or the Russian front suddenly collapses, Ukraine will have to alter plans and go back to defensive mode. If they push too long without major success, they'll deplete their forces and be back to square one. Their best chance seems to be what they are doing now - concentrating on the push south to Melitopol and Mariupol to cut the land bridge to Crimea. If they can achieve that before winter, they'll be in a much better position for next year. Pushing east has to be done also, but it doesn't yield the immediate results that cutting off Crimea would do.

[spenaroo]

16 hours ago, willedoo said:

A bit like the drone swarm technology being developed. Big challenges in the future for air defence when they are overwhelmed by drones. In the end it will come down to cost vs benefit. Early in the war, the U.S. was concerned that some Ukrainian troops were using an $80,000 Javelin missile to knock out a $10,000 truck. The future challenge with kamikaze drones will be to make them cost effective.

 

 

I think the answer is more human, less technology.

sure you could spend millions on putting AI in the drone to identify targets etc...

or just use the mothership as a signals relay.
drop say 20, $500 drones. controlled by 5 guys, with 4 drones each.
sits in a holding pattern at 1000ft till they are selected to "controlled crash" into the target.
probably take a minute to get through all 4 drones. then they wait for the next 20 to drop.

same thing they did with the TV guided bombs before "smart" munitions with the laser and gps designation.
only the drone pilot isn't trying to fly an aircraft while controlling the munitions this time

Edited August 23, 2023 by spenaroo

[willedoo]

I wonder what the cost difference would be for a decoy drone vs one capable of delivering a payload. If one in five was an armed drone, the enemy would have to shoot them all down to be sure. No doubt drone production will get cheaper as time goes by. It would be frustrating for the enemy to waste a $500,000 missile to down a $500 decoy drone.

[facthunter]

Good thinking 99.  Medvedev IS really Bat$#!t crazy, Isn't He? What's the latest with Saudia and the rest, forming an anti Western Bloc. The crown Prince is a potential pile of trouble. THEY just SHOOT refugees. Nev

[spenaroo]

yeah, or do the old ball and cup trick.

launch 3 at a time. with only one being a fully loaded mothership

[spenaroo]

38 minutes ago, facthunter said:

Good thinking 99.  Medvedev IS really Bat$#!t crazy, Isn't He? What's the latest with Saudia and the rest, forming an anti Western Bloc. The crown Prince is a potential pile of trouble. THEY just SHOOT refugees. Nev

and yet Saudi is the largest export for US made weapons....
and the west buys their oil.

 

Saudi is never really Anti-West. but its good internal politics to appear to be.
they want to stay sovereign

[facthunter]

ALL the Twin Towers Bombers were Saudi.   Nev

[spenaroo]

this is where we get into the debate of religious leadership and government.

 

lets not forget the they were also against the royal family and its current rule,
plenty of issues with the Shia population (minority) against the Sunni (royal family backed majority)

then you have some like Osama - who was Saudi and Sunni, but against the current regime.
and was kicked out and stripped of citizenship in the 90's
 

Edited August 23, 2023 by spenaroo

[Bruce Tuncks]

That Saudi crown prince is a murderer, and I reckon the less we have to do with them the better.....  Bring on electric vehicles say I.

I was not aware that Osama had been against the royal family, now I think better of him after all.

[facthunter]

His mob are Wahabi, the most ruthless mob of all.  So much so that even those within think they've  created a monster. Look what they are doing with Liv Golf and football and as I said, Refugees. and Karshoggi  who was murdered and cut up at the Saudi Embassy. Osama Bin Laden  was the 7th son of a prominent Engineer but hated the government for allowing the American (infidels) to be stationed  for years on Holy  ARAB land. Nev

Edited August 23, 2023 by facthunter

[willedoo]

7 hours ago, facthunter said:

Medvedev IS really Bat$#!t crazy, Isn't He?

He's an alcoholic. The vodka is frying more brain cells as each month passes. His job these days is to say stuff that the Kremlin would like to do, but know that they can't, like nuking Germany and Britain and all the other alcoholic drivel that comes out of his mouth. I'd say his rants are Kremlin sanctioned; letting the crazy guy babble on makes putler look sane and moderate. It's a poor attempt at the good cop/bad cop routine.