The Russian-Ukrainian War Thread

T.C.P

Well-Known Member
What really happened at snake island? The Ukrainians claim they destroyed Russian army and their equipments. The Russians claim they counter attacked the Ukrainians and shot down helicopters and killed most of the Ukrainians on the island..


@Feanor do u have any update on what really happened on snake island? Ur updates have been very helpful in keeping the balance of information.. thank u for the nice work u do with updates, more grease to your elbow.. it’s hard to believe any side completely in this war.. the West and Ukraine is proving to be worst than Russia in the propaganda department.
The complete sequence of the Snake Island attack was posted in detail on this very thread starting from page 161.


This post has the sequence of UA attacks, as released by Ukraine. The destruction of the Russian evacuation forces were also shared as videos in the post


Furthermore page 162 of this thread has the breakdown of the Russian "claims" and their refuations by verified members of this forum, with the reasonings and evidence of the refuations.

While there is propaganda on both sides, one side is more heavily into it than the other. The russian claims in the last 1 months has been even more intense than normal. Just keep one thing in mind, the bigger the claim, the easier it is to debunk/prove. This war has been more "open" in terms of readily available information than almost any other (the Syrian civil war comes close). People on various online forums are geolocating, videos and photos within hours of their release. The destruction of the Russian river crossing attempts were proven to be true and geolocated almost instantly, Russian advances and fall of Ukrainain towns have also been proven and geolocated very quickly as well.
 
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I have been observing for a few weeks now and this thread is in danger of being completely derailed and rendered useless in my opinion. At one point the thread was fairly balanced in terms of reporting and was an excellent, if not the best source of good information on the situation in Ukraine.

Now however, it seems to be inundated with pro Ukrainian narrative, and ridicule for the Russian perspective. It is no longer a source of reliable information anymore I'm afraid.
Unfortunately the mods have been at best passive to this general trend and at worst complicit. It seems like any comment that may be seen from the Russian perspective is slammed down and subsequently censored. Contributors are censured in often heavy handed manner.

I understand what the mods are trying to do, but this thread is endanger of becoming an echo chamber (it may already be), without any regard for objectivity - the intellectual equivalent of a black hole.

Not sure what the solution is, but my belief is that it is imperative that we generate more light than heat, so as to expose more of the truth. If we want propaganda there are plenty of twitter feeds and subreddits that people can go to.
 
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T.C.P

Well-Known Member
I have been observing for a few weeks now and this thread is in danger of being completely derailed and rendered useless in my opinion. At one point the thread was fairly balanced in terms of reporting and was an excellent, if not the best source of good information on the situation in Ukraine.

Now however, it seems to be inundated with pro Ukrainian narrative, and ridicule for the Russian perspective. It is no longer a source of reliable information anymore I'm afraid.

Unfortunately the mods have been at best passive to this general trend and at worst complicit. It seems like any comment that may be seen from the Russian perspective is slammed down and subsequently censored. Contributors are censured in often heavy handed manner.

I understand what the mods are trying to do, but this thread is endanger of becoming an echo chamber (it may already be), without any regard for objectivity - the intellectual equivalent of a black hole.

Not sure what the solution is, but my belief is that it is imperative that we generate more light than heat, so as to expose more of the truth. If we want propaganda there are plenty of twitter feeds and subreddits that people can go to.
Please give us some example of the moderators slamming down reports of actual Russian progress. I am not in any way pro Ukrainian, and you can go through my post history to verify, and I have not seen one example of the Mods shutting down actual contributing reports of Russian progress.

In this thread moderators and members have together done a great job combing through misinformation on both sides, if you are seeing one side more heavily backed in recent months, its because Ukraine has been backing up their big claims with videos and photos and Russia has not.
 
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OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Part 3 of 3: Encouraging a smarter discussion

8. If we see Ukrainian sources that are less credible, we point it out too. In the fog of war, it is hard to tell who is telling lies. Once we are certain of basic facts as news filters out, we point it out.

Please give us some example of the moderators slamming down reports of actual Russian progress. I am not in any way pro Ukrainian, and you can go through my post history to verify, and I have not see one example of the Mods shutting down actual contributing reports of Russian progress.

In this thread modertors and members have together done a great job combing through misinformation on both sides, if you are seeing one side more heavily backed in recent months, its because Ukraine has been backing up their big claims with vidoes and photos and Russia has not.
9. Agreed. Facts come first, analysis second, followed by conclusions. International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan Wednesday told reporters during his visit to Bucha that “Ukraine is a crime scene” as the court continues its investigation into alleged war crimes in the country.
Fact one, the ICC opened its investigation into alleged war crimes committed in Ukraine on 2 Mar 2022. ICC and others will investigate, but Russian commanders were negligent, and criminal.​
Fact two, Bucha shows the Russian Army is not ‘professional’ nor do they deserve the term ‘soldiers’. The fact of Russian forces targeting of civilians in their homes (with leave behind explosives), is something I hold in contempt.​

9. Ukrainian forces on their side of the river did an ‘engineer appreciation’ to find likely crossing sites. These will be high priority areas to cover in their recon and surveillance plan. In this case, Russians underestimated the enemy, who has a vote. Enemy prior collection plan worked and this enabled Ukraine to strike the Russians at the right time.

Q: Could a Ukrainian bridging engineer have play a role, to study the river bank?

Ans: Of course but the stay behind force is not the same engineer who did the survey of the river bank.

A EOD should take credit for blowing fixed bridges but not for the pontoon’s destruction.

10. The Twitter account of @kms_d4k says he is EOD, when the specialist to send is a bridging engineer. An EOD engineer officer is precious resource — his time would be better used to create chain IEDs and minefields. Engineers can’t help themselves. If you deploy them, they will set up obstacles, pressure plates or tanks traps — they are digging all the time or finding new places to dig.

11. Normally, a Singaporean brigade (or 3 Russian BTG) conducting a river crossing would have at least two crossing sites with a 3rd in reserve. If you send an EOD guy, who predicted a landing point, the area near the crossing would be full of mines. As a commander, I will not let an EOD sit around to wait for Russian forces to cross the river — they should have recce elements (whose job it is to play hide and seek) or infantry patrols to provide eyes on the river.
10. I follow the news in Ukraine as a hobby; lately, there seems to be a no. of strange accounts trying to look credible & blocking real experts like @DanKaszeta.
(a) There are some news (like the Estonian decision on transferring a Blue Spear 5G SSM rocket complex) that are unconfirmed and will need time to pass before it is accepted or rejected. I don’t know if some of these ‘support’ for Ukrainian accounts are real people with actual info on the ground or just BS. NEVERTHELESS, we are equal opportunity where BS is pointed out, whether it be American, European, Ukrainian or Russian. We favour the truth and are impartial to victories or losses to any side. It’s just an item to report in the thread.​
(b) Above, a retired Australian Major General explains the implication of the loss of this river crossing — most importantly, defeating this assault river crossing has probably denied the Russians an axis of advance they clearly thought was going to be productive for them in their eastern offensive. This is probably a larger set back for the Russians than some have speculated. Yes, they lost a lot of vehicles — but they are used to that — it has likely resulted in not just a BTG but probably 3 BTGs losing a large part of their combat power.​
 
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Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
I have been observing for a few weeks now and this thread is in danger of being completely derailed and rendered useless in my opinion. At one point the thread was fairly balanced in terms of reporting and was an excellent, if not the best source of good information on the situation in Ukraine.

Now however, it seems to be inundated with pro Ukrainian narrative, and ridicule for the Russian perspective. It is no longer a source of reliable information anymore I'm afraid.
Unfortunately the mods have been at best passive to this general trend and at worst complicit. It seems like any comment that may be seen from the Russian perspective is slammed down and subsequently censored. Contributors are censured in often heavy handed manner.

I understand what the mods are trying to do, but this thread is endanger of becoming an echo chamber (it may already be), without any regard for objectivity - the intellectual equivalent of a black hole.

Not sure what the solution is, but my belief is that it is imperative that we generate more light than heat, so as to expose more of the truth. If we want propaganda there are plenty of twitter feeds and subreddits that people can go to.
The Russian perspective that you ask for is well represented in my update posts, after some basic factual filtering. If you have factual information that points in a different direction, you are welcome to share it. Facts come first, analysis second, conclusions last.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
...
10. I follow the news in Ukraine as a hobby; lately, there seems to be a no. of strange accounts trying to look credible & blocking real experts like @DanKaszeta.
(a) There are some news (like the Estonian decision on transferring a Blue Spear 5G SSM rocket complex) that are unconfirmed and will need time to pass before it is accepted or rejected. ...​
Israel has denied it.
Israel denies equipping Ukraine with Blue Spear through Estonia
 

Rock the kasbah

Active Member

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
I was surfing the net and found this link
https://www.reddit.com/r/UkrainianConflict/comments/upg7fw What I found interesting was a small darkly coloured piece of the map called Jewish AO, I had to Google it as I have never heard of such a thing.
Perhaps this is why Israel is a little reluctant ?
Also note the sparcity of casualties out of Russia
It has nothing to do with Israeli reluctance. There is no statistically significant population of Jews there, and it was a moderately hare-brained scheme to mass resettle Russian Jews to the sparsely populated Far East. Unfortunately, it's not good land, which is why it was sparsely populated in the first place. So the plan failed miserably. I suggest you read up on what the Jewish Autonomous Region is, and its history.
 

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Update.

Kherson-Nikolaev-Odessa.

Air defenses firing over Odessa.


Russian strikes land in Odessa. Allegedly one of the targets was a hotel where foreign fighters were staying.


Another target was the Shkol'niy airfield.


Another target was at Zatoka.


Another target was the Riviera shopping center, allegedly being used as storage site for Ukrainian forces.


Artillery strikes against Nikolaev continue, allegedly MLRS.


Ukrainian Bogdana SP howitzer near the front line, Nikolaev area.


Ukrainian M-777s in Odessa.


Bayraktar TB-2 in the skies of Odessa.


Fires burning in the woods near Kherson.


Russian security forces continue raids in Kherson region.


Victory Day celebrations in Kherson. Note, while it's not a small celebration, this is a city with a pre-war population of 400 000.


Victory Day celebrations in Novaya Kahovka.


Igor Bezday, a Ukrainian pilot, formerly the commander of Ukraine's Naval Aviation Brigade, was killed in action. He was retired and was apparently recalled to active service. He was killed on May 7th and Russian social media is linking him with potential Ukrainian operations over or near Zmeiniy. In principle this would make sense, a Naval Aviation pilot for a maritime airborne assault. However we still have no wreckage. It's possible he was killed somewhere near Odessa, but not related to operations over Zmeiniy. It's also possible the date is wrong.


Zaporozhye-Dnepropetrovsk.

Russian forces allegedly captured a Brimstone missile in Zaporozhye, it was apparently a dud.


Russian National Guard found a stash of 120mm mortar shells in Zaporozhye.


Russian Lynx MRAPs at Zaporozhskaya NPP.


There are reports of British supplied AS-90 SP howitzers arriving in Zaporozhye, near Gulyaypole.


Allegedly Victory Day celebrations in Melitopol' and Berdyansk. It's hard to tell how many people are involved.


Kharkov-Sumy.

Russian Su-35S, low altitude in Kharkov. Note the interesting combat load. It carries 3 RVV-SD, 4 RVV-MD, and 2? of what I believe are X-31s (anti-radar missiles). From what I've read on Russian social media, this combat load is designed to cover Su-34 sorties from threats, ground and air, using the X-31s against any Ukrainian SAMs that show up, and with the air-to-air payload for any enemy jets.

Russian troop movements near Kharkov.


Russian National Guard trying to win hearts in minds in Kharkov region.


A breakdown of the fight where Russia lost a T-90M. Russian troops counter-attacked after the failed Ukrainian attack on Kazachya Lopan', and a Russian column mixing light armor and MBTs (3 allegedly) approached a town, when they were ambushed by Ukrainian territorial defense from the wooded area nearby. The T-90M took a hit jamming the turret, and was then finished off with another shot from a Carl Gustaf RPG from behind. Note, despite some earlier confusion, there is indeed just one knocked out T-90M. It likely wasn't from the 27th Motor-Rifles, but is now being reported as coming from the 2nd Guard Motor-Rifles (the famous Tamanskaya Division).


Here is a photo of a T-90M, with Nakidka thermal shroud. Note the infantry, and the optics on their weapons. This is likely SpN.


Allegedly, Ukrainian weapons taken from a recon team taken out by Russian SpN near Kharkov.


Russian TOS-1A, Kharkov region.

 

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
The Izyum Salient.

Russian helos continue to lob missiles, Izyum Salient.


Russian Tigr armored car gets hit by shell fragments during Ukrainian shelling. If you listen carefully you can hear it.


Allegedly a Ukrainian pontoon bridge across Severskiy Donets knocked out.


Ukrainian T-64BV knocked out.


Assorted footage.


Large forest fires are burning near Liman, stalling the fighting.


LDNR Front.

DNR Sparta Btln firing at Ukrainian positions in Avdeevka.


LNR forces advancing on the outskirts of Voevodovka, south-west of Rubezhnoe. They apparently captured a BMP-1 and foreign munitions.


Ukrainian positions at Nizhnee, allegedly overrun.


Battle damage from a Russian strike on Druzhkovka, south of Kramatorsk.


Battle damage from Ukrainian shelling, Donestk.


In Schastye, rebel authorities have put the powerplant back into operation. This comes after mine clearing operations took place.


A Russian composite police unit is heading to Lugansk. This is likely because most of LNR Ministry of Interior units are busy, either at the front, or in clearing recently taken areas (we have seen LNR Ministry of Interior soldiers as far as Kharkov region).


Mariupol'.

Ukrainian fighter clearing rubble at Azovstal'.


Russian and rebel forces continue the slow push into Azovstal'. They've captured the mountains of refuse by the sea side, possibly using small boats to land there.


DNR Interior Troops operating in the mountains of refuse, Azovstal'.


Civilians leaving Azovstal'.


Battle damage near Azovstal'.


The West.

Ukrainian military base in Vinnitsa got hit by a Russian strike.


There are reports that Ukraine's destroyed substations were at least partially repaired and train movements are going back to normal.


Russia.


Alleged Ukrainian infiltrator team taken out approaching a Russian border checkpoint in Kursk region.


Russian National Guard unit returs to Yugra, after a deployment to Ukraine. I can't help but wonder if the return of some of the National Guard units has to do with the scaling back of the area intended for occupation.


Misc.

Downed Ukrainian jet (MiG-29?). Location and context unclear.


Ukrainian Su-24M, low altitude, location and context unclear.


Russian Orlan-10 doing fire correction for a Grad unit, location unclear.


A closer look at the destroyed BMO-T.


Allegedly Czech fighters in Ukraine, with a Stinger MANPADS.


Another group of Brazilian fighters arrive in Ukraine.


NATO/EU&Co.

There are reports that Portugal will be supplying 15 M113s, and 5 M114 155mm howitzers. Given that Ukraine is already getting M113s from other sources, any additional number helps and can be added to the fleet. However 5 howitzers that are completely different from anything else Ukraine operates are of questionable value, unless they are an indicator of future supplies to come.


Ukrainian AN-124 delivers M-777s from Australia to Poland.

 

ngatimozart

Super Moderator
Staff member
Verified Defense Pro
I have been observing for a few weeks now and this thread is in danger of being completely derailed and rendered useless in my opinion. At one point the thread was fairly balanced in terms of reporting and was an excellent, if not the best source of good information on the situation in Ukraine.

Now however, it seems to be inundated with pro Ukrainian narrative, and ridicule for the Russian perspective. It is no longer a source of reliable information anymore I'm afraid.
Unfortunately the mods have been at best passive to this general trend and at worst complicit. It seems like any comment that may be seen from the Russian perspective is slammed down and subsequently censored. Contributors are censured in often heavy handed manner.

I understand what the mods are trying to do, but this thread is endanger of becoming an echo chamber (it may already be), without any regard for objectivity - the intellectual equivalent of a black hole.

Not sure what the solution is, but my belief is that it is imperative that we generate more light than heat, so as to expose more of the truth. If we want propaganda there are plenty of twitter feeds and subreddits that people can go to.
This is a difficult topic to moderate, however we do have @Feanor providing Russian based material that is mostly free of Kremlin propaganda. He does a sterling, time consuming, and difficult job. He also queries things from a Russian POV, without the Kremlin crap, which tends to keep the rest of us honest. We also tend to discount Ukrainian propaganda as well, preferring third party sources where we can.

But bear in mind that Putin has put out a significant amount of misinformation WRT Ukraine over the last 15 - 20 odd years and it has entered the general consciousness as fact when it is actually lies. When it coms to Ukrainian history there are authorative sources outside of Russia that give the history of Ukraine without the Russian rewriting of it over the last 300 years or so. Sources that the Tsars, communists, and Putin haven't been able to censor, alter, destroy, or banish.

Then in 2014 Putin orchestrated a rebellion in the Donbas, sent in Russian forces to support it, and illegally occupied and annexed Crimea. During that time his forces shot down a civilian airliner with a Buk missile. In 2022 we have the unprovoked, illegal invasion of Ukraine by Putin with claims that he's clearing it of Nazis. He's threatened use of nuclear weapons more than once, and now retaliation against Finland & Sweden for wanting to join NATO. It's actually up to individual nations to decide their own defence and foreign policy; not to have it dictated by Putin or anyone else playing bully boy.

So if there is the appearance of a bias of favouritism towards Ukraine it is most likely because it is the injured party in this war and many nations are helping it to defend itself from an aggressive invader. Certainly the performance, conduct, and lack of discipline of the Russian military in this war hasn't helped the Russian reputation any. You may find the harshest criticism of the performance, conduct, and lack of discipline of the Russian military, comes from veterans of other militaries who know what is expected in those areas, regardless of what military you serve in. Offsite from here in social media, fellow veterans have been very harsh and their comments make the harshest criticism on here look like a light tap on the head and told not to do it again.

Unfortunately what isn't mentioned here are the Russians who have the formidable courage to protest against Putin, rule an his war. Generally they end up in jail for a few days during which there have been accusations of beatings, in some cases severe, by the police and jailers. Once out they are watched, followed etc. Some, not many, have managed to escape the country and I believe that the leader of Pussy Riot has managed to make her way out of Russia finally. There are those who are attempting to leave to avoid the draft as well because they don't want to fight in Putin's war. I am in two minds about that because I have issues about draft dodgers.

So there is more to this than just a plain apparent favouritism because other factors have to be taken into account, such as the legalities, the rights and wrongs of the situation, conduct of the forces in the field etc.
 

Feanor

Super Moderator
Staff member
Some here have been asking for more of the Russian perspective. So here it is.

Near Belogorovka, footage has surfaced of a crossing across Severskiy Donets river. At this crossing are nearly 50 destroyed or abandoned armored vehicles (most appear to be destroyed).


Here's the narrative pieced together by Russian social media. Reliability is unclear.

May 2-3rd Russian and rebel forces crossed the Severskiy Donets near Shipilovka. The assaulted the town and forced back the minor Ukrainian force sitting there. Ukrainians withdrew towards Privolye. Russian troops spread over the area in small elements, assaulting scattered Ukrainian elements in Privol'ye, Novodruzhesk, and Belogorovka. Less then half of a btln was left holding Shipilovka. On May 4th Russian forces were forced to withdraw back across the river, likely due to a strong Ukrainian counter-attack. There was allegedly a reinforced Ukrainian btln in Privol'ye, and other units came from Lisichansk and Novodruzhesk.

May 4-5th at night Russia delivered massive artillery fires all across the shoreline from Serebryanka to Privol'ye, there are claims of large Ukrainian losses near Shipilovka. May 5th Russian and rebel forces crossed the S. D. near Serebryanka but were unable to establish a foothold due to a Ukrainian counterattack. Heavy Russian shelling continued.

May 7-8th Russian forces crossed the S. D. again, this time near Belogorovka. Russian forces set up on the hills near Shipilovka and entered the outskirts of Belogorovka. There they encountered prepared Ukrainian positions. On May 8th Russian forces set up a proper pontoon bridge to bring armor across. Some vehicles got across before Ukrainian shelling knocked out the crossing. Russian troops continued the attack, and near Shipilovka managed to push Ukrainian forces back to Privolye again.

May 9th the pontoon bridge at Belogorovka was re-established. Up to 100 vehicles were intended to cross and throw into the fight. The idea was to solidify gains and prepare for the assault on Seversk. For some reason the assault was delayed, and the vehicles were left staged near the peninsula. It is presumed that on the night of May 10th, Ukrainian aerial recon spotted the massive concentration of vehicles and delivered an artillery strike. Most of the vehicles were rendered inoperable.

May 11-12th rebel forces were brought to reinforce Russian units on the bridgehead and continue the assault on Privol'ye.


A proposed breakdown of losses.

BMP/BMD - 38
BTR - 4
T-72 - 6
Trucks - 3
MT-LB - 4
Boats - 2
Pontoon bridges - 6
BREM - 1
Other - 6

Attribution of losses gets a little hard. BMP-1s are very rare in Russian service. Only a couple of units from the Far East use them. One of those units did recently show up in Ukraine, riding mostly BMP-1AMs, but with a couple of regular BMP-1s mixed in. Some of the BMP-1s have circle markings, meaning they are almost guaranteed to be Russian or rebel. Some might be Ukrainian from Russian shelling. One of the MT-LBs looks a little like a Ukrainian MT-LB ambulance variant and a few appear to be early series MT-LBs, increasing the chance that they're Ukrainian (they reactivated some from storage a bit ago). That having been said, the overwhelming majority of the destroyed vehicles are Russian or rebel.


Now for my opinion. I think we have a destroyed Russian BTG, riding BMP-1s. I suspect some of the MB-LBs and possible some other vehicles may be Ukrainian. It's plausible that the BTG in question isn't Russian military but instead irregulars. It's even possible that it's a rebel element (LNR is speculated).
 

OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Below is a video of Ukrainian 152mm batteries at work, their method of shot adjustment and risk mitigation measures, in case of counter battery efforts.

Below, a discussion on British delivery of NVGs and smaller counter battery radars.
What electronic weapons could the UK be sending Ukraine?
 
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Rock the kasbah

Active Member
Below is a video of Ukrainian 152mm batteries at work, their method of shot adjustment and risk mitigation measures, in case of counter battery efforts.

Below, a discussion on British delivery of NVGs and smaller counter battery radars.
What electronic weapons could the UK be sending Ukraine?
That was very educational
Wow I had no idea
Thank you
And I must say bloody scary
 
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STURM

Well-Known Member
Prior to the invasion; EW was one of several; areas the Russians were expected to dominate but didn't. This is extremely surprising as the Russians have long placed great importance in EW; it's something they didn't allow to atrophy too much in the 1990's; deeply a part of their doctrine and widely integrated at various levels of operations.



''The Russian way of war on the electronic battlefield suffers from some of the same limitations that have hindered Russian forces generally, U.S. military experts say. The Russian systems are big and best suited to static positions, rather the multipronged mobile offensive that Russia launched in February. Russian systems operated well in the tight battle zone of Donbas in 2014, and they may repeat that success in the new Donbas campaign that began last month.''

Russia’s centralized, top-down command structure also hindered its EW forces in making quick adaptations; there weren’t any Russian noncommissioned officers who could make speedy fixes. And because the Russians lacked total air supremacy over Ukraine, their EW planes often remained in safe territory in Russia and Belarus — which limited signals collection and jamming capabilities.''



''Maj Gen B. Kremenetskyi, the Defense Attache with the Ukrainian Embassy in the U.S. had noted the problem of interoperability with the Russian armed forces who would jam Ukrainian frequencies, but then would end up jamming their systems using the same frequencies, for example, Russian UAVs that use satellite signals transmitted by the country’s GLONASS [global positioning] system.''


''Before leaving Ukraine at the end of February, inspectors from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) confirmed the presence of at least a dozen Russian EW systems, mostly mounted on tracked vehicles and off-road trucks. Among them is the RB-341В "Leer-3" electronic warfare system supported by Orlan-10 drones, whose job is to intercept satellite navigation signals, 3G, 4G communications and text messages.''

''General Gerasimov has also brought to Ukraine the R-934B "Sinitsa" jamming station, dedicated to disrupting and even damaging the communications and guidance systems of satellites in low-Earth orbit. And Russia's most advanced electronic suppression system, the RB-301B "Borisoglebsk-2", which blocks Ukrainian military ground and airborne HF and UHF radio channels. And also the RB-636 "Svet-KU", whose role is to locate and intercept radio signals. ''

''For reconnaissance and electronic attack are the 1RL257 "Krasukha-C4" and the R-330Zh "Zhitel" automatic jamming station. Both are aimed at jamming and jamming at long distances the radar signals of the US Air Force's AWACS E-3 Sentry and AEW E-2 Hawkeye airborne warning and control aircraft, which are trying to locate Russian fighters in flight. And the RB-109A "Bylina" and Tirada-2 are used to degrade and jam communications satellite transmissions. ''
 

OPSSG

Super Moderator
Staff member
Part 1 of 2: Weapon locating radars (WLRs), UAVs and its impact on the OODA loop

1. Ukraine’s Observe, Orient, Decide and Act (OODA) loop will change as WLR capabilities get integrated into their battery command post loop. A typical OODA loop is 11 to 18 mins. It is estimated that the Russians have the capability to respond with counter battery within 12 mins from an Ukrainian artillery fire mission.

That was very educational
Wow I had no idea
Thank you
And I must say bloody scary
2. It’s a risk all Ukrainian artillery guys take every time they go for a fire mission. Depending on the intelligence picture, the time period for an Ukrainian artillery battery to take cover after 1st shot out can be shorter than 10 mins 30 seconds, at certain locations — especially where the Russians are massed.

3. During Gulf War I, this was a significant risk faced by all American and British Red Legs; thankfully they had tracked SPHs, HIMARS s and others, for over watch (and paired with WLRs). Batteries moved forward to predetermined positions, fired a barrage of rounds at selected targets, and then withdrew quickly to avoid counter-battery fire — this tactic is called shoot and scoot. As well as hitting enemy targets, these raids allowed the gunners to practice their fire and movement ahead of the rapid advance into Iraq and Kuwait.

4. Singapore Artillery sent 2 Arthur counter battery radars to Afghanistan (from Sep 2009 to Jun 2010); and for their 1st shift change, they were hit by an accurate Taliban rocket attack — which slightly delayed the shift change. This capability is resident in Singapore’s Primus batteries (155mm/39 calibre) and HIMARS batteries — the same fire and movement tactic is used too.

(a) This is about an army’s OODA; and given that our enemy also operate MLRS paired with a WLR, the SAF knows it has to be faster than the enemy’s OODA, for our counter battery work to succeed.​
(b) Due to the short range, the typical action-reaction cycle at Multi National Base Tarin Kot was about 11.5 to 15 seconds from detection gate (height); through out the deployment they detected all rocket attacks on Multi National Base Tarin Kot. As 2WO June Tay explains in the video, troops manning the radar was able to give warnings at the 2nd to 3rd second mark (faster than the expected 4 seconds to sound the siren). If they took 4 seconds, the people in the base had 7.5 seconds to react. So they tried to buy about 1.5 seconds by paying more attention and adjust their sitting posture during each shift, even at shift change to avoid a coverage gap.​
 
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STURM

Well-Known Member
2. It’s a risk all Ukrainian artillery guys take every time they go for a fire mission. Depending on the intelligence picture, the time period for an Ukrainian artillery battery to take cover after 1st shot out can be shorter than 10 mins 30 seconds, at certain locations — especially where the Russians are massed.
Taking cover is one thing; successfully relocating in time a completely different thing as you're aware. If the said unit is equipped with towed guns the problem becomes somewhat more complicated.

3. During Gulf War I, this was a significant risk faced by all American and British Red Legs; thankfully they had tracked SPHs, HIMARS s and others, for over watch (and paired with WLRs). Batteries moved forward to predetermined positions, fired a barrage of rounds at selected targets, and then withdrew quickly to avoid counter-battery fire — this tactic is called shoot and scoot...
MLRS units were paired in Firefinders. It helped greatly that Iraqi arty was not geared to that type of conflict [used to operating mostly from static positions for long periods as was the case during the war with Iran] and had great difficulty in hitting unobserved targets. Not too mention the fact they weren't proficient in hitting unobserved targets to begin with; were targeted heavily from the air and had severe communications issues.

…our enemy also operate MLRS paired with a WLR, the SAF knows it has to be faster than the enemy’s OODA, for our counter battery work to succeed.
The ''enemy'' would also be aware that Singapore arty has to be faster and will attempt to be even faster in order not to be targeted. The ''enemy'' can also attempt to hold back some guns/rockets to be used against his enemy's counter battery assets. Like everything else; it won't only be only a matter of skill; proficiency and other things but also an element of luck.
 
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STURM

Well-Known Member
An interesting article which first appeared in 2019.


''The cornerstone of the British military's entire fires capability runs to only two regiments of 24 aging AS90 155-mm, 39-calibre, self-propelled howitzers. Its 16 Air Assault Brigade and 3 Commando Brigade can each field just two batteries of six 105-mm light guns. And the UK’s Multiple Launch Rocket System is issued with a GPS-guided rocket with a unitary warhead, which is inaccurate in the face of extensive Russian GPS jamming, is unable to course-correct and so cannot reliably engage dynamic targets, and has 85 km range, as compared with 120 km for Russian systems.''

''By contrast a Russian motor-rifle brigade alone fields an organic fires compliment of 81 artillery pieces, ranging from 152-mm and 203-mm self-propelled howitzers to 300-mm, multiple-launch rocket systems, the RUSI study said.''


Like various other things Russian artillery failed to perform as expected; although I have to place the caveat that this is the impression I've gained.
Russian arty is/was great in laying down large volumes of indiscriminate fire on static targets but I have no idea how they well they managed to provide effective fire in support of maneuver units and the actual numbers of Ukrainian arty which was neutralised by Russian arty.
 

swerve

Super Moderator
An interesting article which first appeared in 2019.


''The cornerstone of the British military's entire fires capability runs to only two regiments of 24 aging AS90 155-mm, 39-calibre, self-propelled howitzers. Its 16 Air Assault Brigade and 3 Commando Brigade can each field just two batteries of six 105-mm light guns. .....
Actually, we have (or did last year) 89 AS90s & 126 L118 105mm guns. But a lot of them are in reserve.

UK armed forces equipment and formations 2021
 

swerve

Super Moderator
...
What I found interesting was a small darkly coloured piece of the map called Jewish AO, I had to Google it as I have never heard of such a thing.
Perhaps this is why Israel is a little reluctant ?
...
The so-called Jewish Autonomous Oblast, centred on Birobidzhan, does not influence Israeli policy. Of over 500,000 Jewish citizens of Russia, only 1600 or so lived in the JAO in 2010, according to official statistics, or 1% of the population. It was established in the 1920s to encourage settlement of Europeans on the Amur river, for a combination of economic & military reasons, & set up as a place where Jews could govern themselves to make it attractive to them. Its official language was Yiddish.
 
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