NPR

Hellraiser wrote: Tue May 09, 2023 11:06 pm AFU recaptured 7.8 sq km of ground at Bakhmut today after forcing the 6th and 7th companies of the Russian 72nd Brigade to retreat with heavy losses. Prigozhin was going ape-shit about this earlier and it was confirmed by the Ukrainian 3rd Separate Assault Brigade about two hours ago.

Niegs wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 1:30 am

TB63 wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 8:06 am

Glaston wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 5:52 am

Niegs wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 1:30 am

Not from this year.

Google says its from Aug 2018

Wagner chief: We’ll rip out Macron’s teeth

Yevgeny Prigozhin is fuming — again.

This time he was triggered by the French parliament designating his Wagner Group of mercenaries as a terrorist organization — and on Wednesday he threatened French President Emmanuel Macron directly.

Responding to a question from Russian journalists, Prigozhin claimed that Wagner was saving people in Central Africa — where Wagner has gained a strong foothold and squeezed France’s presence in the region — from French soldiers, who “simply mocked them.”

“We can pull out rotten teeth from those bad mouths with pliers,” Prigozhin added. “We can pull out Macron’s teeth and, generally, everyone’s teeth who spill pathogenic filth (about Wagner).”

tabascoboy wrote: Wed May 10, 2023 3:42 pm The more this goes on, the more it confirms he's not right in the head

Wagner chief: We’ll rip out Macron’s teeth

Yevgeny Prigozhin is fuming — again.

This time he was triggered by the French parliament designating his Wagner Group of mercenaries as a terrorist organization — and on Wednesday he threatened French President Emmanuel Macron directly.

Responding to a question from Russian journalists, Prigozhin claimed that Wagner was saving people in Central Africa — where Wagner has gained a strong foothold and squeezed France’s presence in the region — from French soldiers, who “simply mocked them.”

“We can pull out rotten teeth from those bad mouths with pliers,” Prigozhin added. “We can pull out Macron’s teeth and, generally, everyone’s teeth who spill pathogenic filth (about Wagner).”

Kremlin calls Polish decision to rename Kaliningrad 'hostile act'

May 10 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Wednesday that Poland's decision to rename the Russian city of Kaliningrad in its official documents was a "hostile act", as ties continue to fray over the Ukraine war.

Kaliningrad, which sits in an exclave that is sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic coast, was known by the German name of Koenigsberg until after World War II, when it was annexed by the Soviet Union and renamed to honour politician Mikhail Kalinin.

Warsaw says Kalinin's connection to the 1940 Katyn massacre - when thousands of Polish officers were executed by Soviet forces - had negative connotations and that the city should now be referred to as Królewiec, its name when it was ruled by the Kingdom of Poland in the 15th and 16th centuries. "The current Russian name of this city is an artificial baptism unrelated to either the city or the region," Poland's committee on geographical standardisation said on Tuesday.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the decision "bordered on madness". "We know that throughout history Poland has slipped from time to time into this madness of hatred towards Russians," he told a briefing.

Kaliningrad was cut off from Moscow when Lithuania became independent during the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991.

In the city itself, people questioned in the street were split over the Polish move.

"(This land) is conquered by us, by my ancestors ... this is our territory and there can be no Królewiec whatsoever," said an elderly man who did not give his name.

Others appeared to be less upset. One woman noted Lithuania had also renamed the city Królewiec.

"Nothing would change ... apart from need to change all their documents. If they want it, let them do it," she said.

Relations between Poland and Russia have historically often been very strained.

Moscow says it liberated Poland when its forces drove out Nazi forces at the end of the war. Most Poles believe the Soviet Union replaced Nazi occupation with another form of repression.

Poland, a NATO member, strongly backed Ukraine after Russia's invasion, and has stepped up the demolition of memorials to fallen Soviet troops across the country.

Flockwitt wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 9:43 am So Zelensky banging on about how it's too soon for the major offensive...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65550427

Hellraiser wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 10:44 am The UK has delivered Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine. Range of 560km. Game on.

Hellraiser wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 10:44 am The UK has delivered Storm Shadow cruise missiles to Ukraine. Range of 560km. Game on.

dkm57 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:16 am Hmm, I suspect Ukraine are waiting for some specific kit.

Given that UK have just supplied air lunched Storm Shadow missiles developed in the 90s, are we to expecting them to be launched from Migs?

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

tc27 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:26 pm

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

I know in the case of the UK lots of the NLAWS and Brimstone missiles were from older batches that were about to 'expire' meaning batteries and electronics were past service date - so essentially they cost nothing as they would have being binned anyway. As for the spending itself its the bargain of the century by any objective standard?

tc27 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:26 pm

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

I know in the case of the UK lots of the NLAWS and Brimstone missiles were from older batches that were about to 'expire' meaning batteries and electronics were past service date - so essentially they cost nothing as they would have being binned anyway. As for the spending itself its the bargain of the century by any objective standard?

tc27 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:24 pm Look like the Ukrainian AF has had a number of its SU24s refitted to carry Storm Shadow. As with the American Harm it looks like the aircraft just carries the weapon to the right place and tells in to launch (the guidance is completely internal to the missile) so its not too hard to fit.

Does make me laugh as the MOD is really crap at (amongst other things) fitting weapons to aircraft without it taking years and millions of pounds...apparently when the shit hits the fan its not that hard.

dkm57 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:16 am Hmm, I suspect Ukraine are waiting for some specific kit.

Given that UK have just supplied air lunched Storm Shadow missiles developed in the 90s, are we to expecting them to be launched from Migs?

robmatic wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:26 pm

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

To be fair, it was all supposed to be shot at the Russians at some point anyway.

inactionman wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 1:07 pm

tc27 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:24 pm Look like the Ukrainian AF has had a number of its SU24s refitted to carry Storm Shadow. As with the American Harm it looks like the aircraft just carries the weapon to the right place and tells in to launch (the guidance is completely internal to the missile) so its not too hard to fit.

Does make me laugh as the MOD is really crap at (amongst other things) fitting weapons to aircraft without it taking years and millions of pounds...apparently when the shit hits the fan its not that hard.

Doing it and doing it well are two separate things.

Not that MOD does it necessarily well (and I should put 'doing it sustainably'), but integration is more than just getting it to sit on a pylon and fall off of it when required. Ukraine are going to take them and use them in short order, so no worries about developing, testing, integrating across complex sets of systems, training, facilities management commercial management, long term storage and capability uplift, or upon aspects like damage/wear and tear to launch vehicles.

I worked for many years in MOD Logs, and it is not easy - not least as it's a constantly shifting world that you have to keep changing to meet. Ukraine just has to beat Russia as it finds it, here and now, which is a remarkably clear mission statement. It's not worried about ensuring weapons systems remain effective against all possible threats, real and forecast, or operating within budgets and resource limits.

But your broader point is valid - MOD do drag thing out, and a lot of the issues I faced were either commercial, not technical, or caused by a constant revolving door of decision-makers who could upset direction on a biennial basis (two years being the standard back-office deployment for military folk) who may know what goes on at the sharp end but are not experts in technical design or project delivery.

tabascoboy wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 1:14 pm

robmatic wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:26 pm

C69 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:49 am Just out of curiosity, are Ukraine going to have to pay back anything to the countries supplying them with Billions of pounds worth of kit?

I did find a link somewhere which covered the proposals for some kind of repayment but it now seems to be unavailable

I think the EU loans were to be repaid in 2033 but not to sure of others

To be fair, it was all supposed to be shot at the Russians at some point anyway.

Probably a fair bit of past its "Best by..."

tc27 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 1:17 pm

inactionman wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 1:07 pm

tc27 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 12:24 pm Look like the Ukrainian AF has had a number of its SU24s refitted to carry Storm Shadow. As with the American Harm it looks like the aircraft just carries the weapon to the right place and tells in to launch (the guidance is completely internal to the missile) so its not too hard to fit.

Does make me laugh as the MOD is really crap at (amongst other things) fitting weapons to aircraft without it taking years and millions of pounds...apparently when the shit hits the fan its not that hard.

Doing it and doing it well are two separate things.

Not that MOD does it necessarily well (and I should put 'doing it sustainably'), but integration is more than just getting it to sit on a pylon and fall off of it when required. Ukraine are going to take them and use them in short order, so no worries about developing, testing, integrating across complex sets of systems, training, facilities management commercial management, long term storage and capability uplift, or upon aspects like damage/wear and tear to launch vehicles.

I worked for many years in MOD Logs, and it is not easy - not least as it's a constantly shifting world that you have to keep changing to meet. Ukraine just has to beat Russia as it finds it, here and now, which is a remarkably clear mission statement. It's not worried about ensuring weapons systems remain effective against all possible threats, real and forecast, or operating within budgets and resource limits.

But your broader point is valid - MOD do drag thing out, and a lot of the issues I faced were either commercial, not technical, or caused by a constant revolving door of decision-makers who could upset direction on a biennial basis (two years being the standard back-office deployment for military folk) who may know what goes on at the sharp end but are not experts in technical design or project delivery.

I get that properly integrating a weapon takes time but the fact we cant use most of our inventory from the F35s is maddening

dkm57 wrote: Thu May 11, 2023 11:16 am Hmm, I suspect Ukraine are waiting for some specific kit.

Given that UK have just supplied air lunched Storm Shadow missiles developed in the 90s, are we to expecting them to be launched from Migs?