What's going on in Ukraine?

[Hellraiser]

The Rheinmetall Ukrainian Defence Industry LLC facility in Kyiv has started operating. The first batches of equipment are already under going repair and maintenance. Pretty much any vehicle or system of German origin can now be serviced in Ukraine rather than being shipped to Poland, Slovakia, or Lithuania, so the turn around time will be drastically reduced.

[Hellraiser]

[Uncle fester]

What? $200-300k each?

[PornDog]

yeah that seems very very high for a per unit cost. And unfeasibly low otherwise.

[inactionman]

I'm not sure Russia are negotiating from a position of strength.

£200k for some fibreglass and not overly sophisticated electronics, the engine is supposed to be about $20k worth but can't see where the rest adds up:
https://en.defence-ua.com/weapon_and_te ... -6555.html

[Hellraiser]

That's some Hollywood shit right there.

[_Os_]

What? $200-300k each?

That's a per unit price, paid for in gold because the Ruble isn't stable or freely exchangeable.

Fairly normal for the sale price to be x5 or x6 the production cost, especially if there's limited alternatives. Estimated costs of manufacture all seem to be in the $20k-$50k range, so it's a bit high but looks about right. Russia is basically in a cinema buying drinks and popcorn and has nowhere else to go, they either go hungry or pay the markup.

Highlights what having an undiversified economy that exports commodities means. Anything higher up the value chain needs to be imported at a higher cost than if it were produced domestically. Most of the equipment Russia is using has its origins in the Soviet era, a disproportionate amount of the value add in the Soviet economy was located in Ukraine, which means a lot of the Soviet military industrial complex is Ukrainian today. Russia only started systematically attacking locations like the Malyshev Factory in Kharkiv in late 2022/early 2023, it probably views Ukrainian military/industrial locations more as assets that belonged to Russia it wants captured intact than as targets (stupid as they're worthless without skilled workers, but that seems to be the thinking).

[tabascoboy]

1 300km from Ukraine, so maybe another "smoking incident" or with luck anti-Putinists at work

[Hellraiser]

That place also produces rockets and ballistic missiles.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

Russian losses were >1k today.

[tabascoboy]

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So, in Ukraine, where Putin says Nazism and Russophobia are rampant, a Jewish president has appointed an ethnic Russian as commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

[Uncle fester]

Well that's disappointing.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

[petej]

finally. Hopefully, they can do something about stopping the glide bombs.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]

Some details about the air bridge to the Azovstal, during the siege of Mariupol.

- 16 helicopters conducted 7 sorties.
- Evacuated 64 wounded.
- Transported the 72 warriors to reinforce the garrison, and 30 tonnes of cargo.
This helped the Azovstal defenders to withstood for another month and pin down the 10,000 Russian soldiers in the city.

First flight conducted by 2 Mi-8 helicopters.
- Flight from the airport to zero (frontline) 38 min., from zero to Azovstal 42 min
- Each carried 2 tones of cargo (ammunition, starlinks, medicines).
- Nine wounded were evacuated from Azovstal.
- Flight altitude 3-7 meters.
- They flew at a maximum speed of 270 km/h.
- Once they even hit a tree with a wheel.

Book "Defence Intelligence of Ukraine. In the air, at sea, on the ground"

[Hellraiser]

[tabascoboy]

ISW: Russia constructing 30-km wall of train cars in occupied Donetsk Oblast
The so-called “tsar train” may serve for the Russian military as a defensive line against future Ukrainian assaults, according to the ISW.

https://euromaidanpress.com/2024/02/12/ ... sk-oblast/

[yermum]

that medic was doing gods work there.

seriously intense video.

[tabascoboy]

[PornDog]

in teh replies to that -

[Raggs]

in teh replies to that -

The Sun shall never set!

I'd like to put in the stipulation that each empire can only use the technology that was available to them whilst they were still occupying whichever land it is they wish to take over. Defenders can use whatever tech they have available.

[Uncle fester]

Russia are certainly playing by that rule anyway with the amount of ancient gear they have been pulling out of storage.

[Biffer]

in teh replies to that -

The Sun shall never set!

I'd like to put in the stipulation that each empire can only use the technology that was available to them whilst they were still occupying whichever land it is they wish to take over. Defenders can use whatever tech they have available.

Given that, we should take the UK back to 1960. We’ve got the bomb, don’t have to bother with India, Pakistan, Palestine or the yanks, but still have the West Indies and a healthy chunk of Africa, along with Malta and Cyprus.

[Margin__Walker]

Another one goes to the bottom courtesy of Ukrainian USVs

[Glaston]

So the Russian navy ship sinks on the 81st anniversary of Caesar Kunikov's death.
Ukrainians are pretty good at symbolism.

[tabascoboy]

[tabascoboy]

Republicans now realising that trying to block the Ukraine aid deal was short-sighted and now trying to find an "out", and maybe distance themselves from Trump's BS?

[Uncle fester]

Republicans now realising that trying to block the Ukraine aid deal was short-sighted and now trying to find an "out", and maybe distance themselves from Trump's BS?

What's the threat?

[Guy Smiley]

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-con ... 024-02-14/

WASHINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives intelligence committee issued an unusual cryptic statement on Wednesday saying the committee had made available to all members of Congress information about an unspecified "serious national security threat" that sources said was related to Russia.
"I am requesting that President Biden declassify all information relating to this threat so that Congress, the Administration, and our allies can openly discuss the actions necessary to respond to this threat," Representative Mike Turner said in the statement.
He provided no further information, and his office did not immediately respond to requests for further comment.
Two sources familiar with the issue said Turner's statement was related to Russia and operations in space, without providing further details on what was described as a highly-classified matter.
Turner's statement was released in the midst of intense debate in Congress over how the United States should be dealing with global threats from Russia and other rivals, with security hawks urging greater global involvement and some lawmakers most closely allied with former Republican President Donald Trump advocating for a more "America First" approach to world affairs.
The Biden administration has been ramping up its criticism of House Republicans for possibly blocking a $95-billion bill passed by the Senate that would supply aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. Supporters of the bill argue that a major reason for the United States to back the government in Kyiv is to push back against threats from Russia that extend beyond Ukraine.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a staunch Trump ally who says he will not rush to allow a vote on the Senate bill, told reporters at the Capitol there was no need for public alarm. "Steady hands are at the wheel. We're working on it and there's no need for alarm," he said.

[PornDog]

Using Nukes to wipe out satellites according to the Twitteratti

Theoretically, would exploding nukes in Earths low (or even high) orbit have EMP effects on the ground?

[tabascoboy]

[ASMO]

Using Nukes to wipe out satellites according to the Twitteratti

Theoretically, would exploding nukes in Earths low (or even high) orbit have EMP effects on the ground?

In low ortbit, yes, and this is something that could not be hidden, the blast even from a small nuke would have been easily detected by anyone with a pair of binoculars or telescope so i am completely calling that one bullshit.

[PornDog]

Using Nukes to wipe out satellites according to the Twitteratti

Theoretically, would exploding nukes in Earths low (or even high) orbit have EMP effects on the ground?

In low ortbit, yes, and this is something that could not be hidden, the blast even from a small nuke would have been easily detected by anyone with a pair of binoculars or telescope so i am completely calling that one bullshit.

I don't think they are saying that they have already done it - I think they are warning against their possible plans to do it!


I would imagine all of the important satellites that they would want to take out would be in geo-synchronous (high Earth) orbits?

[fishfoodie]

Using Nukes to wipe out satellites according to the Twitteratti

Theoretically, would exploding nukes in Earths low (or even high) orbit have EMP effects on the ground?

In low ortbit, yes, and this is something that could not be hidden, the blast even from a small nuke would have been easily detected by anyone with a pair of binoculars or telescope so i am completely calling that one bullshit.

I don't think they are saying that they have already done it - I think they are warning against their possible plans to do it!


I would imagine all of the important satellites that they would want to take out would be in geo-synchronous (high Earth) orbits?

For geo-synchronous satellites are a long way out, but the Orcs might be more interested in the starlink ones, that are much closer in.

EMP is line-of-sight, so the further out you detonate, the wider the damage, & the damage is indiscriminate, so you'd damage as much of the kit you own, as the stuff you're trying to destroy.

One of the complaints about Starlink is that it adds yet more shit in LEO, & contributes excessively to the space junk that has to be avoided by anyone launching, or also in LEO. I think it was the Chinese that launched an anti-sat weapon at one of their own satellites 10-15 years ago, & added considerably to the amount of shrapnel in LEO, to the point where it knocked out at least one Satellite. That might be what the Orcs have in mind; it's less provocative than a nuke, & probably more efficient. They could launch a few anti-sat missiles, & ruin Ukraine's battlefield communications.

The concern is the Kessler syndrome (essentially the plot of the movie Gravity), where if you start a chain reaction in LEO, it becomes self-sustaining, & you fall off a cliff with the amount of debris in LEO being sufficient to make it impossible to get a payload safely beyond LEO, & we're back to the 19th century in space terms.

[Biffer]

Using Nukes to wipe out satellites according to the Twitteratti

Theoretically, would exploding nukes in Earths low (or even high) orbit have EMP effects on the ground?

In low ortbit, yes, and this is something that could not be hidden, the blast even from a small nuke would have been easily detected by anyone with a pair of binoculars or telescope so i am completely calling that one bullshit.

I don't think they are saying that they have already done it - I think they are warning against their possible plans to do it!


I would imagine all of the important satellites that they would want to take out would be in geo-synchronous (high Earth) orbits?

Anything that is high resolution imagery or SAR will be low earth orbit.

[Hellraiser]

[Hellraiser]