Russia/Ukraine

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Flagrant Fowl
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Flagrant Fowl »

Former Los Angeles Lakers player Slava Medvedenko auctions NBA title rings for native Ukraine

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/342 ... ve-ukraine
Medvedenko, 43, was a power forward on the Lakers' championship teams in 2001 and '02, playing alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal.

SCP Auctions is donating the entire final sale price of both rings to Medvedenko's Fly High Foundation. Its goal is to support Ukrainian children by restoring the sports infrastructure of the war-torn country's schools and launching a network of social sports clubs.
...
"We were defending our neighborhood, doing checkpoints and duty patrol. I'm not the best solider, I'm not the best shooter, but I can give them support," he said, adding that he carried an AK-47. "I shoot it a couple times, not at people. I'm happy I don't have a chance to shoot somebody. Our army did a great job to defend Kyiv. I want to thank them."
Hopefully a wealthy Lakers fan puts down a large bid.
Send me a PM if you're interested in joining the phx-suns.net fantasy basketball league.

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

OPINION>NATIONAL SECURITY
Putin can’t control his Ukraine cataclysm — and the US must get ready

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... get-ready/

As the Russo-Ukrainian war grinds into its sixth full month, we must reckon with strategic reality. Russia is losing ground, and its strategic position will only deteriorate in coming months; further military reversals will intensify its strategic quandary. Three possibilities exist — revolution, a palace coup, or horizontal escalation — and the United States should prepare for each.…

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

This war is between Russia and Ukraine but, it’s really war between Russia and the West/NATO, namely the US. Count China in as an interested third party. If Putin could switch Ukrainian lives lost with American lives lost I think he would do it in a heartbeat. People complaining about prices of things in the US and the US sending military aid to Ukraine need to think about a possible alternative where American is bombarded with nukes from Russia and China and we have a draft drafting every able body to fight for our existence in a World War. That is a reality that could be far worse than high gas prices and Starbucks running out of your favorite sandwich. People are getting ho hum about Ukraine. Every time a city is decimated in Ukraine I think about a US city being decimated and I get serious.

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

Top Russian hypersonic missile scientist arrested on treason charge
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/05/europe/r ... index.html
A leading Russian scientist in hypersonic flight was arrested on suspicion of treason on Friday, according to Russian state media.

His detention comes after the arrest on June 27 of the chief researcher of the institute, Anatoly Maslov, who is suspected of transferring state secret data related to hypersonic missiles.

On June 30, the Sovetsky District Court of Novosibirsk arrested another scientist, Dmitry Kolker, a researcher at the Institute of Laser Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

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virtual9mm
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by virtual9mm »

Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 04, 2022 12:04 pm
OPINION>NATIONAL SECURITY
Putin can’t control his Ukraine cataclysm — and the US must get ready

https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... get-ready/

As the Russo-Ukrainian war grinds into its sixth full month, we must reckon with strategic reality. Russia is losing ground, and its strategic position will only deteriorate in coming months; further military reversals will intensify its strategic quandary. Three possibilities exist — revolution, a palace coup, or horizontal escalation — and the United States should prepare for each.…
I am in Varna, Bulgaria, now on the Black Sea coast. Most of the many Russians who have summer homes here have stayed away. Younger folks are strongly pro-EU (Bulgaria is an EU and NATO member). But some older folks seem pro-Russian -- the economy is mainly tourism dependent. Varna is hopping still...but you can tell that Russian tourists are missed.

Still, I can tell that the young folks have been radicalized to be more anti-Russian since the outbreak of war.

Here is a picture I took yesterday of about half of Bulgaria's entire navy -- a frigate, a couple of corvettes, support craft. It is no San Diego but you can see why the loss of a single DDG like the Moskva was so painful. You could dominate the entire Black Sea with a couple of those.

Image

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

You definitely get around virtual9mm. I’m sure not too many .netters have visited Varna Bulgaria.

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Indy
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Indy »

I've heard it is a really nice summer vacation spot. Beautiful and pretty cheap.

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

Ukraine’s long-awaited southern counteroffensive begins with a bang in Crimea
https://www.politico.eu/article/ukraine ... ng-crimea/
KYIV — Blasts that rocked a Russian military airfield in forcibly annexed Crimea signal the start of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the south and a critical new phase of the war that could shape its ultimate outcome, two Ukrainian officials told POLITICO…


…A second Ukrainian official, who also spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak to the media, told POLITICO that August and September will be “very important” months from a military perspective, which would likely shape the ultimate outcome of the war.

The official said that the airfield blasts were a message to Russia that they “are safe nowhere.”

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virtual9mm
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by virtual9mm »

Indy wrote:
Mon Aug 08, 2022 10:46 am
I've heard it is a really nice summer vacation spot. Beautiful and pretty cheap.
It's awesome. As a vacation spot, I prefer it to Istanbul, where I am now. But you simply have to see The City at least once in your lifetime.

Speaking of which...I am hearing from everyone from taxi drivers to university professors that Erdogan will be finished next year. The 2016 was a military coup against Erdogan, so the military was put down hard in the aftermath. But now, Erdogan is below a 30% approval rate dur to 100% inflation this year and can't rely upon the military. I think he will be our next year.

If Turkish democracy is indeed the future of American democracy, and if Erdogan is like a successful Trump, there are lessons yo be learned here.

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

It’s time to double down on drones for future conflicts
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... conflicts/

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virtual9mm
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by virtual9mm »

Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:17 am
It’s time to double down on drones for future conflicts
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... conflicts/
Look up Loyal Wingman concept, it is the future on land, sea, and air.

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

virtual9mm wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:22 am
Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:17 am
It’s time to double down on drones for future conflicts
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... conflicts/
Look up Loyal Wingman concept, it is the future on land, sea, and air.
I have heard of that. A piloted fighter aircraft accompanied by a pilotless drone as his wingman. That’s an interesting concept that makes a lot of sense. I believe drones will have a much larger role aside from that as well. I was reading several years ago that our new Raptor fighter jets would be that last piloted fighter aircraft made. I don’t know if that is true or not because I have heard a lot of talk about future piloted aircraft. I also read about the strategy of mixing drones and piloted aircraft to confuse the enemy.

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Superbone
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Superbone »

Nodack wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 7:17 am
virtual9mm wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:22 am
Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:17 am
It’s time to double down on drones for future conflicts
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... conflicts/
Look up Loyal Wingman concept, it is the future on land, sea, and air.
I have heard of that. A piloted fighter aircraft accompanied by a pilotless drone as his wingman. That’s an interesting concept that makes a lot of sense. I believe drones will have a much larger role aside from that as well. I was reading several years ago that our new Raptor fighter jets would be that last piloted fighter aircraft made. I don’t know if that is true or not because I have heard a lot of talk about future piloted aircraft. I also read about the strategy of mixing drones and piloted aircraft to confuse the enemy.
Kind of like The Walking Dead strategy of the Whisperers who disguise themselves as walkers roaming with the pack of undead.
"Be Legendary."

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virtual9mm
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by virtual9mm »

Scroll down to "stealth drones" for a recent write-up.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/s ... or-takeoff

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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

virtual9mm wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 2:35 pm
Scroll down to "stealth drones" for a recent write-up.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/s ... or-takeoff
More generally, a stealth UCAV (Drone) carrying internal weapons would be an enormous advantage to the KF-21 (South Korea’s new cheaper version of our F-35 manned fighter jet) Block 1 or Block 2 when penetrating heavily contested airspace. This would allow the manned fighter to remain at a safer standoff distance and use its highly capable Meteor missiles and active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar and infrared search and track (IRST) to pick off aerial targets. This could be done perhaps by targeting data received from the UCAV’s own sensors without the need to use the KF-21’s onboard radar at all. This concept is increasingly attractive as it could allow manned fighters to remain largely electromagnetically silent, increasing their survivability, with the drone taking on the higher-risk role as a forward sensing platform.

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Indy
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Indy »

Superbone wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 9:36 am
Nodack wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 7:17 am
virtual9mm wrote:
Sun Aug 14, 2022 4:22 am
Nodack wrote:
Thu Aug 11, 2022 10:17 am
It’s time to double down on drones for future conflicts
https://thehill.com/opinion/national-se ... conflicts/
Look up Loyal Wingman concept, it is the future on land, sea, and air.
I have heard of that. A piloted fighter aircraft accompanied by a pilotless drone as his wingman. That’s an interesting concept that makes a lot of sense. I believe drones will have a much larger role aside from that as well. I was reading several years ago that our new Raptor fighter jets would be that last piloted fighter aircraft made. I don’t know if that is true or not because I have heard a lot of talk about future piloted aircraft. I also read about the strategy of mixing drones and piloted aircraft to confuse the enemy.
Kind of like The Walking Dead strategy of the Whisperers who disguise themselves as walkers roaming with the pack of undead.
I was thinking more of that wingman you get in R-Type.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Mori Chu »

We haven't talked about Russia / Ukraine much lately. It seems like Russia's sputtering a bit. Ukraine is now launching active measures to reclaim territory that Russia occupies. I wonder if they will even be able to retake Crimea before this is all said and done.


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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

I have been keeping up on it. Russia did their “Shock and Awe” campaign and threw everything short of nukes at Ukraine and failed to conquer them. They lost a lot of troops and heavy weaponry and decided to regroup while they retool and find some fresh troops. Meanwhile Ukraine thanks to the US and other countries adding weaponry with more range to the Ukraine arsenal have been putting the hurt on Russia during this lull. They have destroyed a lot of ammunition dumps and even hit an airbase deep inside Crimea taking out several planes and creating chaos.

Word on the street is that Russia is gearing up for another push in the near future.

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Mori Chu
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Mori Chu »

Wait, so, is Ukraine advancing into Russia now? Shouldn't they just be defending their own territory? Or am I reading this wrong?


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Nodack
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Re: Russia/Ukraine

Post by Nodack »

I think they are retaking their territory back, not entering Russia unless you consider Ukrainian land occupied by Russia Russia. Even if they entered Russia and attacked deep inside Russia I wouldn’t have a problem with that. Russia certainly didn’t have a problem entering Ukraine and destroying everything they see. It’s a war and Russia doesn’t get to proclaim their land off limits while destroying Ukraine. It doesn’t work that way. Why would the weaker Ukraine only attack Russian troops where they, are strongest? That would be foolish. Ukraine is hitting their ammunition dumps and bases behind enemy lines while Russia is attacking Ukrainian civilians, schools, hospitals. They turned a nuclear power plant into a base to attack Ukraine and used it as a shield. Russia certainly isn’t playing by any rules. I would be pleased if Ukraine was able to attack Russian utilities. Make the Russian civilians feel a little pain and bring the war closer to them, which puts more pressure on Putin.

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