Search results

Agreed. It doesn't help that half of the sources quoted in that Defence News article advocating wheeled guns are, well, trying to sell wheeled guns.

As I understand it, British and Commonwealth organizations included what they called a "first reinforcement." These were usually the size of one or two platoons, with a few spare junior officers, and were made up of individuals who belonged to their parent unit but were left out of battle and...

I have seen several Ukrainian (and one or two Russian) sources argue that towed guns are more survivable in that theatre. The basic premise is that the SP guns (wheeled or tracked) are larger and harder to hide from UAV observation. If they try to use shoot-and-scoot tactics, this requires...

That's definitely a good one.

Some commentary on Russian and Ukrainian artillery operations. "Visible like Volochkova" is apparently a reference to a Russian ballerina who is famous for being oversized in comparison to her peers.

Russian demographic pyramid can be found here: Population Pyramids of the World from 1950 to 2100 Basically, they have about 8 million men between 20-30 years old. The Ukrainian data can be found at the same link; they have about 1.2 million men in the same age range. However, an unusually...

These 1-2 minute videos can be deceptive for several reasons. They only show you a narrow slice of the battlefield (ie whatever the drone could see), and they are massively edited to the point that they only show a few moments (ie the explosive ones) of what might have been an hours-long...

I think I finally found out where this guy went after his last employer went out of business.

Reminds me of a Russian joke about corruption and failing to provide the basics... The Soviet Union is dead and things have begun to lighten up a bit. An old couple live in an apartment in Moscow and she sends her husband down to buy some meat for supper. After waiting in line for more than...

Akhtubinsk is more than 600km behind the front lines - it's on the east bank of the Volga river. I can't disagree with the comment in the tweet - hardened aircraft shelters seem like an excellent investment. Even the best fighters are completely vulnerable while they are on the ground.

There is a long article in today's Globe and Mail that discusses a Ukrainian SOF team through the course of the war. An elite squad of Ukrainian fighters has been battling Russian occupation on the front lines. This is the story of their war

Correct. The Russians have been selective about when they choose to count their various proxies/contractors/goons.

Like anything else involving human beings, quality of leadership tends to follow a normal distribution. About 80% of your leaders will be adequate to excellent; 10% will be truly outstanding, and 10% will be terrible. The real challenge is to find ways to get rid of the bad leaders, while also...

If anything it might be on the low side. Some of the OSINT providers are estimating that Russia took about 35000 casualties in May, but that was a much busier month than normal. As for the source, Putin is likely understating Russian casualties somewhat; in the same interview where he gave those...

Some discussion of Russian casualties at the link, based on things that Putin has said. It provides an estimate of roughly 5000 KIA and 15000 WIA per month, but I think this only refers to Russian Armed Forces personnel. It might be even higher if you include the Donbas/Luhansk militias, which...

I actually think it is historically accurate. In both 2024 and 1944 they were too busy fighting in Ukraine to send troops to France. Mind you, they were doing a little better in 1944.

It's hard to say with the limited details available whether the ROI is worth it. One thing to note is that the Ukrainians were watching the location, which is 80km behind the front, with a view to hit it with long range fire. In all likelihood, the drone was probably sent there in response to...

True. These Russian beasts remind me of the Bob Semple tank.

"Human Face of War" and "Something Rotten" are both good choices, but the latter book is more recent and has a stronger focus on the role of senior commanders.

Of course; but if you could get people to a disabled vehicle, it might be worth attempting to recover it and turn it against its former users. Both sides have an incentive to destroy/deny abandoned equipment rather than run the risk that the enemy will recover it.