The Russian Invasion of the Ukraine.

[Andy_Ross]

I believe the western tanks also have greater flexibility with which type of ammo they fire. The Russian tanks have to fire whatever is next in the magazine, but the American/European tanks can pick an armor piercing round, or high explosive, or....

The Russian tanks are much smaller but have similar firepower as the American/European designs. I saw a photo of a T-72 parked next to an Abrams, it is pretty noticeable.

They have a similar size gun but not he same 'firepower' when taken as a weapon system, there is more to it than just the gun tube which is just a single component.

Apart from the aspects already mentioned like fire control and vision systems, there are a lot of more subtle but equally important things once you get in to the field.
Ergonomics in Russian tanks is not good. If you watch a video showing an interior you will see that control and equipment layout is very arbitrary, designed for ease of installation rather than operation.
Another example, because of the low profile of the turret the guns on Russian tanks have a max depression of around -5 degrees. Those on the Abrams. Challenger, Leopard etc between -12 to -20. This means Russian tanks have a hard time finding a hull-down position from which they can cover much of the terrain in front without exposing their turrets and hull fronts.

 

[Andy_Ross]

The UA may have captured a loaded TOS-1A. Should they use it?

https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1498697710429425672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1498707888348573702%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Fliveupdate%2F18hnzysb1elcs%2FLiveUpdate_6f8e28ce-9983-11ec-826c-e641cc36a296%2F0

Of course they should,

 

[timhau]

The UA may have captured a loaded TOS-1A. Should they use it?

https://twitter.com/oryxspioenkop/status/1498697710429425672?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1498707888348573702%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.redditmedia.com%2Fmediaembed%2Fliveupdate%2F18hnzysb1elcs%2FLiveUpdate_6f8e28ce-9983-11ec-826c-e641cc36a296%2F0

What's the latest on using that against military targets, warcrime-wise?

 

[Andy_Ross]

I'm torn on this. On one hand, that's a vicious weapon and not using it is absolutely the more moral option. Ukraine shouldn't taint itself.

On the other, I bet that would **** the Russians up.

Why is not using it moral? If it is used against a military target why is it any different to any other barrage weapon?
It would make a mess of a vehicle column.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

I'm genuinely not sure if Russia can win this stage of the war at this point. Frankly at this point I'd question the Russian ability to invade Costa Rica, let alone Ukraine.

 

[MarkCorrigan]

Why is not using it moral? If it is used against a military target why is it any different to any other barrage weapon?
It would make a mess of a vehicle column.

Thermobaric weapons are banned, are they not?

 

[Andy_Ross]

What's the latest on using that against military targets, warcrime-wise?

It's artillery, why would using it be a war crime of any kind?

 

[lobosrul5]

What's the latest on using that against military targets, warcrime-wise?

It would be very very odd indeed for a war crime to be levied against a country for using a captured weapon brought by a foreign invader into their own territory.

 

[Andy_Ross]

Thermobaric weapons are banned, are they not?

No.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the British used thermobaric warheads in its Hellfire missiles carried by Apache helicopters and UAVs against the Taliban in Afghanistan.

 

[timhau]

Thermobaric weapons are banned, are they not?

I don't think they are, but they do create a lot of collateral damage. That's why I don't see the point of not using them against an invading military out in the open. Military targets within a city, hell no.

 

[Andy_Ross]

A Thermobaric explosive use oxygen from the surrounding air to generate an explosion rather than being self oxidising. That's why they are also referred to as 'fuel - air' explosives. You could use flour as a thermobaric explosive.

 

[Ryokan]

It's artillery, why would using it be a war crime of any kind?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon#Effects

 

[Ziggurat]

Thermobaric weapons are banned, are they not?

Why would they be? They're just another type of explosive, they aren't intrinsically any more inhumane than other explosives. Sucks to be badly injured or killed by pretty much any means. As with any weapon, their use against specific targets may constitute a war crime, but it's the nature of the target, not really the weapon, which would make it so.

 

[Andy_Ross]

BBC Rolling

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, has questioned Russia’s membership on the UN Human Rights Council in an address to the body.

"One can reasonably ask whether a UN member state, that tries to take over another UN member state - while committing horrific human rights abuses and causing massive humanitarian suffering - should be allowed to remain on this council?", he said

"We must condemn firmly and unequivocally Russia’s attempt to topple a democratically elected government and its gross human rights abuses", Blinken added

He also spoke of Kremlin repression within Russia's own borders, describing the "shuttering of human rights organisations", the harassment of activists and political opponents and media crackdowns.

 

[Andy_Ross]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermobaric_weapon#Effects

Yes, your point is?

 

[Andy_Ross]

In that picture of the rocket launcher, look at the ground it is on.
Ukraine is a sea of mud at this time of year, everything gets bogged down that is off road.

 

[theprestige]

I'm genuinely not sure if Russia can win this stage of the war at this point. Frankly at this point I'd question the Russian ability to invade Costa Rica, let alone Ukraine.

Given that Russia apparently lacks the sealift capacity to even invade coastal Ukraine from naval bases next door in Crimea...

 

[jimbob]

In that picture of the rocket launcher, look at the ground it is on.
Ukraine is a sea of mud at this time of year, everything gets bogged down that is off road.

And we're back to the comments about looking at the Eastern Front in WWII.

 

[timhau]

Oh my god Russia, pushing more bodies and vehicles into the field when you can't feed or run them won't help. If anything it will make it WORSE because when the troops desert (which they will) or the vehicles are abandoned (which they will be) you are losing even more of your pitiful number of ready forces.

Just..what are they doing? Don't push in more troops, instead consolidate what forces you have got on the ground and prioritise logistics. This really isn't hard, you don't have to be Von Clausewitz to see how big a **** up Russia are making out of this.

"Just send more troops" sounds like what you'd do if the #1 priority was to act, not to get something done. Kind of like what you'd do if you wanted your angry boss off your back for a day - if you trust that he doesn't have the mental acuity to see through your bullcrap.

I'm seriously starting to suspect that a lot of people have been overestimating Putin's smarts. Sure, he isn't Trump-level dumb and he's totally ruthless which gives him a larger set of tools, but that doesn't mean he's a strategic genius who's always a dozen moves ahead.

 

[theprestige]

I don't think they are, but they do create a lot of collateral damage. That's why I don't see the point of not using them against an invading military out in the open. Military targets within a city, hell no.

No. What causes collateral damage is non-combatants near to the target. Regular bombs can cause a lot of collateral damage, if their target happens to be around a bunch of civilians or whatever.

A thermobaric bomb, in the right circumstances, just does the same damage as a handful of conventional bombs. It's a way to get the same military effect with a smaller payload. This translates directly into less risk to pilots and planes, and higher operational tempos, since you can get more done with fewer sorties.

For precision strikes that mitigate the risk of collateral damage in crowded areas, the Small-Diameter Bomb has been developed. This is the opposite of a thermobaric. It's a small bomb designed to have an extremely small blast radius. It's good for when you have a very clear, very small target, and you can rely on your targeting systems to hit it exactly.