Русский корабль - иди нахуй

[Brisketexan 105478]

Snapped a photo for posterity at the Finnish military museum:



And they’re selling a new flag in downtown Helsinki:

[Brisketexan 105478]

And do you like seeing captured Russian shit? Because the Finns do. Stuff captured in the Winter War. The top flag was the 44th Soviet division’s, but they didn’t need it anymore, because the Finns annihilated them.




And, the stuff of Russian nightmares, the gear of Simo Hayha:




And to keep those nightmares up to date, the modern Finnish kit - of course they have a standard issue sniper rifle rated to 800 meters (dude…we all know that means 1000+). Check out the M/85:



Sweet dreams, comrades.

[AUS-97HORN 11825]

"the contiuation war"

 

 

interesting way of saying "those 3 years where we allied ourselves with Hitler"

[BehoId, The Underminer! 11669]

30 minutes ago, AUS-97HORN said:

"the contiuation war"

 

 

interesting way of saying "those 3 years where we allied ourselves with Hitler"

[Brisketexan 105478]

"the contiuation war"
 
 
interesting way of saying "those 3 years where we allied ourselves with Hitler"

Yeah….they’re actually pretty matter-of-fact about it (seems to be a Finnish thing across the board). Realpolitik. Trapped between the Soviet Union and Germany, “defiant principles” weren’t really on the menu. “How can we survive?” was the order of the day. They own it.
BUT…they’re also real deliberate about telling you that the swastika they used pre-dates the Nazis and was a traditional Finnish thing, but also, they quit using it as of 1945 because of those fucking Nazis.

[InkaUtexas 26251]

1 hour ago, 956 Worldwide said:

I read this before I moved to Uzbekistan back in the early ‘teens and I recommend to anyone who wants to understand a bit about how the current Russian imperial mentality is not simply Soviet ideology in new trappings. Soviet ideology was just a culdesac branching off of Russian imperialism. 
 

Also, Kiplings Kim is a mind-boggling good read even if Kipling is officially on one of the periodic Out Of Favor downswings. 

Check out Setting the East Ablaze by Hopkirk. Good read. 

[Schulz2.0 29021]

 

[Armybrat 40942]

2 hours ago, Schulz2.0 said:

 

RE India: Better 14 months late than never….. but I guess seeing the best Russian shit being blown to shit by a generation old western technology was the wake up call.

Edited April 22, 2023 by Armybrat

[Brisketexan 105478]

Really didn’t realize this was everywhere around here. Walked to dinner, and these were two windows of the antique shop a block away from our hotel:




Also…who the fuck buys all that crappy antique shit? Every bit of it looks like clutter to me.

Anyway, they’re all-in on NATO and slava ukraini.

[MillerEP 30501]

 

[Armybrat 40942]

31 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Really didn’t realize this was everywhere around here. Walked to dinner, and these were two windows of the antique shop a block away from our hotel:




Also…who the fuck buys all that crappy antique shit? Every bit of it looks like clutter to me.

Anyway, they’re all-in on NATO and slava ukraini.

We don’t have to buy any of that old antique shit. Mrs. Brat inherited 110 years worth of it from her family.

 

[Schulz2.0 29021]

50 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Also…who the fuck buys all that crappy antique shit? Every bit of it looks like clutter to me.

Obligatory "have you met my wife?"

[Slacks 6898]

2 minutes ago, Schulz2.0 said:

Obligatory "have you met my wife?"

[MillerEP 30501]

 

[DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt 12301]

Damn, Germany.

[The Dog 44175]

[MillerEP 30501]

 

[Pato del Muerto 52664]

2 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

Really didn’t realize this was everywhere around here. Walked to dinner, and these were two windows of the antique shop a block away from our hotel:




Also…who the fuck buys all that crappy antique shit? Every bit of it looks like clutter to me.

Anyway, they’re all-in on NATO and slava ukraini.

Do I really need to tag Mitch?

[Dahobbs 17717]

28 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Do I really need to tag Mitch?

It isn't tacky enough for his house. 

[Schulz2.0 29021]

 

[Pato del Muerto 52664]

1 hour ago, Dahobbs said:

It isn't tacky enough for his house. 

I believe the Mrs has people to add the tacky for a moderate fee. 

[atomheartbevo 89878]

@Schulz2.0 If they are straight-up going after college students in Moscow, that's going to get really interesting.  Also means they've exhausted a lot of other options for additional meat for the grinder.

Wonder if those universities are the equivalent of Texas State, Sam Houston, and UT-Dallas, or if they are larger/flagship universities.

[JesusSweatDuck 17814]

6 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

@Schulz2.0 If they are straight-up going after college students in Moscow, that's going to get really interesting.  Also means they've exhausted a lot of other options for additional meat for the grinder.

Wonder if those universities are the equivalent of Texas State, Sam Houston, and UT-Dallas, or if they are larger/flagship universities.

Per Wikipedia:

The university was ranked 18th by The Three University Missions Ranking in 2022, and 76th by the QS World University Rankings in 2022, #293 in the world by the global Times Higher World University Rankings, and #355 by U.S. News & World Report in 2023.[5][6] It was the highest-ranking Russian educational institution by QS in 2020,[7] and according to the Nature Index in 2019 the highest ranked Russian university for research output.[8] Moscow State University is generally accepted as the leading higher educational institution in the former Soviet Union.[9]

[Bevo 13608]

1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Do I really need to tag Mitch?

Any giant clams? I love those things.

[Bevo 13608]

2 minutes ago, JesusSweatDuck said:

Per Wikipedia:

The university was ranked 18th by The Three University Missions Ranking in 2022, and 76th by the QS World University Rankings in 2022, #293 in the world by the global Times Higher World University Rankings, and #355 by U.S. News & World Report in 2023.[5][6] It was the highest-ranking Russian educational institution by QS in 2020,[7] and according to the Nature Index in 2019 the highest ranked Russian university for research output.[8] Moscow State University is generally accepted as the leading higher educational institution in the former Soviet Union.[9]

Now do Texas State.

[Macanudo 13025]

I don't know guys, that white vessel in the top picture looks like it male a helluva spittoon.

[Schulz2.0 29021]

 

[Rimbo 26173]

https://t.co/iKm1e8reM6

on the death of the Russian tech industry

[Schulz2.0 29021]

 

 

[atomheartbevo 89878]

I have a feeling it's the whole escalation/NATO thing in terms of not sending battlefield observers - this is a rather unique war given the aggressor and location.

When American Green Berets and Marines killed a shitload of Russian/Wagner forces in Syria a few  years ago...Syria was not seen as an existential crisis for Russia, plus we had reason to be there - ISIS and its offshoots, etc., had effectively taken areas away from Syrian control.  Oh and the Russian forces attacked the American forces even though they were told not to multiple times - it was not an accident as American troops saw the Russians coming for quite a while.

But Russians, at least the Russian leadership, have tried to paint this war in Ukraine as an existential crisis, and they are being constantly humiliated, and it's next door, so unlike Syria, I have a feeling we are very careful about any active-duty personnel in Ukraine. 

With all of that said, we have the Ukrainian battlefields under constant surveillance in one form or another as we feed information to them (and receive information from their drones) from satellites to aircraft-gathered signals intelligence down to their drone feeds, and we are watching our older weapons systems do a complete number on the Russians.

I'd argue that we are also being extremely flexible about what is working/not working, and what they are needing, as it seems like every time we announce a major shipment, it seems like we are delivering ammo/supplies/vehicles/systems that are tailor-made for whatever the Ukrainians need in that moment, so somebody is paying attention on our side.  We aren't just randomly sending them 500 M113s because they've been in storage for 30 years and we want to get them off the books, we are sending 200 M113s because the Ukrainians have identified that they can work in the area they need them in (say they need tracked vehicles), they can be serviced and maintained by Ukraine, and Ukrainians are outfitting a specific unit with them.  We are sending 250 Bradleys that have been in storage for 15 years because the Ukrainians need some high-speed vehicles that can be wheeled because the area of operations has a lot of roads and have specific armaments for a specific unit that Ukraine is outfitting, etc.  Last fall we sent a batch of river assault boats because Ukraine identified a need to cross creeks/rivers (or patrol them) etc. 

Sorry for the rambling, but I believe we have a very solid awareness of what Ukrainian is using to great effect and that we have an understanding of the battlefield, but also we would not be fighting the restricted war that Ukraine is - we'd have a shitload more air support, even if it was stand off with glide bombs and cruise missiles.

And the fact that the US Army is working to transition some cannon artillery units to HIMARS is proof that we are observing - I read up on that a bit, and folks at Fort Sill have pushed the idea to the upper brass that going forward, MLRS systems is a more efficient system for certain potential scenarios going forward and they've got an astounding amount of data from Ukraine on how MLRS/HIMARS/M270 are being effectively used on the battlefield against an organized enemy (versus Afghanistan where M777s or CAS made more sense).  The only data we have on something like that prior to 2022 was the M270s in 1991 in the first Gulf War, and that provided a lot of data, but at the same time they weren't used in a sustained campaign/war the way they've been in Ukraine.

[Parliament 14357]

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

@Schulz2.0 If they are straight-up going after college students in Moscow, that's going to get really interesting.  Also means they've exhausted a lot of other options for additional meat for the grinder.

Wonder if those universities are the equivalent of Texas State, Sam Houston, and UT-Dallas, or if they are larger/flagship universities.

aTm.  Every university in Russia is Aggy.  

Quote

And the fact that the US Army is working to transition some cannon artillery units to HIMARS is proof that we are observing - I read up on that a bit, and folks at Fort Sill have pushed the idea to the upper brass that going forward, MLRS systems is a more efficient system for certain potential scenarios going forward and they've got an astounding amount of data from Ukraine on how MLRS/HIMARS/M270 are being effectively used on the battlefield against an organized enemy (versus Afghanistan where M777s or CAS made more sense).  The only data we have on something like that prior to 2022 was the M270s in 1991 in the first Gulf War, and that provided a lot of data, but at the same time they weren't used in a sustained campaign/war the way they've been in Ukraine.

So our military is gonna even BETTER at killing bad people.  I like it.

Edited April 23, 2023 by Parliament

[Schulz2.0 29021]

 

[atomheartbevo 89878]

In terms of China's ambassador to France.

 

 

[KYHorn 17227]

Interesting. I've read that it's likely various islands, peninsulas, and marshlands that have isolated houses and buildings. It's surely difficult to keep supplied and protected, so it's interesting that they're doing this. Obviously, Ukraine sees it as advantageous, so I'm interested in the why and how.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 23, 2023 by KYHorn

[atomheartbevo 89878]

37 minutes ago, KYHorn said:

Interesting. I've read that it's likely various islands, peninsulas, and marshlands that have isolated houses and buildings. It's surely difficult to keep supplied and protected, so it's interesting that they're doing this. Obviously, Ukraine sees it as advantageous, so I'm interested in the why and how.

Maybe as spotters (UAVs) and as forward bases they can use to build up some kind of beachhead (well the river equivalent) so that when/if they move troops in large numbers through there, it's not under direct fire.  Could also be to make the Russians string out their forces more to cover multiple areas where large landings could occur.

I'm insanely curious as well.

[InkaUtexas 26251]

This made me laugh. Good summary 

 

[InkaUtexas 26251]

Here we go. I wish them the best. 

Sorry if already posted. Been not tracking Ukraine for the past few days. 

 

[InkaUtexas 26251]

More. April 18th. 

 

[956 Worldwide 34867]

11 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

@Schulz2.0 If they are straight-up going after college students in Moscow, that's going to get really interesting.  Also means they've exhausted a lot of other options for additional meat for the grinder.

Wonder if those universities are the equivalent of Texas State, Sam Houston, and UT-Dallas, or if they are larger/flagship universities.

Moscow State is the flagship university in Russia in general terms although there are other specialized schools like the Moscow Institute of International Relations that have more prestige. I’d say that Moscow State is along the lines of a Michigan or UT. MISIS is also a pretty highly regarded institution. 

[KYHorn 17227]

 

Bold strategy. Let's see how it works out for them. Open the second tweet to find out ...

 

[Armybrat 40942]

4 hours ago, InkaUtexas said:

More. April 18th. 

 

Vlad has no mustache?

[KYHorn 17227]

Boom.

 

[statsman 5486]

Shareable link-

In Ukraine's looming offensive on Russia, Kyiv will want to regain the initiative in the conflict and win further support from the U.S. and its allies
https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-gears-up-to-hit-russiansand-show-west-it-can-win-89c43105?st=qwi6x6y14kjwr9o&reflink=share_mobilewebshare

[KYHorn 17227]

Forbes article goes into detail on the shortages Russia is dealing with in optics and ball bearings for building and repairing both tanks and trains. They opted to focus on the latter at the expense of the former. They previously received these from Europe and the US, but are only now likely receiving much lower quality ball bearings from China and Malaysia.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidaxe/2023/04/19/whats-perfectly-round-made-of-metal-and-keeping-russia-from-replacing-the-2000-tanks-its-lost-in-ukraine/?sh=1a650c3323f2 

 

[Kel Varnsen 8543]

[Nivek 17011]

In that one twitter post above and subsequent story, they said the Ukrainian defender who died (Pavel) was using a Browning machine gun?  

[atomheartbevo 89878]

26 minutes ago, Nivek said:

In that one twitter post above and subsequent story, they said the Ukrainian defender who died (Pavel) was using a Browning machine gun?  

The US still uses a Browning, the M2.  

[Parliament 14357]

Because it's fucking awesome.  

[cactusflinthead 27609]

 

[Nivek 17011]

2 hours ago, atomheartbevo said:

The US still uses a Browning, the M2.  

Gotcha,  my mind went to the BAR and not the M2, I guess from seeing that old-ass (badass) Maxim being deployed.