International Russia/Ukraine Megathread V12

[Lonesome Crow]

Fucking 35 Iranian drones fired on Kyiv in one day. This has got to be costing Russia big time in the 10's of millions each week.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian air defenses downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones Russia launched early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the country’s air protection after almost 16 months of war.

Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, with Ukrainian air defenses shooting down about two dozen.

The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland.

The Shahed drones made it all the way to Lviv because of the inability of air defense assets to cover such a broad area, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said.

Air defense systems are mostly dedicated to protecting major cities, key infrastructure facilities, including nuclear power plants, and the front line, he said.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-attack-kyiv-drones-26e3c4989ed0051baa25abe78e0e3aa6

Apparently, something critical was hit in Lviv.

According to RUSI, a Shahed 136 drone is somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. So, that single strike just cost the Russians about a $1 million.

This is a huge problem in the long run and a major headache for US military planners. Air defense systems cost millions of dollars, and they are being taxed to the limit by something a DIY aircraft enthusiast can put together. They only carry about 20-40kg of explosives, so they don't pack that much of a punch. The Saudi drone attack back in 2019, the oil facility was hit by 19 drones, which resulted in some damage and the facility being shut down for a few days, but it was back up and pumping out millions of barrels of oil in just 48 hours.

The real value of the Shahed is that it forces the Ukrainians to maintain AD far behind the line of contact, creates gaps in their air defense zones and costs Ukraine's supporters a fuckton of money. I suspect that the Russians are simply using these drone attacks to get us to bleed money.

We need to identify drone launch locations and then have the Ukrainians light them the fuck up with some goddamn HIMARS. The Russians are playing the long game. They're betting that the West will be forced to cut off support for financial and budgetary reasons. It's not an unreasonable bet; western weapon systems are fantastic, but they're extremely expensive to maintain.

 

[GhostZ06]

 

[GhostZ06]

 

[Feniamin]

But how can you dehumanize those poor Russian soldiers?

Well, honestly Russian media and social media are telling these stories about castrated soldiers for years, I guess number is around 20-30 soldiers. Of course there is no names and you can’t verify these stories (and there is stuff on social media like - oh, guy from my town/village returned from war to Russia and killed himself because Ukrainians castrated him; my friend works as doctor in rebel republics and he sees soldiers castrated by republics at least once in 2 weeks and things like that).
Also that stuff started back in Chechen campaigns. There were stories about castration but no names, no one came up with stories that I/my friend/relative was castrated so I dunno was it even officially confirmed.

 

[Rod1]

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/20/politics/pentagon-ukraine-accounting-error/index.html

Pentagon says Ukraine accounting error revealed last month is much bigger than previously stated

The extra $6.2 billion is likely to mitigate the need for Congress to pass an additional assistance package before the end of the fiscal year in September.

 

[Videer]

They are using drones to takeout mines good idea if you can find them.

I too usually just dump my stash of AT mines on the side of the road even though those damn drones keep detonating 'em.

 

[Anewt]

Fucking 35 Iranian drones fired on Kyiv in one day. This has got to be costing Russia big time in the 10's of millions each week.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian air defenses downed 32 of 35 Shahed exploding drones Russia launched early Tuesday, most of them in the Kyiv region, officials said, in a bombardment that exposed gaps in the country’s air protection after almost 16 months of war.

Russian forces mostly targeted the region around the Ukrainian capital in a nighttime drone attack lasting around three hours, officials said, with Ukrainian air defenses shooting down about two dozen.

The attack was part of a wider bombardment of Ukrainian regions that extended as far as the Lviv region in the west of the country, near Poland.

The Shahed drones made it all the way to Lviv because of the inability of air defense assets to cover such a broad area, Ukrainian air force spokesman Yuriy Ihnat said.

Air defense systems are mostly dedicated to protecting major cities, key infrastructure facilities, including nuclear power plants, and the front line, he said.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-attack-kyiv-drones-26e3c4989ed0051baa25abe78e0e3aa6

Ummm ....
The shahed drones cost
$20,000
While the Shahed-136 drones being deployed by Russia cost as little as $20,000 to make, shooting one out of the sky can cost between $140,000 and $500,000, The Times reported.


https://www.businessinsider.com/sui...per-launch-than-shoot-down-ukraine-nyt-2023-1

• Russia's Iranian-made drones cost as little as $20,000 but can cost more to down, a report said.
• This disparity, and the supply of air-defense missiles, is a growing concern among military experts.
• Ukraine launched costly missiles over New Year's to fight Russia's drones, the report added.

 

[Anewt]

Regarding the mines haven't heard any more about this invention sadly.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/inno...a-drone-that-can-detect-land-mines-180980826/

After three weeks, and with a renewed sense of urgency, the young engineer decided to revisit a past passion project: a prototype of a drone that could detect unexploded land mines and send their exact coordinates remotely to a user.

He's got two prototypes now, hope to see them work sometime soon.

 

[7even]

Siiiiiiiiiiiuuuuu!!!!!!

 

[GhostZ06]

 

[GhostZ06]

Ummm ....
The shahed drones cost
$20,000
While the Shahed-136 drones being deployed by Russia cost as little as $20,000 to make, shooting one out of the sky can cost between $140,000 and $500,000, The Times reported.


https://www.businessinsider.com/sui...per-launch-than-shoot-down-ukraine-nyt-2023-1

• Russia's Iranian-made drones cost as little as $20,000 but can cost more to down, a report said.
• This disparity, and the supply of air-defense missiles, is a growing concern among military experts.
• Ukraine launched costly missiles over New Year's to fight Russia's drones, the report added.

what happens when IAI sells to shit nations. Its a harpy clone

 

[Anewt]

what happens when IAI sells to shit nations. Its a harpy clone

Yeah. Expecting Russia to run out of funds using those drones is highly unlikely imo. I haven't found a suitable breakdown on just how long it takes to produce one though of which I am curious about.

 

[SandisLL]

Apparently, something critical was hit in Lviv.

According to RUSI, a Shahed 136 drone is somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. So, that single strike just cost the Russians about a $1 million.

This is a huge problem in the long run and a major headache for US military planners. Air defense systems cost millions of dollars, and they are being taxed to the limit by something a DIY aircraft enthusiast can put together. They only carry about 20-40kg of explosives, so they don't pack that much of a punch. The Saudi drone attack back in 2019, the oil facility was hit by 19 drones, which resulted in some damage and the facility being shut down for a few days, but it was back up and pumping out millions of barrels of oil in just 48 hours.

The real value of the Shahed is that it forces the Ukrainians to maintain AD far behind the line of contact, creates gaps in their air defense zones and costs Ukraine's supporters a fuckton of money. I suspect that the Russians are simply using these drone attacks to get us to bleed money.

We need to identify drone launch locations and then have the Ukrainians light them the fuck up with some goddamn HIMARS. The Russians are playing the long game. They're betting that the West will be forced to cut off support for financial and budgetary reasons. It's not an unreasonable bet; western weapon systems are fantastic, but they're extremely expensive to maintain.

Bleed money?
Ukraine really too instead of talking with weasels from west should had manufactured such drones for cheap. Why not, western weasels anyway never had wanted ukr to win....

And it isn't like to deal with cheap iranian drones someone needs expensive missiles.
Normal the same Gepards with upgraded radars and 2x35 mm autocannons will do job, also even ol 40/70 mm autocannons with normal radar guidance.

I agree that europe is bleeded out of money cos refugees, U.S weapons sales contracts, support programmes to this UKR etc....

Business is business, nothing personal. Xi too is happy etc. Putin and Zelensky too.

We just are watching plandemic No2 and paying mainly for old crap from basements...

But my taxpyers money idiots doesn't see real life cos they are dumb.

 

[GhostZ06]

Yeah. Expecting Russia to run out of funds using those drones is highly unlikely imo. I haven't found a suitable breakdown on just how long it takes to produce one though of which I am curious about.

it cant be to long, theyre fairly cheap an easy to build. Compared to the switchblade which is far more advanced which we can build 6,000 Switchblades in 1 year. And thats an increase from 2000 a year, so i suspect it might increase even more.

 

[SandisLL]

it cant be to long, theyre fairly cheap an easy to build. Compared to the switchblade which is far more advanced which we can build 6,000 Switchblades in 1 year. And thats an increase from 2000 a year, so i suspect it might increase even more.

If there is need, then... to rack up switchblade production ability 10x is in reality peace of cake. All other stuff is just excuses.


While for stuff like Krasnopol or Excalibur etc really is damn difficult to speed up production rates.

Therefore I even suggest supply Ukr with more these 155 mm simple RAP rounds....
Longer distance than conventional stuff and still cheap and simple....

 

[PEB]

Apparently, something critical was hit in Lviv.

According to RUSI, a Shahed 136 drone is somewhere between $20,000 and $30,000. So, that single strike just cost the Russians about a $1 million.

This is a huge problem in the long run and a major headache for US military planners. Air defense systems cost millions of dollars, and they are being taxed to the limit by something a DIY aircraft enthusiast can put together. They only carry about 20-40kg of explosives, so they don't pack that much of a punch. The Saudi drone attack back in 2019, the oil facility was hit by 19 drones, which resulted in some damage and the facility being shut down for a few days, but it was back up and pumping out millions of barrels of oil in just 48 hours.

The real value of the Shahed is that it forces the Ukrainians to maintain AD far behind the line of contact, creates gaps in their air defense zones and costs Ukraine's supporters a fuckton of money. I suspect that the Russians are simply using these drone attacks to get us to bleed money.

We need to identify drone launch locations and then have the Ukrainians light them the fuck up with some goddamn HIMARS. The Russians are playing the long game. They're betting that the West will be forced to cut off support for financial and budgetary reasons. It's not an unreasonable bet; western weapon systems are fantastic, but they're extremely expensive to maintain.

It looks like Russia losing the ground war as Ukrainians are pushing back an gaining ground. Russia resorts to terror tactics because they are trying to upset the Ukrainian people with this type of attack. I would be really surprised if these shared drones where not a lot more.

 

[SandisLL]

HIMARS are in reality cheap to maintain and simple stuff too.
If compare with old Grad launcher it is charity shop to maintain.

A lot of empty excuses.

For HIMARS you are getting pack with 227 mm missiles and let's be honest, simple truck.
So " difficult " to maintain "....
While in reality " so easy, so simple as peace of cake ".

While about the same F-16 maintenance I agree....it is... very complex stuff even for experienced engineers.

For HIMARS with ATACMS or 227 mm missiles all is xx easier than for Grad, Uragan or Smertch launchers...

 

[GhostZ06]

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/06/20/politics/pentagon-ukraine-accounting-error/index.html

Pentagon says Ukraine accounting error revealed last month is much bigger than previously stated

The extra $6.2 billion is likely to mitigate the need for Congress to pass an additional assistance package before the end of the fiscal year in September.

i just want us to get rid of all of our old shit that sits around an is practically useless.

We have so many damn bradlys and abrams which are gonna be replaced anyways, fuck it. we have 8000 of those damn things....some missing shouldnt kill us.

 

[GhostZ06]

At least one Ukrainian MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter is flying with what appears to be a new and previously unseen kind of underwing pylon system. While we currently don’t know the exact purpose of this pylon, it raises some very interesting questions, especially bearing in mind the previous adaptations that have been made to the MiG-29 (and other Soviet-era combat aircraft) to allow them to carry new weapons of Western origin.
Especially intriguing is the origin of this photo. It was posted today to the official Twitter account of the Ukrainian Air Force, together with the caption “New day — new challenges!” That phrase could well suggest that some new kind of capability is being used. Either way, the fact that the Ukrainian Air Force chose to publicize this particular photo also indicates they are happy to show something of that new capability, whatever it might be.
The photo in question depicts the underside of an airborne MiG-29 with the full complement of six underwing pylons, but no armament attached to them. An external fuel tank is carried on the centerline. The jet has a distinctive off-white nose radome, suggesting the MiG is probably not one of those provided to Ukraine from Polish or Slovakian Air Force stocks

While Ukraine has also received other weapons that could possibly be integrated on fighter jets, namely the AIM-7 Sparrow semi-active radar homing air-to-air missiles (AAMs) and the AIM-9 Sidewinder infrared-guided AAM, these are understood to be earmarked for launch from ground-based air defense systems, not fighters. At the same time, the appearance of the pylons does not immediately suggest an interface for the AIM-7 or AIM-9, let alone the AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM). The latter is an AAM with active radar guidance and something the Ukrainian Air Force has long prized. However, so far, there’s only confirmation that AMRAAMs have been provided for ground-launched NASAMS air defense systems, not for aircraft.

In terms of basic appearance, the new MiG-29 pylon perhaps looks most similar to the launch rail used for the air-launched version of the German-designed IRIS-T infrared-guided AAM, although the shackles remain an anomaly. Examples of the IRIS-T have been supplied to Ukraine for use by their small number of IRIS-T SLM air defense systems. Again, there is no evidence that these missiles have also been integrated on any Ukrainian aircraft.
A number of other Western missiles have also been supplied to Ukraine, including the Brimstone anti-armor missile, Harpoon anti-ship missile, and Hellfire air-to-ground missile. Again, we have no evidence of air-launched applications, and the pylon doesn’t immediately suggest any of these candidates, although it’s by no means impossible.

The possibility that this pylon includes some sort of electronic warfare or sensor capability is also highly relevant. As noted earlier, the dimensions, shape, and, to some degree, the color of the new pylon could suggest the possibility that some kind of sensor or emitter has been integrated into it.

One possibility could be some kind of electronic support measures (ESM) or some kind of radar homing and warning receiver (RHWR). This is essentially a passive sensor suite that can gather intelligence through the detection of certain types of electromagnetic radiation — those used by radars on air defense systems, in particular. Flying with two sensors spaced equally far apart would allow for some level of triangulation of potentially hostile emitters.

As such, ESM/RHWR would be of particular relevance for the defense-suppression mission, already flown by Ukrainian MiG-29s armed with HARMs. It could potentially be able to provide cues for employment of these missiles against emitting Russian air defense systems.

But having some kind of ESM sensor on the launch aircraft could open up new modes of employment, especially if interfaces in the cockpit allow for more dynamic use of the HARMs. Under such an arrangement, targeting data could be handed over to the AGM-88 in real-time, before being fired and a proper mode selected. This would allow for HARMs to be launched against targets of opportunity. Typically, this would be a previously unknown or ‘pop-up’ threat that goes active. Even a basic ESM/RHWS system could offer greater sensitivity than what the HARM can provide itself, including possibly providing ranging information, and thus yield better results.

Finally, this could be a pylon that features electronic warfare jammers, adding a modular layer of protection for Ukrainian MiG-29s that are operating in an extremely high-threat combat environment. The dense Russian anti-air overlay reaches deep into Ukrainian-controlled territory, especially at altitude. Some sort of electronic warfare self-protection would be highly welcome and bolting it on makes a lot of sense.

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukrainian-mig-29-fighter-appears-with-mystery-weapon-pylons


One of the Eu states have been tinkering with the mig-29

 

[SandisLL]

To change just pylons on Mig 29 is relatively easily.

Polish Mig - 29 are very old, therefore they agreed to pay for F-16 as replacement.

Part of Polish Mig 29 had upgrade in 2004-2014 th for some stuff and still this stuff is old.
Cone in nose is easy and cheap to replace in few hours so God knows what stuff this was.