74OA said:

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PA24 said:

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fullback44 said:

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The US has tons of F16s in storage that will probably never be used again besides for practice drones .. we should give 50-100 of them armed to the teeth to Ukraine .. better than letting them rot in storage

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getting each one airworthy for battle would take time and a lot of money. If you going to do it right, send them the F16 that are still in service and send these mothball ones for spare parts.

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F-16s are just as vulnerable to the very capable and very dense Russian air defenses surrounding and firing into Ukraine as are current UAF fighters. A more effective option is to give Ukraine more advanced western SAM systems, like Patriot, on a faster timeline. That would have the far more immediate benefit of both holding out Russian warplanes and intercepting the long-range TBMs and cruise missiles being lobbed at Ukraine from inside Russia.

F-16s?
or
SAMs?

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What about sending any older/damaged drones that are still able to fly, but not attack? Seems like a relatively cheap option to fly them around to detect Russia's air defenses and then bomb those to open up the skies a little more.

fullback44 said:

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74OA said:

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PA24 said:

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fullback44 said:

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The US has tons of F16s in storage that will probably never be used again besides for practice drones .. we should give 50-100 of them armed to the teeth to Ukraine .. better than letting them rot in storage

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getting each one airworthy for battle would take time and a lot of money. If you going to do it right, send them the F16 that are still in service and send these mothball ones for spare parts.

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F-16s are just as vulnerable to the very capable and very dense Russian air defenses surrounding and firing into Ukraine as are current UAF fighters. There's very little value added. A more effective option is to give Ukraine more advanced western SAM systems, like Patriot, on a faster timeline. That would have the far more immediate benefit of both holding out Russian warplanes and intercepting the long-range TBMs and cruise missiles being lobbed at Ukraine from inside Russia.

F-16s?
or
SAMs?

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Isn't the Patriot still one of our main missile defense systems ? I don't see us giving up to many of those unless we have plenty to spare ? I have no idea on this ?

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Yes Patriots are still part of the inventory and NASAMs are used to defend the National Military District

three batteries of Iron Dome have been ordered by the US military with two operational now. there is also THAADS for high altitude missile defense.

Davids Sling is likely going to be brought back to USA as part of the Missile Defense Agency procurement as the USA has paid for half of it.

74OA said:

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Russia building penal colonies in occupied Ukraine.

The Gulag, Part Deux

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This seems pretty crazy … I guess Russia thinks they are there for good

Situation south of Donetsk city:#UkrainianArmy launched counterattack and recaptured the eastern dacha area forcing #RussianArmy and #DPR forces to retreat from the suburbs of Vuhledar/Вугледар. Heavy shelling over the town continue.
Map: [ https://t.co/FXzygAN2ej ] pic.twitter.com/Y5ehP8tdss

— @Suriyak (@Suriyakmaps) January 27, 2023

The Ukrainian military says that Russia is using inflatable decoys in Zaporizhzhia. https://t.co/rRpBJ7G1iV pic.twitter.com/DmVexTsLLU

— Rob Lee (@RALee85) January 27, 2023

LMCane said:

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fullback44 said:

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74OA said:

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PA24 said:

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fullback44 said:

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The US has tons of F16s in storage that will probably never be used again besides for practice drones .. we should give 50-100 of them armed to the teeth to Ukraine .. better than letting them rot in storage

---

getting each one airworthy for battle would take time and a lot of money. If you going to do it right, send them the F16 that are still in service and send these mothball ones for spare parts.

---

F-16s are just as vulnerable to the very capable and very dense Russian air defenses surrounding and firing into Ukraine as are current UAF fighters. There's very little value added. A more effective option is to give Ukraine more advanced western SAM systems, like Patriot, on a faster timeline. That would have the far more immediate benefit of both holding out Russian warplanes and intercepting the long-range TBMs and cruise missiles being lobbed at Ukraine from inside Russia.

F-16s?
or
SAMs?

---

Isn't the Patriot still one of our main missile defense systems ? I don't see us giving up to many of those unless we have plenty to spare ? I have no idea on this ?

---

Yes Patriots are still part of the inventory and NASAMs are used to defend the National Military District

three batteries of Iron Dome have been ordered by the US military with two operational now. there is also THAADS for high altitude missile defense.

Davids Sling is likely going to be brought back to USA as part of the Missile Defense Agency procurement as the USA has paid for half of it.

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Weren't there calls a while back to send some of the old Hawk systems? We still have those or are they gone?

Here is a very good article on the Patriots and other air defense syatems like Patriots that we currently have, we dont have as many Patriot systems as you would think, it's a big deal that we gave one of these to Ukraine. The article also talks about The Iron Dome and David's Sling

https://www.csis.org/analysis/patriot-ukraine-what-does-it-mean

A few more good reads

https://missilethreat.csis.org/defsys/arrow-2/

https://missilethreat.csis.org/defsys/davids-sling/

This article answers a lot of questions surrounding which Abrams variant will be sent and when.

DETAILS

📽️Russian forces tried to advance from the direction of Mykilske settlement, but were hit by accurate Ukrainian fire.#UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/d2z2Qk7iMa

— MilitaryLand.net (@Militarylandnet) January 27, 2023

⚡️Official: Russian missile hit infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia, injuring 1.

Acting Zaporizhzhia Mayor Anatolii Kurtiev said Russian forces struck several infrastructure sites, injuring at least one.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) January 27, 2023

UPDATE

The Patriot missile system post 2015 is decent, if a system hasn't had the updates the success rate of shooting down missiles is something like 9-25%, it was not designed to shoot down missiles and needed hundreds of upgrades to do so. Think Saudi said it has a 40-70% shootdown rate in the Yemen war.

The S400 was also designed around shooting down aircraft and hasn't had the same upgrades that the Patriot system has had. It is difficult to find the true rate since most of the reports come out of Russia.

The Israel layered system of David's Sling, Iron Dome, Arrow 2, and Arrow 3 is probably the best setup out there. The software can detect and intercept multiple incoming rounds at the same time and has something like a 90% rate. They don't joke around but it is costly

Here are today's control-of-terrain maps for #Russia's invasion of #Ukraine from @TheStudyofWar and @criticalthreats

Click here to see our interactive map, updated daily: https://t.co/tXBburiWEN pic.twitter.com/o0M9xfQZVq

— ISW (@TheStudyofWar) January 27, 2023

Poland officially announced the formation of a "tank coalition" to support Ukraine

"On my initiative we are negotiating with countries that have Leopard 2A4 to jointly create a coalition of donors of modern armored vehicles for Ukraine," Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak wrote. pic.twitter.com/qz4fQPPFSU

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) January 27, 2023

Ukraine needs to stop Russian advances on the supply routes in order to save Bakhmut, or they need to start thinking about an exit.

Please stop derailing the thread, everyone. Just report for thread derailing and move on.

4th operational purpose brigade (Rapid Reaction Brigade) of the NGU at work. https://t.co/YDWP5pMTkc pic.twitter.com/YJtpZ5hG2J

— Paul Jawin (@PaulJawin) January 27, 2023

Geolocation.

47.357105,35.483334

Chornozemne, Zaporizhzhia Oblast of Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/foICaotNQF

— Status-6 (@Archer83Able) January 25, 2023

Today's SITREP.

For those who didn't catch it in the latest Speak the Truth video, here is footage from Soledar. The town is completely destroyed.

Here is all that’s left of the town of Soledar, after months of relentless Russian shelling.

Source : https://t.co/LtS0xptFwm pic.twitter.com/BiAX9KKi0f

— Guillaume Ptak (@guillaume_ptak) January 24, 2023

Bradleys on the move:

Waiting patiently. pic.twitter.com/aFzV0bJROl

— NOËL 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (@NOELreports) January 27, 2023

We have talked about the similarities with the Clancy novel Red Storm Rising. I just finished reading it again for the about the 20th time. Here is a link to the book in PDF format for those interesting in reading. If you go to the root directory there are many other Clancy books and others.

RED STORM RISING

I am now reading the Stephen Coonts book Flight of the Intruder another of my favorites from my youth.

Enjoy.

Today's update by our German friend.

Good that we're finally addressing this before we potentially find ourselves in a big fight with cold production lines.
Thanks, Vlad!

MUNITIONS

That video of a trainload of Bradleys was shot in the United States. Is there any actual indication those are headed to Ukraine? Trains of military equipment aren't exactly rare.

It appears that the trouble in the Bakhmut area is at least partially due to a (botched?) troop rotation.

This article from December 11th.

https://militaryland.net/news/ukrainian-reinforcements-heading-to-donbas/

Quote:

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Ukrainian 24th Mechanized Brigade returns to the eastern Ukraine after a brief deployment in Kherson Oblast. It reportedly replaces 93rd Mechanized Brigade, which defended the vicinity of Bakhmut and Soledar for several months.

Ukrainian 57th Motorized Brigade moves to the vicinity of Bakhmut. It's currently unknown which unit has been replaced, but there are some indications that 58th Motorized Brigade might get some rest.

Artillery and infantry battalion of 36th Marine Brigade has been relocated from Kherson Oblast to the area of Bakhmut as well.

Elements of 28th Mechanized Brigade were seen by Western reporters on the ground in the area of Kostyanytivka, just south-west of Bakhmut.

At least one battalion of 46th Airmobile Brigade have been redeployed to the area of Bakhmut.

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If you go back in time to mid-December on Deep State Map and watch the Bakhmut area as you move forward in time, it's clear that the changes started taking place about the time of the rotation.

⚡️Official: Russia keeps 3 Kalibr cruise missile carriers in Black Sea.

Russia currently has three Kalibr cruise missile carriers in the Black Sea with 20 missiles on them, Serhiy Bratchuk, a spokesman for the Odesa regional military administration, wrote on Telegram on Jan. 28.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) January 28, 2023

DefMon3 update thread.

Full thread: https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1619398017987280898.html

Ukraine update🧵 January 28th (take 2)

This update is brought to you by the Russian instructions on how to handle Abrams tanks.

It would be helpful if you like and retweet this tweet. pic.twitter.com/khfrGfMbMw

— Def Mon (@DefMon3) January 28, 2023

This might indicate they are trying to fill the 3AK units which they failed to fill during the summer.

— Def Mon (@DefMon3) January 28, 2023

74OA said:

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RebelE Infantry said:

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TH36 said:

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RebelE Infantry said:

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docb said:

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RebelE Infantry said:

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Yukon Cornelius said:

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What's a QRD on the battlefield there?

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Soledar fell, Bakhmut soon to follow. Russians making small advances along the contact line, particularly in the south.

Ukraine is snatching up conscripts off the streets, presumably to form the bulk of a new offensive using all the new goodies they're getting.

There is an expectation of a large offensive from the Russians but it's anyone's guess as to where and when.

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Questionable post

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How so?

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Oh gee I dunno, maybe the part about Ukraine snatching up conscripts off the streets?

This has been reported no where that I can find?

Also, has been no reports of Bakhmut falling soon even with the loss of Soledar.

But, you have seemed to be a closet Russian sympathizer since this kicked off.

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In Odessa, ambulances are now used for mobilization, according to local sources.

According to residents of the city, men of military age are taken directly from the streets to a recruitment and special support center. pic.twitter.com/duflbHRuCK

— Donbass Devushka (@PeImeniPusha) January 23, 2023

🇺🇦🪖Searching for "Abrams" and "Leopard tank drivers in Cherkasy pic.twitter.com/tcrcwjQGI7

— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) January 25, 2023

Just a couple videos I found quickly. But it's not like this is anything really new or even all that surprising. Videos of Ukrainian press gangs have been going around for months.

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1. Pro Russian site from the Donbas and ambiguous clip at best.
2. Pro Russian site and clearly staged. (Oh, the humanity!)

You can find validation for anything you want on twitter and Russian troll farms are actively working to make sure of it. Be better.

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I'm pretty sure I saw that vide on Twitter a week or so ago, and the description noted that was a Russian being conscripted, not Ukrainian.

Clearing of Russian trenches (warning: some corpses visible):

Cleansing Russian trenches.
The second battalion of the third assault brigade ZSU (aka Azov Brigade).#Ukraine pic.twitter.com/nUNaBEEhtL

— 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔢𝔞𝔡 𝔇𝔦𝔰𝔱𝔯𝔦𝔠𝔱 (@TheDeadDistrict) January 28, 2023