[derottone]

@ # 656: "you can always contact the Wagner Group directly and offer up your services. [  ............ ://www.wagner-group.com/us/contact/ ] Live the dream, right?  "

I'm getting plenty good advices, yours are as always some of the best. 

[AzCal Retred]

Carnivale in Brazil has February & April dates, sounds a LOT better that becoming Wagner Group cannon fodder in the frozen tundra. Operators are standing by...

https://www.google.com/search?q=brazill+carnivale+date&rlz=1CANQDY_enUS849&oq=brazill+carnivale+date&aqs=chrome..69i57j0i13i512l2j0i15i22i30j0i22i30l4j0i390l2.7970j1j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

[derottone]

Sounds acceptable, I'm taking apart the GT and selling the components, post me if you're interested in a head, cams, pushrods, throttle body or air intake or other bits. 

[derottone]

Looks like the "god morgon" cancelor is sending tanks now to our saviour Seleksky though.

..in the west nothing new, the correct translation of the title to this movie.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Quiet_on_the_Western_Front

[AzCal Retred]

What prompted the GT535 parting out? Are we upgrading to the Husqvarna SVARTPILEN 701?

Germany set to send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, Der Spiegel reports; Updated 3:21 PM EST, Tue January 24, 2023
https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/europe/germany-leopard-2-tanks-ukraine-announcement-intl/index.html
The German army has 320 Leopard tanks in its possession but does not reveal how many would be battle ready, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Defense previously told CNN.

[derottone]

I'm just f€$ing bored of it. 

[AzCal Retred]

Yup - I feel you. You'd hammered it into one sweet piece though.

Here's a Kamikazi effort that has plenty of Ongawa & looks fun. There's several really nice new twins out there, all essentially "gas 'n go", no fiddling required. A modern low maintenance machine might be a nice fill-in until a new project strikes your fancy. Cold weather is a good time to wheel & deal motorcycles...

https://www.kawasaki.com/en-us/motorcycle/z/retro-sport/z900rs/2022-Z900RS

[derottone]

...and it should pay my ticket to Brazil. The 900 rs is a fine bike, however I'll never get the kamikaze set of mind necessary to detail out such fantastic bikes as the Kawasaki and I truly believe that I should not buy into anything that I wouldn't want to spend the time to designing, so a twin Duc. or Triumph are more likely to be in my future. 

[derottone]

And yeah, one of our "retarded" ministers thinks insects are s good idea, so you're correct Brazil sounds about right. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11331411/Aldi-considers-selling-edible-INSECTS-help-families-cost-living-crisis.html

[AzCal Retred]

The new Ducati Desert Sled/Scrambler appeals to me. Having an extra bit of travel whilst whanging off of potholes or traversing suddenly dropped road trash is a good thing in my book. That 800 twin makes +70 HP, plenty to keep up with traffic. To each his own.  <<  https://www.cycleworld.com/story/buyers-guide/2021-ducati-scrambler-desert-sled/  >>

Our local grocery store (a whole 20 miles from Fresno) is about 30% to 100% more than Wal-Mart in Fresno on everything. Aldi would do better going after the price gougers than trying to reshuffle peoples diets. If you have a tin can, water, a heat source, a bag of rice or a bag of beans and you're still hungry, you're probably too stupid to live. It costs a lot of money to support the fast food, agribusiness and food packaging industries.

[Karl Childers]

I really like the Ducati Desert Sled and so do most online journalists and testers. I've considered one but the adjusting of the desmodromic valves has a steep learning curve and any dealer parts and services can get pricey. The exhaust note on a Ducati  L Twin is one of the sweetest in the business! Of their entire scrambler line the Desert Sled is the one that fires my rocket!

[Karl Childers]

.........and in war news according to the New York Times the US is getting ready to send some M1 Abrams tanks over to the Ukraine. This should get interesting! To me it sounds like the Pentagon wants to see how they match up to Russian armor or to see if they are any less vulnerable to hand held rocket attack. Tank warfare may be passe.

[AzCal Retred]

The humble infantryman is getting deadlier all the time. Armored vehicles are lightly armored on the top, the (Man-portable air defense systems (MANPADS) ) fire-and-forget Javelin attacks both aircraft and tanks effectively.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FGM-148_Javelin

Armor is useful if you have dominant air cover. Russian drones and their 9K38 MANPADS will make life uncertain for NATO mobile armor. Shooting wars between similarly equipped armies are always hard on the participants. The Wikipedia article suggests the Leopard 2 outperforms the Abrams. Both can shoot accurately on the move in the rough and hit over 40 mph on the flat. But so can the T-90 and they are operating in their own backyard. I'm thinking that drone warfare is just in its early days, its low cost and versatility may render main battle tanks largely obsolete. It always seems to devolve to "boots-on-the-ground".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9K38_Igla
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T-90
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Abramshttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_2
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/a-look-at-leopard-2-tanks-that-could-soon-be-sent-to-ukraine/2023/01/23/3c0408de-9b3f-11ed-93e0-38551e88239c_story.html

[GlennF]

The humble infantryman is getting deadlier all the time.

Main battle tanks were always vulnerable to ambush by enemy infantry and needed friendly infantry support:

Tiger Tactics as Observed by the Red Army

Note: The terms "Tiger" and PzVI are used interchangeably in this document. All instances of "PzVI" (except for the title) were replaced with "Tiger", since that designation would be more familiar to an Anglophone audience.

Comments on Combat Use of the PzVI (Tiger) Tank

1. Experience on the Belgorod direction showed that "Tiger" tanks are quite vulnerable, not only to artillery, but to AT squads and tank destroyers, particularly at short range. 76 mm guns are most effective at a range of under 500 meters, especially when fired from ambushes.

Note: the 85 mm AA gun can penetrate the side from a distance of 1450 meters, and the front from 1000 meters.

2. When advancing, Tigers are used by the Germans to support infantry, and are widely used to penetrate defensive lines.
Tiger tanks fight in small groups of 5-10 units, accompanied by sappers, infantry, and artillery  (especially with the Ferdinand self propelled assault gun), submachine gunners, grenadiers, and with other tanks, as a part of the first offensive wave.

Note: Tigers are organized into Heavy Tank Battalions.

3. After a thorough artillery barrage and/or bombardment, the Tigers advance jointly with infantry, sappers, and artillery support, under the cover of aircraft. They are used to support the infantry. In nearly all cases, Tigers are followed by assault guns, with one gun per 3 Tiger tanks on average.

4. After wedging themselves in the enemy defences, Tigers use their guns to suppress far targets (machine gun nests, mortar pits, artillery) that impede the progress of infantry.

The Tigers are followed by an infantry escort. If Tigers take casualties from AT squads, the escorts move forward, and, with support from the tanks, fight them off. Meanwhile, the assault guns and infantry mortars open fire on far away targets. When the path is cleared, the tanks continue their path.

5. After breaking through the first line of defence, the Tigers continue battle in the direction of the strike. The breach made by the Tigers is used to send through light and medium tanks with infantry riders. These reinforcements are sometimes also flanked by Tigers.

6. In order to scout out the layout of the defensive lines, Tigers use terrain to hide their hull, and try to attract fire, which sometimes happens if the opposing tankers and gunners are impatient and inexperienced. Tigers open fire at spotted ambushes and artillery emplacements from 1500-2000 meters.
Tigers are sometimes accompanied by scout aircraft to correct their movements, call out targets, and inform them of incoming tanks and artillery locations.

Conclusions:

In order to successfully combat Tiger tanks, it is necessary to:
a) open fire from artillery and tanks from ranges known to be dangerous, to not fire prematurely, and reveal yourself to enemy tanks before the Tigers close in.
b) using combat experience, arrange specialized well camouflaged tank destroyer groups. Widely use ambushes, encirclements, and other methods of tank combat.
c) in order to maximize effectiveness of AT squads fighting Tigers, coordinate their actions with AT gun and mortar teams.
d) when Tiger tanks attack, they must be the first target for AT guns and tank destroyers. If the Tiger tanks are knocked out, the accompanying medium and light tanks will not continue the attack.

[Leofric]

Sending tanks to Ukraine is provocative according to the Russian ambassador to Germany.
Yes, how provocative to allow Ukraine to fight back against a country that has invaded and is obliterating Ukraine's towns and villages.
How crazy !