[GlennF]

Even in WWII  main battle tanks were vulnerable to artillery and air power.  You needed air superiority and a batch of infantry to protect tanks even then.  WWII tanks could even be immobilized (though not "cooked") by 0.50 cal into the engine compartment from above. A lot of T34 were lost that way.

There are a few factors working against tanks in Ukraine ... and yes, the drones do not help, especially as forward spotters for artillery. 

However the biggest problem here is the Ukrainian war has degraded into trench warfare with extensive minefields, tank traps and and batteries of artillery.   

For reasons unknown, the west was slow providing long range weapons early on allowing the Russians time to setup extensive defences and  mine fields extending many 100s of miles, just back from the front lines, completely unhindered.  The Ukrainians had to sit back and watch all winter as the Russians built defences becasue they had neither the long range artillery nor the air power to reach that far.

Predictably after our politicians, through nervousness about committing, gave the Russians a chance to build extensive defence lines, many of these same people are upset about the lack of Ukrainian success against the same defences they allowed to be built by restricting longer range weapons.

Tanks are creatures better suited to the fast moving mobile battlefield, they are absolutely not suited for deployment as pill boxes for infantry support, they need to keep on the move.  Tanks are designed to be part of a combined arms assault accompanied by mechanised infantry and supported from the air, keeping on the move and advancing tens or even hundreds of miles in a day.

Now, the actual infantry support weapon Ukrainians probably need right now, would be something more akin to a modern version of the early war German close support Stug (late war Stugs were tank destroyers)  -  but no-one builds Armor like that anymore , as no one thought we would be back in trench warfare in the 21st century.

If at some  point the Ukrainians smash through the Russian defensive lines, and the tanks can move again, the donated tanks will suddenly be useful,  in the way they are meant to operate.

[AzCal Retred]

Cyber-teams fight a high-tech war on front lines

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66686584

Ukraine cyber-operators are being deployed on the front lines of the war, duelling close-up with their Russian counterparts in a new kind of high-tech battle.
"We have people who are directly involved in combat," says Illia Vitiuk, the head of the Ukrainian Security Service's (SBU) cyber department.
Speaking inside the heavily protected SBU headquarters, he explains how his teams mix the skills of hackers and special forces - getting inside Russian systems, working alongside snipers and deploying the latest technologies.
The department uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) visual recognition systems to analyse information gathered from aerial drones (alongside intelligence from human sources, satellites and other technical sources) to provide targets for the military.
"We understand which type of military weapons they are about to use and on what direction," Mr Vitiuk says.
His teams will also hack into surveillance cameras on occupied territory to watch Russian troop movements. And they direct kamikaze drones to take out Russian cameras spying on Ukrainian movements. Doing this often requires teams working undercover, close to the target.
Drones - sometimes used for surveillance and sometimes to act as weapons - have been at the leading edge of innovation in this conflict.

[GlennF]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfXuz5AfrIY

[AzCal Retred]

Following the Oligarch money always leads to Putin.

Russia superyacht symbolises challenge of seizing assets
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66818492

[GlennF]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EgTsL2qDi4Y

[AzCal Retred]

Our future is sounding more & more like a bad scify movie.
I'll bet our NASA group would love to have one of these "Nuculah" gas cooled drones for exo-exploration of the gas giants Jupiter & Saturn.

Putin makes nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile test claim - 06 October 2023
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67021695
Russia has held a "final successful test" of a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Vladimir Putin has claimed.
The president's comments came after his spokesman rejected a New York Times report that testing of the weapon, known as the Burevestnik, was imminent.  (Буревестник; "Storm petrel" )
The experimental weapon, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range.
It is said to be powered by a nuclear reactor and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.
"We have now virtually finished work on modern types of strategic weaponry about which I have spoken and which I announced a few years ago," Mr Putin told a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday which was broadcast live on state television.
He added: "A final successful test has been held of Burevestnik - a global-range nuclear-powered cruise missile."
The missile, code-named Skyfall by Nato, is said to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.
But the New York Times quoted an arms control campaign group, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, as saying that the previous known 13 tests of the system between 2017 and 2019 were all unsuccessful.
Mr Putin also told his audience that work was almost complete on an intercontinental ballistic missile, called Sarmat.
Despite Mr Putin's apparent disclosure, he said Russia had no plans to change its nuclear doctrine - the policy that sets out the circumstances in which its forces might use nuclear weapons.
He added that the existence of the Russian state was not under threat and "no person of sound mind and clear memory" would contemplate a nuclear strike against it.
But he did indicate that Russia could theoretically withdraw its ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty. He argued that as the US had signed but never ratified it, it was possible for Russia to act in the same way.


https://apnews.com/article/russia-putin-nuclear-test-missile-ukraine-war-2204f967c8739216ded2efc3f71a6e0f

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status-6_Oceanic_Multipurpose_System
Powerplant
The National Interest compiled several unclassified defense sources from General Electric experts about the similar 601B project[34][35][36] and they predicted low weight and compact gas-cooled nuclear reactor in the drone.[37] Russian submarine designers say that a low-power reactor is preferred for Poseidon because a smaller reactor is less noisy.[31]

[Leofric]

I wouldn't trust anything Putin says .

[Richard230]

I wouldn't trust anything Putin says .

+1 

[GlennF]

Ukrainian tank commander is upset that his captured Russian tank is too unreliable,  and rings the Russian manufacturer to complain about the poor quality ...

He even tells the guy his Ukrainian Battalion details and where they are based, but somehow he does not seem to catch on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5b4ncaRi9s

[Richard230]

Ukrainian tank commander is upset that his captured Russian tank is too unreliable,  and rings the Russian manufacturer to complain about the poor quality ...

He even tells the guy his Ukrainian Battalion details and where they are based, but somehow he does not seem to catch on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5b4ncaRi9s

 

[AzCal Retred]

Ukraine war: US gives 1.1 million rounds of ammunition seized from Iran to Kyiv

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-67014218

Ukraine's Western allies recently warned that their production lines were struggling to keep up with the rate at which Ukraine was using ammunition.
Centcom says the Iranian rounds were transferred to Ukraine on Monday.
It added the ammunition was 7.62mm calibre used in Soviet-era rifles and light machine-guns.
While the number is significant, it represents a small percentage of the hundreds of millions of rounds already shipped by allies to Ukraine.
The US has already provided more than 200 million bullets and grenades.

[him a layin]

maybe this explains why i've not seen more than token amounts of Large Rifle Primers since 2019? all of the 7.62 i've seen uses LRPs.

[AzCal Retred]

None of this applies if one or the other combatants has control of the airspace. The only reason Ukraine doesn't control the air space is that we aren't allowing it, but the hardware & tech is already there in-theater.

This "better artillery" solution mentioned in the article below is a generalized ($$$) archaic solution to a specific problem. More drones neutralize the "need" for artillery. Counter-battery radar systems allow you to vector missiles or drones right on top of OpFor artillery within seconds. CBR is WWII tech that was well polished by 1960 and just got better since then. Tank warfare is in much the same league, time & technology has passed them by. Whoever controls the airspace gets to kill all the OpFor armor & cannon in short order. Remember Gulf War #1? Remember that 50 mile long string of corpses, blasted tanks & towed artillery? Remember who controlled the air space?

Why not just bring back mounted cavalry & black powder? The horses are largely transparent to radar, self-replicating and "green", & black powder can be made on-site virtually everywhere.

Our modern destroyers don't even bother to have a big deck gun, just a "Sea-Wiz" (Phalanx) close-support gun. Provide Ukraine with air cover and the need for artillery drops to near zero. When the Russian batteries open up and the "Friendly" drones & vectored in missiles start popping off the artillery positions like popcorn, day or night, a lot of OpFor spunk goes right out the window. An artillery war just means you aren't serious and your "allies" are considered a fungible asset. You also don't have unlimited cheap high explosives to waste on public housing & hospitals. And if provided proper air cover, Ukraine wouldn't have Rooskie missile batteries blowing up their hospitals, schools & housing either. As the OpFor launch sites can be hit within seconds, the targets damn sure better be worth it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter-battery_radar

https://www.defensenews.com/land/2023/10/09/change-of-plans-us-army-embraces-lessons-learned-from-war-in-ukraine/
“Everything we’re seeing in Ukraine [is] about the relevance of precision fires, all the emerging technology, but the big killer on the battlefield is conventional artillery, high-explosive artillery,” he said.
The U.S. Army plans to issue a new conventional fires strategy by the end of the year, he added.

[Leofric]

'The only reason Ukraine doesn't control the air space is that we aren't allowing it, but the hardware & tech is already there in-theater.'
Don't understand that. Who isn't allowing it and why ?

[AzCal Retred]

They are flying 30 year old aircraft from chewed up airstrips. The Poland F16 deal blew up. We're foot dragging on providing F16 aircraft. We'll defend the Philippines airspace but not Ukraines. Ukraines infrastructure is being chewed apart by Russia because there's no air cap/ no-fly zone. It's not good being a fungible asset to a dysfunctional "Soup-r Pow-r" that has externally induced internal dissention. The "Artillery War" only exists because there's no air cover. We put an air cap over Iraq & Afghanistan. Without air cover missiles and artillery will continue to destroy Ukrainian people & infrastructure. With air cover it stops because OpFor artillery and missile launch sites vaporize within 30-60 seconds of firing or launching. China, Russia & Iran have obvious ambitions, it's a question of when not if it starts. Luring two US Carrier task forces into a kill box at the tail end of the Mediterranean would be a great starting point.

NATO nation makes 'excuses' to backtrack on F-16 pledge to Ukraine; Poland 'betrays' Kyiv amid war
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=akvGs0KgsF8

U.S.-Philippines Relationship
https://2017-2021.state.gov/countries-areas/philippines/#:~:text=The%20U.S.%20has%20designated%20the,balanced%2C%20and%20responsive%20security%20partnership.
The U.S. has designated the Philippines as a Major Non-NATO Ally, and there are close and abiding security ties between the two nations. The Manila Declaration signed in 2011 reaffirmed the 1951 U.S.-Philippines Mutual Defense Treaty as the foundation for a robust, balanced, and responsive security partnership.