Around 40 soldiers from the Royal Dragoon Guards took part in Exercise Hunter 22 in Lithuania, as part of a “pre-planned bilateral exercise focusing on shared anti-tank capabilities” say the British Army in this news release.
“Black Horse Troop, the British contribution to the US-led NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup in Poland, took part in the live fire exercise alongside their Lithuanian Army counterparts. This included training with Jackal and Coyote vehicles as well as NLAW and Javelin anti-tank weapons.
These two anti-tank systems have been employed by the British Army for several years and are a significant force-multiplier for lightly armoured troops. The UK has a long-standing partnership with Lithuania and eight other nations as part of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF).”
Established in 2014, the JEF is a concept that draws on a pool of high-readiness forces from the UK and partner nations to provide military options that respond rapidly in peacetime or crisis.
“The UK fronts the JEF as the Framework Nation, working alongside nine partner nations; Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. The JEF has the potential to grow and develop key interoperability focus areas specifically assigned to each nation’s subject matter expertise and recent experiences.”
The UK as the framework nation may activate a JEF deployment unilaterally or as part of a JEF coalition.
‘Established in 2014’. The U.K. will get no credit for being swift, focussed and professional just as it did not receive credit for the Armilla Patrol, active seven years before Reagan demanded the U.S.A.’s allies ‘join them’ in keeping the Straits of Hormuz open to tanker traffic. Meanwhile, well done everyone.
https://en dot wikipedia dot org/wiki/Armilla_patrol
Absolutely Barry, oddly the BBC are so busy ‘carefully’ selecting their interviews today, nothing/zero/zilch/ sod all about the UK’s amazing world leading efforts with Ukraine and our NATO commitments, but all morning bleating on and on about lockdown parties….. Leftist BBC reporters just nod in agreement like a bunch of nodding dogs….
Bless the liberal left, they will do anything to get the Tories out and crawl back to the EU on hands and knees, begging for forgiveness….
Get a grip John with the left obsession, because you don’t agree on BBC output doesn’t make it leftist. Its not a mouthpiece for how great we think we are, they report the issues of the day and it doesn’t always sit well with the left or right.
Exactly, as they get slammed by both I think it just confirms that these days more than ever it’s moderates against extremists, who in reality just fight over what colour shirts they wear as they work so hard to corrupt and/or bring down democracy. Both think that the people are just useful idiots to be exploited.
But what are they criticised for ? The right criticise them for being left wing and the left criticise them for not being left wing enough.
I sort of agree. But I do t think the big issue in front of the world is ‘did Boris attend a party’ it is rather how do we contain Russian military aggression and unbelievable genocidale behaviours. To emphasise the former and not the latter must have the Jremlin rolling round the floor laughing. Everyone with a garden broke the rule of six for a BBQ. Who cares? There are bigger things at stake and much as I think Doris is an idiot: he is showing a great degree of leadership, OK because of his Churchill complex, and putting UK… Read more »
Go on Twitter and you’ll learn a lot. ‘Getting rid of Boris will get rid of Brexit’ The establishment is still fighting the 2016 referendum and that explains a lot of what is going on right now.
I really care supportive ( see my response above). It makes my blood boil and if the guy was in front of my I would find it difficult not to punch him in the face. It was a failure of leadership that will impact massively as this pandemic goes on, and it will go on. Russia is a big issue yes but this pandemic is still as big and can and will keep flaring for years yet…( we are still having 200 people a day die of it in the U.K alone and our health systems has collapsed, but no… Read more »
I agree that the NHS is in a mess. A mostly managerial and Organisation mess caused by a lot of the cultures and orthodoxies that nobody dares to challenge. As well as a highly unionized workforce that is totally resistant to sensible changes. Iced with the inability to hypothecate funds to do things. Look at what happened to the ring fenced cancer budget? Those were busted open by NHS central and all the progress was lost. The problem is that Joe Soap has lost patience with the NHS’s inability to get its a to together. 25 years ago I designed… Read more »
Thing is you have to remember there is actually no such thing as the NHS in the sense most people thing of it. It’s not a homogenised organisation it’s a brand or franchise with literally thousands of different organisations, some private some publicly owned, some not for profit social enterprises others for profit limited companies or PLCs. To be honest most of the crap comes from the department for health and NHSE. ( I did a library excise around wave one as to why the local system and providers become so confused, within a month I found hundreds of sets… Read more »
“The big problem is the BMA and it’s sub groups. There simple task to to maintain the power and prestige of the medical profession and they regularly break politicians, senior healthcare leaders and other professional groups” “break the power of the medical profession, they should be employees not some sort of god emperor.” I’d have to agree with that. It chimes with my experience. Never underestimate the ignorance of the senior medical professional. They pompously pronounce on things that they don’t really understand. They are used to being surrounded by sycophantic junior doctors who depend on their patronage to get… Read more »
You may (or may not) be surprised to know that most if not all emergency services also “work” in the same manner. I will state for a fact that the policing system does after 30years in uniform and plain clothes. I have worked as a full time officer in 3 forces and they were all pretty much the same. I think it’s a matter of how humans in general organise themselves (with certain exceptions). Managers quickly forget what it’s like at the bottom or end user point-if they ever had that experience in the first place-see “graduate entry”….
Yes it’s always been one of the more interesting facets of my job. The problem is they hold so much power that unless you can make it “ their idea” it never gets done. I’ve tried to take changes forward only to be totally blocked, then worked on a senior Dr to make it their idea and all of a sudden everyone thinks it’s a good idea..
What Jonathan said; although, I wouldn’t stop at punching him.
I have just read Wolfson’s resignation letter, and found it very impressive. If the UK is to seriously position itself as one of the good guys, then it really does matter that our politicians respect the rule of law. The same goes for the USA (thinking particularly of Trump).
And Obama and company broke the rule of law all the time, the current President does not even know what planet he is on ! Yet you are quick to blame Trump
No, there is not.
On a personal note he such a narccisstic cant that he put a CP team at risk for a photo op.
Wider, he lies, to everyone about everything. Now, is the time to replace him because we absolutely need a principled leader who has not partied with Russian oligarchs in Italy, has not facilitated Russian advancement into the house of Lords, and who has not brought about long lasting and deep economic pain to this country.
If you don’t think the BBC are a leftist mouth piece Wasp Snorter, I can only assume you are referring to the Bulgarian Broadcasting Company, or perhaps Bangor Bowling Companions
(Though I’ve my doubts about them too) …
Wheel out a Labour or Liberal political bore, woke BBC reporter nods in agreement throughout, zero cross examination, zero counter point … Yep, not leftie whatsoever….
Robin Day would be rolling in his grave so fast, you could put a coil around him and power a city!
Bame, Biased Corrupt
I’m not referring to those organisations, Bulgarian nor bangor, not Blades Business Crew either, who are from my home city. The BBC don’t always get it right but it’s not as bad or rotten as the narrative that suits you to frame. I hate the way the BBC obsess over the arts, when some obscure theatre producer dies we all have to hear about it and his wonderful talent etc, Jesus. but you assume people are sheep and you somehow see beyond, truth is if you was in sole control of the BBC then I suspect it would be worse,… Read more »
Let’s clarify ….The BBC reporting in the Ukraine has actually been very good, they have the ‘A’ team in country and they are excellent… The BBC’s foreign correspondents are world class, no argument here. See, not totally biased thinking … Let’s add a caviat here though, Covid news, War in Syria ( remember that old classic) War in Yemen ( hmm, rings a vague bell) all disappeared from the BBC, apart from the very odd mention…. Then comes the massive, jolting juxtaposition of the piss pore woke ‘ lifestyle’ Breakfast programme, where Mr Liberal talks about the outrageous behaviour of… Read more »
Very concise report from Frank Gardner this morning on Breakfast, another rare Jewell in the BBC, with an update on the Ukrainian situation…
Immediately followed by an article three times the length about someone’s dog dying!
Enough said….
Unfortunately John, the BBC does have to provide A balance of information and news for all views, like you the fluffy stuff irritates the crap out of me, but For my mother-in-law that’s the sort of news she wants to watch, seeing what is going on in the Ukraine would put her off her breakfast ( she actually made the why do they show this it’s putting me off my dinner about a story related to dying children in a famine). different strokes and the BBC is there to provide a bit of balance and something for everyone ( and… Read more »
Which reporters show a centre right bias ?
I’ll offer Frank Gardner as centre right, he’s a sensible chap and you can almost hear him low growl when they move on the latest “Crisis” ….
” It’s a king sized crisis of a crisis, wet yourself, run around screaming and ram raid Asda for toilet paper”!
Yeah I remember him from back when I watched the Beeb.
Well said Jonathan, I can see where you are coming from, unfortunately, I’m old enough to remember BBC reporting when they actually reported the news in some depth and in an unbiased manner…
Dumbed down reporting to match the generally short attention span prevalent today, where the # is king…
Yes I do agree. I honestly think 24 hour news has a lot to do with the problem…they have to fill so much time, they have to do so much “opinion piece” stuff to fill the gaps. What I can’t stand is when they have the anchor interviewing another journalist…..what’s that all about.
give me a decent 6 and 10 o’clock news, that tells me the actual news…not 20 hours of filler.
Again, are you thinking of Laura K.?
You’re spouting so much offal a sewage farm would struggle to clean it up.
Not so WS I’d say The boy JC has a firm grip infact if I was to critique I’d say he puts thing too politely, vicars T party polite reality is the BBC are straight up UK hating bullshitting propaganda merchants and their is nobody better at spinning a narrative than them .
🏴🇬🇧
Yes or there is the more balanced view of events.
I’ll keep an eye out for it, what side is it on ??
With you 100%. Just do what I do. I don’t watch BBC, ITN, Sky news. The big difference with the bad old days is there are alternatives or at least one.
Bravo.
Channel 4 News is informative and its presenters are polite to the experts they interview.
Bravo John. Bravo. Nothing changes. Meanwhile world events carry on. Millions broke lock down rules. I saw them every day driving to work all through it. Millions. It is worse if it’s some in HMG doing it but not a resignable offense.
At its heart is Brexit, and revenge on the Tories for carrying it out.
Millions of people who work in factories etc were quite legally allowed to drive to work. Not that I can get over excited about partygate. To be quite honest I’m fed of rabid brexiteers and remoaners , both still living in the past .
I remember the first bank holiday weekend of the lockdown reading the news from Manchester, the police got called to over 600 house and street parties that weekend alone. That is just one of the larger cities and only the reported call outs.
Despite a large percentage of the population abiding by rules and doing what they could to prevent the spread a blooming large portion also paid zero attention to anything and carried on as they deemed fit.
Yeah I love when elected politicians break the rules they make especially when they are clearly our social and intellectual betters having been educated in ways us common folk could never understand. Having leaders above the law was exactly what the bill of rights and Magna Carta was all about and it’s a style of government that has worked so well in Latin America, Russia and China.
👍
Well said. Also, remember that old maxim about “leading from the front”. You can’t respect leaders who make rules and then break them…..
What he said, normal people brake the law they get a fine/agreed punishment, the person who set the law of they then breaks that law should bet the punishment, but also never be able the make laws again. Drs and nurses who break their codes of conduct get suffer the penalty in law and then if it broke there code of conduct ( and it generally would for most crimes) they probably get struck off the professional body, which means they loss their jobs and future in the profession( you cannot up have mistrustful nurses and drs) so why should… Read more »
Well said Martin
The problem is that although millions did break lock down rules, they weren’t the ones telling the general population to follow the “Rules” All so remember that a large amount of jobs can not be done from home so people had to go to work.
They broke a law they created while repeatedly denying it, I don’t give a single fuck that they had their party’s but I do give af that they tried to lie and blag their way through the whole thing taking us for mugs when they could of just been honest.
Nothing to do with Brexit just honesty and integrity which this government has neither.
That being said I commend their actions wrt Ukraine.
As ever Daniele, totally agree mate….
Labour was badly wounded in the last general election, they took their core vote for granted and had their arses handed to them.
All they have now is a slick lawyer leader with sod all of substance behind him and slagging off the government as their main policy.
They offer no practical alternative government and all the time the looney left are waiting in the wings for a chance to grab power, they haven’t gone anywhere..
Sad state of affairs…
Tony Blair tells it like it is in this recent talk at Kings College
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xle3C36bAvI
Try GB news mate it’s normally has a lot better content than the BBC.
Or RT is also great, failing that just jump in over to Truth Social. Trump says it’s the best and all are heavily endorsed by the GRU 😀
Well, anything is better than the BBC. You know, the organization that actively protected a bunch of kiddie fiddlers, rapist and general sex pests.
👍
100%
I would agree mate, but that dial has swung somewhat to the left too now, a definite change over the last few months, with a lot more of the dreaded ‘lifestyle’ creeping in…
Pity Andrew Neil didn’t stick with it….
I know what your saying, im just hoping though they’re just over compensating a little. As a lot of leftist wouldn’t go near the channel at first.
So it’s hard to have a debate about a subject when the other side won’t even turn up. It still has its good days though, Farage and the Aussie guy on straight after him sometimes can be pretty good.
You have to remember they have their careers to think of. There’s no guarantee they always be at GB News. If they ever apply for a job at another TV company they’re going to need evidence that they’ll ‘fit in’
John the only thing the Leftie BBC is concerned about is not how bloody good Britain’s efforts in Standing up against PUKING Sorry Putin are showing the rest of Europe Sorry EU are dawdling But the BBC is jumping over Barrels too get more dirt on Bloody Partygate my god They really are scrapping the bottom of the Barrel my license is going in the bin Oh hang on I’ll ask for a Rebate can dream can’t I
I love how diplomatic you always are. 😂👍
I just watched the BBC 10 o’clock news (or the bit about Ukraine anyway) There was a bit about Mariupol and where Russian forces were in the south of the country so far and how it was an inportant symbol of resistance. and how the russians had claimed that taken 1000 POW. it then counted by showing a video from the Mariupoldefenders saying they were holding out. it then showed a couple who had fled Mariupol and had lost nearly everything they owned. there was a bit then that said after 50 day of war what did Putin have to… Read more »
Just also seen on both BBC & Sky Live feed that the US is sending helicopters as well as APC, artillery and more drones. And a Russian ship was hit 25 miles of the coast, supposedly by a Ukraines missile
👌😂
I for one John want to know about those parties. At that time my team was working all hours ( 70-80 hours a week sometimes) and we all had to do it isolated at home, sitting at your dinning table at 22.00 trying to co-ordinate desperately needed PPE to hospitals ( because all the pandemic stocks had rotted away in government warehouses over a decade of neglect) is not fun and a bit of team support would have made a big different. I had team members suffering mental health issues, I had team members leave and we had no parties,… Read more »
As someone who lost an elderly parent in a care home and was not able to visit them in the 3 months before I am more incensed by individuals and groups using this situation for clearly political motives. The govt that should be providing the world with answers on how COVID came about is the Chinese Govt. First Bird flu, then SARs and now Covid, all originating in China. I really do not care if people in Downing Street had a few beers.
Sorry for your loss, it must have been very hard, we are all allowed our own options as thinks like this are very personal. But for those it hurt it really hurt and for those who have worked in very strict regimes to control this disease it really does do a lot of damage. There are no health care staff that I know who don’t care about how senior leaders have comported themselves.
Jonathan i’m genuinely impressed by your experiences and the anger you feel towards Johnson and the Conservatives. You have every right to not just express them but to be heard. I wish we all felt that about our country and especially our media but I don’t. I feel TV and Radio in this country with almost no exceptions is a mouth piece for one side of the political spectrum. They see their role as active participants not impartial observers in the political debate. In my life I have voted Labour and Conservative and have voted Liberal or LibDem more often… Read more »
Don’t get me wrong David, I agree all media is bias and you have to read it all not just one bit. I generally vote for the party I think has the most honesty and integrity ( unless they are bonkers like Corbin). It’s just the one thing I actually ask for is honesty and integrity and I think if your in public office and found not to have that you should be out no if no buts, no matter the party you are with. principles and honour are probably the only thing I ask for in a prim minister.
I fully understand Jonathan, I do, he has to go, but right now isn’t the time.
To be balanced, Boris had just come into power, so can’t really be blamed for the lack of PPE, try dishing that one on the eternal gambler Cameron, who played fast and loose with public services and cut, slashed and burned, before putting a parachute on and jumping….
Just look at the mothballed mobile decontamination units for one, that might well still bite us firmly on the arse …. Like I said, an utter bloody chancer….
Yes I can’t disagree about Cameron that man has a lot to answer to he gambled on so many things not to happen, pandemic, wars etc all the little stuff that you can just shrug of if it happens and your not prepared. I think if there was a reliable way of removing Borris in a planned way ( say a professional practice hearing, with all the evidence) I would be more relaxed. But the madness is the only way to remove a primeminister is if his MPs vote to remove him… which in a way is like asking the… Read more »
I wouldn’t know John. I never watch. I gave up years ago sickened by the tone and slanted reporting.
Through times of crisis the last thing we need is elitist, incompetent, out of touch compulsive liars who break their own rules. We need the best leadership, not putting up with some of the worst ever. Don’t forget Boris also took Russian money. He’s done for.
Good luck finding this mythical leadership Frank, if you do, please let us all know and we can voter for them!
god help me for saying this but Jeremy Hunt has proven himself as a man of integrity. I don’t believe in all his ideas around the NHS, but he has alway sort to improve it and would fight the fight, he’s the only politician that ever went toe to toe with the medical profession ( and won).
Are you talking about Laura K?
Did the Armilla patrol ,ran out of Jebal Ali during the Eighties, when the UAE was was just a collection of rather dowel Shiekdoms nothing too the scale it is now
Thanks for your service Tommo.
US and UK foreign policy are so intertwined it’s hard to say where one ends and the other begins. There is often an accusation of UK subservience to US policy however everything from Kuwait in 91 to Kosovo in 99 Libya in 11 and Ukraine in 14 are all UK initiated. Who gives you credit for your own initiatives? Any operation since 1917 with the slightest whiff of US involvement automatically becomes Uncle Sam saving the world and after saving and liberating France twice in the 20th century we are still universally loathed on the other side of the channel.… Read more »
👍
Enoch Powell made the point at the time of the Falkland campaign about our national resolve and its best expression in action. We Brits have for too long obsessed about Suez and ‘loss of Empire’. Ukraine shows how adroit we can be. Putin is going to lose and an honourable supporting role in that historic defeat will be to the U.K.’s credit.
I was born in the 80’s so never had the hang up of some lost empire. Indeed the empire was never really lost in the way the Roman Empire was lost. Every bit of it is still there, not taking direct orders from London but did it ever? Certainly not in the 20th century but it’s still pulling in the same direction and the teachings of Smith and Hume are taken more seriously than ever by the greater Anglosphere. I have only ever known a Britain post 82 and it’s always been confident and capable on the international stage and… Read more »
As a child of the seventies, I do remember such things as regular power cuts, piles of rubbish and the practical civil war that was the miners strike. But I also remember a time in which we had greater personal freedom than we do now. Personal freedom was at its height in the seventies, but still with a sense of local community, but economically and as a nation we were in a bit of a death spiral. The 80s changed that, but as we gained national confidence and wealth we lost the soul of community.
A very good summary. I broadly agree. Our media class are the problem.
Umm, we seem to be getting through our stocks of NLAW and Javelin pretty quickly. Does anyone know if the MOD has ordered replacements from Thales of Belfast? It would seem stupid not to get production up and running again as soon as possible.
Thales, Belfast, are advertising for more staff.
I’d imagine export orders for NLAW/Starstreak etc will be flying now they are battle proven winners with a relatively approachable unit price.
Will take time. Contracts would need to be signed, policticans paid bribes, generals wines/dined, the usual public sector stuff. Main slow down will be getting the gov to release actual funds and not just words.
As long as we don’t end up behind all the other countries ordering them, then all good.
… and of course it takes time to put together and find funds for all those committees that keep the cogs of the entitled turning.
There will be a costed replenishment contract in place for a current system that is used in volume for training.
I bet training volumes are nothing like this though.
Very true
Slightly off topic, but I was wondering why the Reactive armour that the Russians have put so much investment into seems to be a total flop, is there any one out there that can shine a light on this.
It might be that the kleptocracy has just put some stuff that looks like reactive armour on the outside of the tanks;
Or
The NATO weapons do something to confuse the timing so it reacts but is ineffective;
Or
The stuff just doesn’t work properly?
There are pictures online of destroyed russian tanks, when investidated the reactive armour packs on the tanks have had their shaped explosives removed and sold to the black market.
This seems to be the main reason russian forces have turned out to be a shadow of themselves. A stunning level of thieft going on. I would imagine a lot do people will find their lives ending rather painfully when this is all over and the Kremlin works out who stole what.
It will be interesting over the coming months whether the withdraw from the north has been to sort out their logistics etc or whether it is just an admission of defeat.
It seems a good many in the secret services have lost their jobs and those at the top their freedom for ‘misinformation’ and though most of it is probably related to terrible intelligence on the situation in Ukraine prior to the war, I guess some aspect of that is not investigating/reporting on this level of corruption in the forces too as we saw with the recent Chernobyl documentary that is a fundamental part of their job.
Maybe the example of a thieving, lying leadership lets underlings do the same to disaterous effect. A lesson the Tories need to learn pronto. In times of crisis we really do need leadership with the highest integrity, not the worst.
France is on the verge of a pro-Putin Le Penn government pulling her out of NATO.
Or it was never in there in the first place?
Last century I read article that claimed batteries used in Soviet torpedoes had been swiped for their silver content.
here you go found the link
There were some reports early on that the explosives from ERA blocks had been sold/never installed and were filled with sand instead using common egg cartons to help the sand retain a brick shape rather than sagging.
My suspicion is that it is a combination of all three of my points of speculation in varying degrees.
i think the eggcup thing comes from the fact part of the construction of these does actual look like an egg box. I did a zoom of one of the egg box pictures and it was actual looked more like part of the kit not an egg box. They are plates with 6 pyramids, which is what you would expect and does look sort of eggboxy. It does look like a lot of the work done around countering reactive armour is working, but as dictatorships are always hives of corruption it would not surprise that most of the kit is… Read more »
The Javelin has a tandem warhead, with an initial explosive to destroy the ERA tile then the main warhead for armour penetration. The NLAW doesn’t have the tandem warhead but…as you say, still seems quite capable of popping tanks with ERA and cage armour over the top. Perhaps the ERAs are designed primarily to disrupt incoming missiles/shells on a shallow trajectory whereas NLAW and Javelin specifically go for the top armour with a near vertically orientated blast. Either way I would not want to be in a Russian tank anytime soon.
Yup – I know that?
There is no clear reason that an NLAW could not have a tandem warhead. For all we know it might have had an upgrade?
Steve. Reactive armour flop ? I think some anti-tank weapons use a two-stage, tandem warhead. The first charge ‘blows off’ the reactive armour and the second charge does the kill.
I’m no expert but, from a layman’s point of view, the ‘top down’ attacks of both NLAW and Javelin would appear to make any kind of side-armour ineffective.
However, not sure about how effective the UK Cobham armour would be agains a weapon similar to NLAW.
Most tanks only have a solid steel roof no more than 100mm thick. The entrance hatches are even thinner. RPG-7s fired from above down onto a turret have no problems penetrating them. Something like Javelin and Hellfire have so much punch their HEATs jet stream will reach the main gun ammo carousel when hitting the turret roof. Some Nations have started fitting ERA to the turret roofs. But if you are anywhere near it when goes off, you’re a gonna! Similar with the roof mounted cage armour. These were designed to pre-detonate a diving anti-tank missile’s warhead. Against a tandem… Read more »
I’m no expert but, from a layman’s point of view, the ‘top down’ attacks of both NLAW and Javelin would appear to make any kind of side-armour ineffective.
However, not sure about how effective the UK Cobham armour would be agains a weapon similar to NLAW.
Steve AR wrote:
There was a bloke who knocked out a Tank oriented blog called:
Below the Turret Ring
he knocked out an article on the upgrade of the T72 to the T72B3M which is what Moscow sent into the Ukraine, explains all the issues regards its ERA
Really interesting, so the weight reduction for mobility in Easter European mud, created an open county tank that had good mobility. perfect for the USSR storming across the inner German border, but shit when confined to roads and urban areas against a gritty enemy with man portable anti tank weapons. They built machines focused on fighting other tanks with no thought around infantry, then fucked up their combined arms and got hand their arses. More power to the Ukraine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2aveU_D8xvI&t=4s
I have read Uk Defence Journal daily for a long time and until now I haven’t felt the need to comment. However, the image of “British troops showing off anti-tank firepower” in a trench without front cover is very scary. Whilst I acknowledge that the arc of fire for the NLAW is enfilade with regard to the treeline, the trench itself is vulnerable to direct fire over a wide arc. On the evidence of published images, the concept of interlocking enfilading trench systems with substantial front cover seems to have passed the British Army by. During Exercises Crusader, Spearpoint, Lionheart… Read more »
Thanks for the many insightful remarks reference reactive armour but it seem to me that although it is supposed to work against RPG type weapons, so the newer weapons like Javelin have a double warhead to counter the counter explosion effect even tanks like the T72’s and the T80’s seem to be losing there turrets to “all” of the attacks weather they are from an RPG or from a javelin. I do not know if the charge is penetrating the hull then detonating the ordinance with in the tank and blowing the turret off or the initial explosion is blowing… Read more »
Need to use active protection systems like TROPHY to defend against double shape charged war heads with top attack modes like NLAW and Javelin. No reactive or passive system will ever stop it.
Russian tanks mainly use an autoloader rather than a human loader, the rounds are stored in a carousel around the turret basket, just underneath the turret (think Sushi restaurant conveyor), the rounds on the carousel are naked and lack wet stowage. When penetrated the rounds in the carousel tend to go off cataclysmically launching the turret tens sometimes hundreds of meters. Autoloaders are used to save space and speed loading, as you have one less crewmember and maneuvering space you can shrink the turret, reductions in size produce exponential savings in weight and making a smaller tank overall, downside is… Read more »
You have to wonder what the survival rate is for those crews ? Even if Russia has a huge stock of old tanks I would imaging it’s going to run out of tank crews pretty soon.
Not a nice thought.
I preferred them running out of diesel and then being reappropriated…..
At least knocking them out in a static column probably meant an empty tank was hit.
At least we know the Ukrainians don’t have to declare Russian tanks on their tax returns 🙂
I agree. I would much rather they all went home and lived happy lives after handing over the keys to their second hand T72. Any preventable death is a tragedy and a young person with their life ahead of them to die for a power crazed dictator is truly awful. But if the only way to stop their military from destroying a county of 40 million innocents is to kill, then fucked up world that it is that’s what has to happen ( and I’ve spent most of my adult life saving lives and I’ve seen over a thousand die… Read more »
That the alternative for the Ukrainian population are far worse?
That innocents get assaulted, shot and worse and then sent on their way in a mobile crematorium?
Putin has to be stopped. There is morally no argument.
He invaded a sovereign country breaking treaty guarantees. He has broken all the Geneva conventions of warfare.
He cannot be trusted at any level.
He would do the same again elsewhere if he felt he could get away with it.
It is a balance of harms argument. All the alternatives are far worse.
Yes and i completely support any and all support to the Ukraine. But it’s a difficult one for me to have that position, mainly because I just don’t understand the motivation of expansionist dictators on an emotional level, I can’t understand why you would send people to kill and die for power. I get it all on an intellectual level that history is replete with these individuals. Which is why I’m a firm believer in having a very strong military, with robust foreign policy in which the opposition know you will react with force if needed, because that’s the best… Read more »
The latest US aid package for Ukraine..reported by Yahoo News and NDTV “WASHINGTON ― U.S. President Joe Biden has announced an additional $800 million in heavy weapons the country will speed to Ukrainian forces, which will include more than a dozen heavy-artillery howitzers, hundreds of armored vehicles and nearly a dozen helicopters, all from U.S. stockpiles. Especially with the 18 towed 155mm howitzers and 40,000 artillery rounds, which the U.S. is providing for the first time, the Pentagon hopes to help even the odds against Russian forces, as the war enters a new phase, concentrated in eastern Ukraine. Moscow is now expected to… Read more »
The columns that Russia has been using has been forced on them by terrain and by Ukraine flooding embankments etc. Think about the UK, if you were fighting to take a major city, you would have same issues. Ukraine forces have defended close to the cities within urban areas on purpose as it means they aren’t having to fight within open countryside that would favour Russian tanks. There was an interesting article by a US general a few years ago about how miltiary thinking and kit would need to completely change as we move into mega cities and why Iraq… Read more »