British Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged the west to “keep the flame of freedom alive” in Ukraine as promised to supply 6,000 more missiles to the country.
“The United Kingdom will work with our allies to step up military and economic support to Ukraine, strengthening their defences as they turn the tide in this fight,” Johnson said.
“One month into this crisis, the international community faces a choice. We can keep the flame of freedom alive in Ukraine, or risk it being snuffed out across Europe and the world.”
Today’s NATO summit in Brussels is expected to unlock additional aid for Kyiv including equipment to help Ukraine protect against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, you can rad more about the summit here.
The meeting, which will be addressed remotely by Mr Zelensky, will sign off on the formation of four new battlegroups in eastern Europe. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the battlegroups will be deployed in Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.
The alliance already has 40,000 troops in Europe under its direct command, nearly 10 times the number it had a few months ago.
Great news that we are continuing to actively support Ukraine!
Having seen the impact of NLAW and Javelin i feel very reassured in the quality of our ATGMs. I also think its great that we are supporting with such high quality military aid.
Yes. Although simple and relatively cheap, these weapons appear to be battle winning. Off topic, I have seen reports of Ukranian forces counter-attacking and regaining territoty in certain areas. Do anyone have more insight?
They have pushed russian forces back upto 35km in a single day near Kyiv yesterday apparently, and also destroyed a alligator class LST in berdyansk port
And captured intact an entire 4 system of electronic warfare equipment. Which has been rapidly driven west. Loaded into an airoplane and flown straight to USA. This was Russia’s latest and best kit. Very embarrassing for Putin that it was captured and very very embarrassing it wasnt destroyed by withdrawing/ surrendering Russians and very very very embarrassing it is now in the possession of USA.
The LST was sunk by a TB2 drone, and two others damaged.
Our Harpoon 1C go out of service soon. Just thinking of the way the Argentines jerry rigged an Exocet MM38 on the back of a lorry, & used a generator from a WW2 searchlight. Launched it at one of our old county class, if I remember rightly.
Were they loaded or empty do we know?
They had been unloading it a day or so before but judging by the secondary explosions there was certainly something very combustible on board. Putin is going to be mad with rage over that one considering the propaganda they were using it for. Funnier still was how 4 other ships immediately did a runner afterwards.
Well if Mr Putin hasn’t noticed, I’m not sure I’d mention it.
Isn’t the type to take bad news well. 🤔
I thought the Ukranian military said it was a short range ballistic missile. They had accurate targeting data courtesy of Russian news broadcasts so knew exactly where it was docked…too the nearest metre.
Maybe this…
https://www.army-technology.com/projects/vilkha-m-multiple-launch-rocket-system/
Wish they can knock off some of the Russian navy ships off shore too. Might need more capable drones. Are the missiles in the drones from aTurkey too? Good on Ukraine striking back in the south, I hope they can do the same in Mariupol too. And maybe Crimea next! Might have to blow up the Kerch bridge too.
I am fearful that they are looking to go on defense and hold ground while the Belarusians open a new front in the northwest, pushing towards lviv, etc.
Personally I very much doubt that the Belarusians will be an effective fighting force after all they only welcomed in the Russians when Lukashenko looked in serious threat of being overthrown, I suspect his troops would have no heart in fighting in Ukraine and are probably needed in defence in Belarus. Remember also how as recently as 2018 he attacked Russian politicians for attempting to take over his country and said he would never let it happen. He may be between a rock and a hard place at the moment but in reality there is no love lost between him… Read more »
My understanding is the Ukrainians have counterattacked west of Kyiv and some distance west of Kherson. They’re trying to prevent the Russians from encircling the capital or getting their artillery within range of the city centre. Further south near Kherson, they’re denying the Russians a path to Odessa. There’s also been some furious fighting in the east to keep cities there in Ukrainian hands. all of this seems to have been facilitated by the Russians pausing their offensive in order to reorganise for a more focused attack, probably an effort to envelop the Ukrainians in the east. But even so,… Read more »
Putins bringing in his reserves. 70000 pro Russian Checyen infantry. 2 marine infantry regiments from vladivostok.
They will pause to sort out resupply and logistics. Go over to defensive operations for upto a week until those fresh reinforcements come up. Then try again.
“…70000 pro Russian Checyen infantry.”
An Exaggeration! And also used as an Kremlin propaganda tool.
Total present population of Chechen is only 1.4m, a lot more in exile.
If the Ukrainians retake Cherson, they themselves have encircled a whole army corps, including some of the elite units of the Russian army. If they can retake Hostomel airport, the same happens northwest of Kyiv. Far from beating Ukraine, two major Russian formations are in the brink of disaster.
Before we get too carried away.
These weapons are the right level of tech to deal with:-
– Russian tactics; and
– Russian antique weapons; and
– ease of use by a semi trained but very motivated Ukrainian army.
I’d be wary of extrapolating that too far.
They are the right weapons to bleed Putin but they don’t offer any additional leverage. We need lend lease style arrangement with training for more advanced systems such as theatre level air defence and long range precision fire like MLRS ATACMS taking place now in Poland so the threat of these system entering the combat zone is there giving Putin a reason to start negotiating. Sure training is needed however much of that training will be about maintenance rather than deployment and a few well placed “advisers” can make deployment much more rapid. The USSR did this with SA2 over… Read more »
I wonder if there is a StarStreak training camp somewhere …
I understand that a British Army training team is now in place ‘somewhere in Eastern Europe’ instructing Ukrainian personnel on the Starstreak HVM. It will be interesting to see how the system performs in the coming days and weeks – more bad news for Russian Frontal Aviation I hope.
What weapons would be best for taking out artillery I wonder, start taking those out in large numbers and the Russians will be massively thwarted and likely struggle to hang on in many areas. I am wondering if the switchblade drones that the US are giving them will be able to help there.
The Switchblade the US are providing are the 300 variant (the 600 only exists in tiny numbers). They’re not much use against artillery, 10km range and a warhead the size of a grenade.
What would be useful would be some spare 155mm guns…with a couple thousand old Copperhead laser guided shells (the US supplied Lebanon with c2,000 of these to deal with ISIS on their borders in 2018). Along with some UAV’s to mark the targets with lasers…Ukrainian’s could sit back and launch precision strikes on Russian high value targets and scoot away very quickly following each shot.
Would take a long time to train them on using the Copperhead effectively. They would need to train on employing the laser aiming devices, ect. Too complex for this situation.
The Lebanese, who are nowhere near to as competent and proficient as the Ukrainian’s were using Copperhead within days of its arrival…
The Ukrainian’s are already using UAV’s to laser mark targets…
Agree. Would NLAWS be as effective against western armoured units with screen of infantry, drones, light armoured scout vehicles? Not so sure.
Russian military incompetence has played into Ukranian hands. The Ukranian army is fighting very bravely, yet Russia has made their job easier.
It is analogous the the Russia air force’s failure to carry out suppression of the Ukrainian air defences – that is something that takes application of technology, time in the classroom studying the tactics and an awful lot of hands on practice. The same with manoeuvring armour on a modern battlefield, you need to assess the terrain, use the intelligence and other forces; also speed and insight into where any threats will come from – you don’t drive your tanks two abreast down a highway – unless you really like what you’ve heard about anti tank weaponry and are insistent… Read more »
Correct and agreed mate 👍
Well it seemed to work well enough at the Victory Day parade in Red Square…
I’m not so sure about that, we never get the full story of those parades; from what we’ve seen in Ukraine, I would not be surprised if they lose at least a few hundred troops when they gather to show the world the cheapest of the cheap polyester dress uniforms.
“Ivan, you park here and wait for orders to join the parade” – Six months later, someone turns down a side street off Red Square and finds 3 skeletons in a T90, dutifully waiting for their orders.
Correct Mr Bell, while the weapon itself is a very effective system, a decent, well trained combined arms experienced military can and would negate that effect, such as the British Army! We are quite fortunate that Putin both underestimated the Ukrainian lads and overestimated his military’s capabilities and ability! The Russkie mil have shown to the world they are mostly incapable of modern, effective combined arms warfare!
The Americans have an appropriate quote. ‘They look good in the shower’ Read that Russian aircrew get 8 hours flying time per month. In west 30 hours is considered the minimum to avoid skill fade. It would seem the Russian land and sea forces suffer the same problem.
Look at what happened to the Israelis the last few “wars.” They took losses against ATGMs before they started equipping their tanks with active protection systems. Although not sure how effective the Iron Dome is against the Javelin that dives down vertically on the tank. And since Russia now has many captured Javelins it’s only a matter of time till they have this capability.
Iron Dome is a short range antimissile system. The Israelis have Trophy and Iron Fist, and are currently integrating both systems with a new Elta radar.
That said, western tanks don’t have autoloaders in their turrets, which is a major problem additionally to having no modern compound armor.
I agree with the comments above I think it is great that we are continuing to provide support to the Ukrianian military.
I just hope that we are going to replace these weapons in our own inventory. My understanding is that the NLAW is on a rolling supply (as used) contract but I could be wrong. Anyone heard of any orders for replacements or any up tick in deliveries?
Cheers CR
It seems that Belfast are advertising for staff…
I’ve read over on UKAFC that we acquired 14,000. With these 6,000 plus earlier deliveries our stocks will be vastly diminished.
No, I’ve heard nothing myself.
Hi Daniele, I read somewhere that the initial order was for 20,000 although it was unclear on what terms. Someone on here suggested that they were on a use and supply type arrangement. So the question is are the 14,000 you mention part of that original 20,000? If they are then that might explain the Matt’s point about recruiting extra staff in Belfast as they will be trying to replace the British Army’s stocks, at least in part, based on the existing contractural arrangements..? May, perhaps, hopefully… My big concern is that the Treasury appears to be pushing back on… Read more »
I totally misunderstood @Matt and thought (HMS) Belfast was recruiting so it could go mallet Rus Navy… this old age thing is a bugger.
UK initial order was anywhere between 14,000 and 20,000. Initial deliveries were 2009/2010. Shelf life is 20 years without maintenance (although there might be some issues with how long the tritium in the ACOG lasts in storage without maintenance). I’m generally not infavour of a huge increase in defence spending (2% properly spent should be sufficient) at least until our procurement system is addressed. But its clear that we need to replenish the stockpile of AT and AA weapons with additional, earmarked, treasury funds, this gives us some very easy adjustments, with benefits to the UK industry and armed forces:… Read more »
Hi Rudeboy,
Nice set of suggestions and I would say all very sensible and doable in the short term.
Never happen – sensible rarely does, sadly.
If I was in charge I’d do it, mate, honest.
Cheers CR
That is a great list, and all affordable and sensible within a reasonable budget.
I did not realise Israel were sensitive regards supply of Spike.
No Spike systems have been sent to Ukraine as the Israeli’s have blocked it, hence why you’re only seeing some nations send Javelin, because practically all of European NATO and Canada use Spike variants as their main ATGM….only the UK, US, Norway, Estonia, France, Lithuania, Czech Republic and Poland use Javelin. Of those a couple of countries have tiny numbers specifically for SF use only (France for example, and they’ve sent bugger all…) so are unable to supply. The rest are sending as many as they can spare. Essentially the Israeli’s have managed to stop most of NATO supplying the… Read more »
“We shouldn’t forgive and forget this, Israel needs to be blocked from any more NATO procurements.”
I agree with you, Not good at all!
Totally agree and we should accept that Israel is not a reliable ally. They have strong very suspect links to Russia, allowed Israeli companies to sell spy software to all manner of extremist regimes to track and compromise anyone who opposes, putting all manner of lives in danger sell sensitive technology to Russia and now as we see arrogantly stop others from supplying weapons they bought in good faith. They simply won’t compromise in what they think is in their own best interest.
Well, it was the west that basically declared Syria a Russian Condominion. It was the west creating half assed agreements with Iran, while they are accepting the build up of terrorist forces all over Arabia. It is the west criticizing Israeli actions in each and every respect of their security policy. While western cities have become save havens for terrorists. And, finally, when Israel needed the west the most, of all west European countries only Portugal and the Netherlands allowed US planes headed to Israel to land, back in 1973. While Khomeini was courted by at least three major european… Read more »
That’s a rare piece of HUMINT, good luck getting the US Congress to read and accept it.
Agree your previous points in all regards and thanks for a really great thoughtful post.
Israel isn’t doing much of anything to help Ukraine unfortunately. They are trying to play both sides of the coin here. They fear if they help Ukraine then Putin will take it out on them in Syria, ect.
Not going to agree. 2% is a peacetime GDP/ Defence expenditure. We are no longer in peacetime.
There is a madman child murdering psychopath called Putin attacking a democratic country of 44 million people.
Defence budget going upto 3% is a minimum. Cold war budget was between 4% at end of cold war and 7-9% during peak of cold war. Just to put it into context.
I think with the collective pressure on all Nato member the defence expenditure will increase as there is an appetite on all side of the commons to increase the defence expenditure, but the expenditure is only half of the problem, before we start putting more money on the table we have to simplify our procurement and get rid of the reams on inept middle management that do nothing but add costs to any project also stop the political interference in the defence expenditure. If we are going to get our armed forces up to speed in short order then we… Read more »
you make a sound case Mr Bell.
Sorry should have added the following…the basis of all that I propose is to be of benefit to the UK armed forces, quickly and cheaply, with capabilities and systems they’re already familar with in the main, but also to be of use to UK industry and national capabilities: Re-start the Fireshadow loitering munition programme, it technically entered service 10 years ago with 25 produced. Apart from removal of obsolescence its ready to go. Dirt cheap. We need lots of UAV’s…all the way down to the platoon level, particularly cheaper Quadcopters for recon and dropping small weapons, however we cannot just… Read more »
And finally… We need to actually procure systems from the UK. There are plenty who get no love whatsover…RWS for example, MSI have developed them and got no UK orders, MSI make the RN’s 30mm gun mounts… Same with weaponry…we make a decent 30mm cannon, the Venom…lets give it some love… We also need a long hard, possibly unpleasant look, at bringing back cluster munitions….all we’ve managed to do is cede an advantage to enemies who have no qualms about using them. Obviously the Royal Artillery are getting re-capitalised anyway…but we also need more weapon locating radars, smart ammunition…possibly cluster… Read more »
Putting aside that the article doesn’t say we will supply the 6k, just states that they will be supplied, then talks about working with allies. Saying that it seems likely they will come from us considering what has been supplied to date.
Would be interesting to know how many are left, as you would think over the course of 10+ years since they were purchased, a number would have been used in training and during Iraq/afgan.
Star streak missiles will be part of the 6,000 as well. Nothing like a bit of Tory spin to win a war.
What spin ? They said 6.000 missiles and that is what will be delivered. They did not offer a breakdown of what type of missiles so if people want to leap to conclusions then that is on them.
Yes however the commitment is being made as 6,000 missile rather than 3000 NLAWs and 3,000 star streak because 6,000 sounds bigger. I’m just thankful the MOD has 6,000 of anything to send to Ukraine.
Is starstreak actually being supplied? I heard the British troops use the practice launcher 800 times before they are seen as trained on star streak.
Using the Starstreak takes many times more practice than a Stinger or the like. First of all the SS is much heavier than a Stinger so that limits who can yield it. It will probably only go to the very elite units of the Ukrainian military.
Even those of us that cannot add up very well will know someone who can use a calculator. I think your political leanings are getting in the way a little.
Whilst it winds me up how bad at doing anything this goverment is, when they are not forced to by the media or it involves sending money to their mates, I can’t knock the miltiary aid that was sent, I very much doubt any other government in our history would have done better (only talking sending equipment and not the rest which has been a mess). It will take decades before we get to the truth of how much an impact the equipment really had (too much propaganda going around currently and uncertainty about what actually destroyed what), but on… Read more »
Seems more like the operations of civil service and military commanders rather than the current front bench. Activities have been ongoing since the Cameron years to train and arm the Ukrainians. Hats certainly off to Ben Wallace for his understanding and efforts and I suppose we must give Bojo some credit for hiring him. Imagine Priti Patel or Matt Hancock at the MOD in this crisis.
Matt Hancock did some very good stuff in Covid – particularly rolling out the infrastructure before we had a vaccine which made sure our rollout took off v.quickly.
I wonder if he also had a role in stopping Boris interfering, and keeping him in his toybox.
It was unfortunate that he lost control of his trousers.
He got other things wrong of course, but his early stuff was pivotal.
(Didn’t that famously happen to a purser (?) at Jutland when he emerged just as a big gun was firing?)
Any evidence of who sent what to which mates? When that can of worms opens can we also ask how much Tony Blair sent to his wifes law firm without opening possible contracts to other law firms which would have done the same jobs massively cheaper? Its all well and good jumping on the bandwagon of criticising this government over contracts when basically the last few governments did exactly the same but kept it out the press. Yes someone has made some very good decisions on the is situation with Ukraine and continue to do so, same as some people… Read more »
Lots of evidence what went where, have a look at the outcomes of the various court cases about it. The gov deleted a huge amount of messages to avoid losing the cases but still managed to do it.
All governments are at it for sure, which doesn’t make it right, but when you do it during a national emergency, meaning one of the highest death rate per capita in the world, it takes to to another level. If you think it’s even vaguely ok, then you surprise me.
What @Steve said.
This shower of a Government are indefensible.
Shame court cases cant be opened on previous governments whilst they are at it, I dont understand why being in government is an excuse to evade the law. Im not saying anything is vaguely ok regarding the pandemic, however alot of panic happened especially on PPE and the UK was not alone in this. Most countries purchased absolute unsuitable crap from China and fell foul to what they sold. Really the companies in China should be fined for supplying incorrect equipment. The UK is in no way having ‘one of the highest death rates per capitain the world’ look at… Read more »
I give credit to Ben Wallace. He seems like a very sensible defence secretary and a reasonably even minded but fair bloke. I tend to agree with moat of what he says. Which is rare considering he is a Tory minister.
He was a tic tic short service officer. He’s given an order and follows it.
Absolute distaste for him after his misleading statements to the House last year as against Tobias Ellwood, who stands up and shows truth to power – I know who I would prefer in Defence.
And for me to support a Con will have my forebears turning in their graves.
May want to add to that the Government’s 8 yr commitment to Operation Orbital. British troops have been providing training and capacity building to the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2015. 100 UK Armed Forces personnel at any one time Working with the Ukrainian Armed Forces have made a real and noticiable difference to their capabilities. The training focused on a range of key battle basic infantry and medic skills. Also Logistics; Counter-IED; Leadership and infantry skills and Planning. In addition Maritime capacity building: diving, firefighting, damage control and sea surveillance. This training has been vital for the Ukrainian Armed Forces… Read more »
Let’s not put too much weight on that, considering the 20 plus years of training that happened in afgan. It seems that Russian troops don’t really know why they are fighting plus underestimated their opponets and so Ukraine want it more, and that combined with serious issues with russian logistic. Sounds very familiar to Vietnam in a way.
I’m sure the training would have helped, but I suspect it is only the cherry on top, and not the the cake
100 bods in a population of 44m, great political spin soundbite but little of substance.
Sorry but ‘vital’ ?
I appologize for even raising it. I defer to your obvious expertise and soundly reasoned, well structured argument to the contrary… its all so obvious really, all just spin… how could I have been so gullible… merely a vote winning exercise. kicking myself for not seeing it. Many thanks for your really insightful and valuable contribution to the discussion. I feel so enlightened. I’m off to check out the definition of “vital” in case I should ever be tempted to use it again in the face of intellect such as yours. Thanks again.
Sorry Richard.
👍 🙂
Hi Martin, has Starstreak arrived in the Ukraine and if so has it downed Russian aircraft ?
Initial order was 20000 units. Those were completed in 2016 i think. Production line needs to go back into fullscale war fighting mode. I’d hope the MOD has already ordered another 20,000-30,000 NLAW as an UOR.
In fairness it does not look like there will be many Russian vehicles left for us to worry about 😀
Shame that Rishi, did not fill a few capability gaps in his Spring statement.
Indeed, the UK needs to increase its defence spend no question about , and very soon!
China must be peeved. Just as they are ramping up their defence industry and looking to challenge the Western alliance in the late 2020s the West suddenly is woken from its slumbre by Putin and is about to rapidly rearm. Making any planned invasion of Taiwan or other neighbouring countries much more difficult.
Hopefully an UOR hasgone in for 30000 more units at least. We need to not only replace donated units but increase our inventory. Ukranian military are chomping through Javelin, NLAW and small arms ammo at a prodigious rate. It will all fall down to logistics and whether NATO countries can get ammunition and resupply into the Ukrainians hands in time.
Do not agree to any “peace deal” with Russia that leaves half of Ukraine in the hands of Russia, and allows Putin to walk away with a victory to tell his people about—it may buy time but it will not buy peace. Russia always wants more. First Crimea then the Donbas, then the eastern half of Ukraine—what next?
Absolutely agree John but first priority is a ceasefire as soon as possible and then make any easing of sanctions conditional on a return to pre-conflict borders. I think the likelihood of Putin’s demise increases daily and whoever follows is by definition,bound to be more realistic in terms of the whole scenario
I think the tide is turning in Ukraine. The longer it goes on the weaker Russias position will become. It won’t be a question of what new territory they get but how much of Donbas and Crimea they get too keep. I think Crimea will be a step too far for Russia but everything else is up for grabs. I haven’t mentioned Putin because I think he has two choices right now retirement in China or a 9mm in the back of the head.
Or some Polonium 210 is his favourite night time beverage, now that would be poetic.
They could smother him with a teddy bear ! 😁😁
Has his sights on Poland I understand. At least according to the translation of some chonky middle aged gentlemen in suits pouring over a map of Europe on a Russian TV programme I saw a clip from earlier.
Well they already have the eastern part of Moldova. This has clearly been a policy to prevent countries joining NATO/EU because of border disputes. That said technically Finland has a disputed border with Russia though by comparison on the ground at least stable as compared to the others. But will they be allowed to join NATO as they have the EU now that a maj of their citizens wish it? Should be fast tracked in my opinion while Putin is focused elsewhere. As I have said before should it come to Sweden no matter what brief NATO puts out about… Read more »
AIUI major shifts in Sweden and Finland to join NATO, let them in immediately.
100%
Landing ship very on fire:
https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1506918398789365760
(Alligator Class)
The Russians advertised the location via Twitter in one of their propaganda videos. Turned out well for them. Little by little the Ukrainians are degrading their ability to fight.
Also the two adjacent Rapucha class were damaged.
It seems a bit like Alexandria – sunk in 5m of water, but here somewhat large explosions.
https://twitter.com/GrangerE04117/status/1506891565482266624
A Tochka-U short range ballistic missile strike, if the Twitter feed is to believed. If the mobile phone network is still active, local Ukrainians would have been feeding intel back and giving a damage assessment following the attack. Something else the Russians failed to consider when invading Ukraine.
The Tochka story is now looking increasingly unlikely as there is nothing indicating missiles flying. Now appears like it was a well planned sabotage attack on a nearby fuel dump that spread down the dock and onto the ship as other stores including ammo caught fire. The ship was scuttled to prevent yet more ammo cooking off.
Did you make that up ? Or did Dmitry Peskov ask you to write that ? How would you know what ordinance is being used? Are you actually there on the docks?
Russia is losing this war and deservedly so, no amount of your gaslighting can change that.
Agreed, more chuff from comrade chuff!
Actually, I don’t know.
One friend from a landlocked neighbouring central European country did his BUDS and then qualified as one of them.
He’s gone ultra quiet…
So, wait out.
If that’s the case, hats off to the Ukrainians for a very ballsy move.
Exactly, if it was, the team were well behind Russian front lines. Real bravery as opposed to a missile or drone.
Even if your assertion was true, it wouldn’t really be sabotage. It would be a defensive action against an invasive,hostile occupying military. Russia are not supposed to be there remember..
Know the difference.
Are you one of the 30,000 to 40,000 reservists Putin is quietly calling up for cannon fodder duties on 1 April?
Nope he is putting more effort into trolling now, as he is starting to sweat and claim he has a bad leg, so getting blown out of a tank while on fire, and throwing himself 80 feet in the air, could be an issue!
Hi John. I wonder how many of them will actually report for duty.
Either way another bit of incompetence from a military who is showing the world they are currently top notch in incompetence and fuck all skills and drills! Got to thank your boss Poop Tin for showing to the world how crap the Russkie mil is! Many thanks, no one is scared of the “Guards Tank Division” shite any longer! In fact why were we ever concerned, we had the sally bash girls in BAOR to stop them!
At the beginning of the year Russia had the second best army in the world; now they’ve got the second best Army in Ukraine…
😂👍
You too funny!
Thanks Dave old chap, really appeciate that.
No mate. That was a missile hit on a docked ship. The stores dockside are on fire because of explosives cooking off within the ship and spreading onto the dockside. 1st rule of ammunition handling. Dispersal. Dispersal. Dispersal.
Looks like Fitzroy all over again. Landing ships going in with little to no aircover or air defence
I know stupid or what they initially aired a video on RT showing the Landing ship disembarking vehicles at the port, then on the 19th reported that a missile launched at the dock had been shot down (with parts of it on the Jetty) Ok, its only 1 Alligator landing ship which comes in at 4700 tonnes fully laden 20 tanks, or 40 AFVs, but the propoganda valve to the Ukrainians is priceless. news of that will filter back into Russia and that isnt news Moscow wants.
Plus 2 Ropucha damaged in some way, with a small number of deaths.
They say a picture says a thousands words:
https://i.postimg.cc/D0gVbTxR/234.jpg
I suspect that some of the thousand words are coming from the bridge of the landing ship in the foreground, along the lines of “let’s get the hell out of here” in Russian. Looking at the wake behind it they are cranking on the revs. And there is a decent fire on the deck of the one behind, I hope it spread.
That photo looks like Kuznetsov on an average Thursday!
😂😂😂👍!
Not sure how you target a ship with a ballistic missile? More likely a Ukrainian dock worker with a petrol bomb tossed into the ammunition hold. They won’t re float it because it was blown to bits.
Of course it might have been SFs using limpet mines (possibly even the SBS). I bet Ukraine is one huge SFs play ground right now.
I believe the Ukrainians have a home grown MLRS which uses GPS. I read somewhere that they divide a target naval prospect area into GPS squares. A spotter or satellite intel then tells the launch site when a ship is entering a given co-ordinate square where manoeuvre is difficult so you have a sort of fixed target. Or as JF says it could just have been a drone strike.
It certainly does mate!
Great snap. Excellent work. The Alligator class is a write off. Total loss. The Ropucha class x2 leaving port. 1 is damaged and has a fire blazing away on deck. Probably from ammunition exploding on the alligator class it was docked near too.
And what a wonderful picture!
Thanks @farouk
Looks like it was hit by antiship missile. Then exploded as carrying fuel and ammunition.
UKR mil are saying it was a drone strike.
Hit by a short ranged ballistic missile. Likely with approx 1 ton warhead. The ship seems to have broken its back and sunk in port.
Ukranian military on record thanking Russian TV briadcasts of the ship unloading supplies as it enabled them to target the ship within 1-2 metres accuracy.
NATO should guarantee unlimited resupply of whatever munitions the Ukrainians need in order to defeat Russia, even if that means they have to take out every Russian military vehicle in existence. They may be defending their country but they’re also doing NATO a huge favour in eroding Russia’s capacity to wage war against other nations.
Agree on all counts.
And they will soon be too broke to buy new replacements a la Argentina.
In theiry yes they will be skint. Except for the fact that EU countries are paying Russia £860 million pounds a day for gas and oil still. Similar ammount going to China. So huge sums of money still flowing into Mother Russia to pay for Putins war machine.
EU should just turn off the taps. Accept the economic pain. Maybe Merkel shouldnt have scrapped the entirety of the German nuclear power industry. Bet they are regretting that decision now.
The problem that I can plainly see, is that Russia sees all these arms crossing the border from Poland and can do very little to stop them. Flinging a few missiles at likely targets near Lviv not withstanding, will not halt the deliveries. These weapons are having a greater effect on their combat capability then they clearly predicted. To have any chance of winning this war more quickly, they need to cut off this supply route. I do believe they are probably thinking along the same lines. With another southern thrust from western Belarus. Specifically targeting Lutsk, then Lviv and… Read more »
If Russia attacks Lviv, it blocks off resupply to Ukraine, but and its a big BUT, these are historic Polish lands, close to the Polish border. Risks confrontation with Polish forces then NATO under article 5. Putin might be crazy/angry enough to do it. Those around him would be even more freaked out.
Agree John. Any southern thrust down from Belarus into Western Ukraine would be incredibly high risk. Conflict with NATO+ counter attack from the Ukranians. Theyd need 150-200,000 men to pull it off. Putin hasnt got those forces unless he calls up all his reserves.
And yet, although that is sensible, the biggest enemy of RusMil are their logistics – could they sustain it?
That is the million dollar question? In Belarus there have been quite a lot of images showing civilian vans and lorries performing the logistics role up to the border. So perhaps the stories are true about the poor levels of maintenance and lack of numbers for their Army’s trucks. It seems that they are also using a higher proportion of rail, to move equipment and supplies around. Could be a juicy target for Ukrainian SF. I think Russia has a shed load of ammo, shells, unguided rockets and iron bombs that could sustain them for months. But they are probably… Read more »
DaveyB good points. BUMP.
May be simplistic I know at this stage, but it does seem to back up the emphasis on anti tank (and anti air) mobile weaponry in any future conflict over tanks. While a strong capable core of tanks is certainly necessary I am very impressed that they can be so readily defeated by relatively simple means which it would seem is only going to be greater in the future as these weapons are in my view going to improve and have the capacity to do so far more than protective means on tanks ever can whatever the pr for active… Read more »
If the Russians were effectively co coordinating their armour with supporting infantry, which I keep reading they’re not, would the likes of NLAW be as effective?
It seems entire convoys of armour are bereft of support. No arm survives alone it needs a balance on the battlefield.
The success of these ATGW is impressive but I do wonder how much Russia’s incompetence has contributed to that. I’d certainly not be getting rid of tanks because these counters are available. Id not be massively increasing our Tank fleet either.
It’s very much showing that with heavy armour quality and appropriate use is needed over quantity. With quality being protected well with active and passive defences, awareness and integration with other arms. It does look like MBTs are now probably more niche and restricted than they were before. The idea of a large tank formation overwhelming even moderately equipped and trained infantry in a European type theatre is clearly not an offensive paradigm that has survived the 21 century and the main antitank platform is not another tank. Agree, I don’t think there is evidence that any increased defence spending… Read more »
Yes, I agree. Not only that but I think one very important but overlooked point is the amount of initiative and leadership that is bestowed upon senior and junior NCO’s certainly in the British army and I would imagine in other NATO armies. This level of training and decision making allows humble sergeants and corporals to adapt battle plans when in contact if things are not working well ( I’m sure better qualified than me will know more). They don’t need to have a general or colonel on the front line telling them how to proceed, nor need permission from… Read more »
Absolute spot on mate!
I’m not sure if you will find the explanation on the “net”. But if you search for 2 up – 2 down. This has been used by the UK Military for decades. It is also used by other NATO forces. Basically it means everyone at least 2 ranks below you know the mission, it’s objectives, the plan to achieve it, those involved, call signs, fire support etc etc. So if I got taken out, my immediate subaltern takes over, but they know what’s required. Again if they get taken out the next in the chain of command takes over and… Read more »
Excellent Daveyb, thanks. It really highlights how organisation and training are paramount in a successful military. I think that apart from the NLAW’s , Javelins etc it is the level of training and expertise drilled into the Ukrainian military by British and other Western military advisors that have helped massively to defeat the Russian advances.
Daniele wrote: If the Russians were effectively co coordinating their armour with supporting infantry, which I keep reading they’re not, would the likes of NLAW be as effective? I believe they would, as infantry can do nothing about fire and forget missile systems which can be fired from 1 kilometre away, which due to their very nature affords the shooter plenty of time to ham and egg it, before that missile strikes. And that is what we are seeing, not only that, but the Ukrainians have decided to take on the Russians asymmetrically, meaning they are targeting Russian soft targets behind… Read more »
I have not seen much mention here on the ATGM that has been the most effective and worries the Russians most, Ukraines own Stugna-P . Look it up.
JIMK wrote: Look it up. John, I have been following its use for a while now, whilst it has proven most effective, it has to be directed onto the target via a laser, if the target vehicle is fitted with laser detectors or a soft kill APS such as Shtora (which the Russians have fitted aplenty) they have the means to mitigate such attacks by the use of counter messages such as popping smoke. The reason why it has proven effective is the sheer size of the missile which comes in at 38Kg, and a 8kg warhead. MBTLAW comes in… Read more »
Thanks for the detail. It can, as I understand it, be guided from a screen within the safety of a bunker.
Not sure I agree, dismounted infantry, fixed in postion would (should) be malleted by arty before the initial opfor advance to contact, at that point, NLAW would have issues.
What is being shown is the complete shoiteshow of combined operations within RusMil.
Just my opinion.
How well does NLAW and similar work against things like Trophy?
No idea! That’s one for SMEs.
You can guarentee that will be a very closely guarded secret. Youd hope trophy woukd defeat wespons like Javelin and NLAW. Otherwise why have it fitted?
Correct mate, as I’ve always said, correct TTPs, experience and years of practice would mitigate the effect quite considerably! However the Russkie mil are showing to the world just how bad, how uncoordinated and how little combined arms work they have done! There will always be losses of people and platforms but with a well trained mil that can be mitigated quite substantially! Fortunately for the world the Russkies are not any of the above! Cheers.
Weve all watched videos of Russian tank columns. Advancing 2 or 3 abreast down a dual carriage way with light scout vehicles in amongst them. Tightly packed then getting ambushed.
No spacing.
No flank protection
No firward or flank screens.
Infantry mounted in vehicles.
Standard MBT tactic is a 100-200m seperation so if 1st vehicle hit. Following vehicles provide covering fire and either smash their way through by weight of returning fire or disperse to flanking positions. None of this seems to have been practiced or indoctrinated into Russian armour.
Very poor combined arms and armoured warfare tactics.
Sorry Spy, I am one of the heavy armour supporters. Well in the UK context combined arms supporters. We have recent experience of fighting a combined arms war in Iraq, seeing what worked and what didn’t. Russia by comparison have not. They have been involved with two civil wars recently, one in Syria and the other in Libya. Ukraine is the first time they have fought against a near peer opponent and it shows. Everything they have done so far at face level looks uncoordinated. Neither their Air Force or Navy are working in concert with their ground forces. They… Read more »
Great reply as ever mate, you saved me some tough typing on a small bloody I phone to reply 😂👍!
PARA can use technology? Who knew?
😉
This phones great, got it from that we’ll known phone shop ToysRus….😂👍
Davey, an excellent piece. Thanks for taking the time to write and post.
Fantastic post of the year award nomination for Ground goes to you.
One for George to think about to make a little bit more sticky and interesting.
It’s a question of morale and training more than an issue of weaponry. The Russians have engaged in close quarter fighting in woods and urban areas. Now obviously you need your infantry to mount clearing patrols on your flanks before you drive a tank up a road but they haven’t done so. They don’t lack infantry, all those BMPs and BTRs carry an infantry section but they seem unwilling to leave those vehicles. Inexperienced and frightened troops often think they are safer in an armoured vehicle than outside it and tend to seek the reassurance of that armoured plate between… Read more »
Rob wrote:
all those BMPs and BTRs carry an infantry section but they seem unwilling to leave those vehicles.
I’m 5 foot 7 and I found it very tight inside the back of a BMP, and I was the only one inside it, in civies, then theres the little fact that both rear doors are the secondary fuel tanks for the BMP. As for the BTR other than the tiny side hatch, the main exit is via the roof. Me I’d be out in a shot, well in the hour it took me to get out that is:
Hi Farouk I do know the BTR is akin to a steel coffin. I would not want to go into battle in that. I imagine the BMP Is only marginally better protected?
Apparently the BMP3 is just as bad, as they have moved the engine from the front to the back raising the floor level. It does mean the frontal glacis can be made thicker though. Ukraine build the BTR4 8×8 IFV. This is more like the Fuchs than the BTR80 in layout. With side doors for the commander and driver, engine in the middle and a rear door and roof hatches for 8 troops in the back. More importantly they have switched from the two rear doors in the early versions to a ramp making it easier to get in and… Read more »
Rob, it’s also about the will to win coupled with good section leaderdership. I see neither in the Russian ground troops. I see plenty of it in the Ukraine forces though.
You said it Klonkie, the Russians, it seems, have no junior leadership; it’s just officers and conscripts.
That’s something that truly surprises me I agree I would hate to be in one of those coffins. With the numbers they had would have expected sweeps to clear out potential Ukrainian units with anti tank weapons but little sign of it in reality. Mind if you had to do that all the time wouldn’t you actually take away the tanks supposed great advantage of rapid advancement?
Also horses for courses. Tanks and armour are excellent battle winners out on the open plain against similar. However the Ukrainians have quickly learnt to funnel the tanks in towns and on highways in order to take them out with MANPAT (not a new idea of course but i suspect the current weapons are orders of magnitude better than anything the Russians have previously encountered). As suggested by others MBT’s are now more niche than ever. Warfare involving an armour vs armour thrust across Western Europe perhaps but certainly not the taking and holding of population centres in order to… Read more »
The key here is these are Russian tanks that have a well known weakness…….and judging by the pics I’ve seen that weakness is being exploited to the full….
Hi folks hope all is well.
This is good news, and we must continue to keep the pressure up.
That said, surely the production of weapons must be in overdrive now, otherwise we may have to use for ourselves soon (hope not) Does anyone know if production is underway at pace?
Also as Daniele asks, we need to know of the push back of the Russian army, retreat for Russian forces must be a desperate issue for them, if this is true, then that may the weakest point to keep up the pressure.
Cheers
George
One internet pundit, reckons that if Ukraine can hang on for another 6 weeks, then the Russian army will collapse from a lack of everything. No idea if that is true.
Hi folks,
Sorry I made a mistake, it’s not Danieile it’s JamesD in reference to Russia been pushed back.
Cheers
George
Good news but they are going to get very bored waiting for the ‘Russian steamroller’ to show up.
Someone just sank a Russian naval vessel in a Ukrainian harbour! Lt. Cdr. ‘Buster’ Crabbe lives?
The anti-tank weapons supplied by the real friends of the Ukrainian people are one thing – a very important part. But the Russian tactics (I am being kind here) are completely unfathomable. Target practice comes to mind. The attempts to encircle cities was based on the belief those cities would promptly cease to resist once they saw a tank. There appears to be no planning in the event they don’t. I suggest the Russians have abandoned that plan and the newer one is just flatten the place; cities and towns, the lot.
I haven’t found any references to an increase in the defence budget within the spring statement despite the Ukraine crisis (i.e. the cost of supplying weapons and the need for a stronger military as ‘peace forever’ runs out of road). Neither have I heard too much noise from opposition MPs or indeed the more hawkish Tory MPs about the lack of an increase. So…. Given the dire state many households are in, cost of living wise, might it have been poor optics to bung defence a load more money? Is it more likely that a cross-party consensus has been reached… Read more »
Mr Sunak was asked about the defence budget last Sunday in an interview. He said defence had already had a big uplift last year. So no more money. Politicians on all sides have stopped calling for it, concentrating on the cost of living instead.
The Spring Statement was never meant to be about big Government department funding decisions. Perhaps in the Budget later in the year. Any increase in defence at that point will rather depend on how things go in Ukraine.
That one has rather been debunked by inflation being about 5% higher than planned.
Political pressure from MPs is required.
I’m not sure that will happen. It seemed fashionable to do so at the start of the invasion, whereas now most are tuned into the cost of living. I highly doubt defence would be given more even if there was more money available. There are too many other priorities.
And yet on BBC Breakfast on Wednesday a.m. the owner of a haulage company flags defence as an issue.
As Labour, I can think of Healy and Hutton who stood up for Defence, Labour need to own Defence and be faithful to that cause and slash the con sound bite.
Rachel Reeves did well in Parliament to flag it, now we need another John Hutton to ram it home.
Again, see above. Rachel Reeves questioned the 10,000 PIDs cut and said Lab would support any measures that increased UK defence in reply to the Spring Budget.
Public sector pay rises are going to be much bigger than planned over the next few years so i’d expect that will be where extra treasury money will go for everyone. Defence included. On new kit that ship has sailed thanks to Mr Putin and Covid.
Why?
COVID was a bung to best mates, I know, I worked on the 119 Helpline for min wage along with another 750 people while the average wage for us being £1000 per day. I shit you not, you do the maths.
The UK can magic up funds when it wants and no one questions.
Well, let’s magic up improved delivery times on T26 delivery and PIP T45 corrections.
Rachel Reeves (Lab) replied emphatically that Lab would support any measures that the Cons brought to the table to increase Defence and questioned the cuts of 10,000 PIDs to the Army in her reply to the ‘Spring Statement’
Bbc iplayer is your friend.
It looks like Ukraine has managed to destroy an large surface ship ( Landing dock) in harbour. That a large and obvious blow that the Russian government is not going to be able to hide from its public.
I’m amazed every day on how Ukraine is still fighting for its right to exist. There are not many examples in history of such a David and Goliath war ( maybe the winter wars between Finland and Russian).
Slight note, Russians dont use landing docks like we do, their landing ships are either large LST’s that beach themselves and open doors or their armoured vehicles swim to shore (rather badly). They dont have ships that can load vehicles onto landing craft like we do.
I would not like to be in one of those floating coffins as they flap and faff their way ashore.
What Russia has is numbers. More soldiers, more tanks and so on, There is a lot of old kit but all they see is numbers. It looks like both sides are prosecuting a war of attrition which Russia believes it can win because it can ‘afford’ to lose more people. Russia still sees itself in the light of the struggles against the Nazis when it lost more people (as an expression of population) than any other nation in that war. What it hasn’t done is recognise change and that it might not be able to get away with sacrificing its… Read more »
By all accounts, Putin seems more upset with the loss of equipment rather than the loss of life. He can always find more “willing” volunteers but tanks are more difficult to find especially with it being reported their main tank factory has had to close due to sanctions affecting materials
Indeed they simply do not have the resources or numbers they had back then.
Fabulous news. Hey, we can either proxy-fight Russia there, in UKR, or fight them in a wider and closer to home scenario.
Have you met Julia, Jana and Beata and Jack Russell Bruno on a train leaving 4a.m. from Ostrava, CzRepublic? It was stupid cold.
Husband/father was fighting for their home in the Ukraine.
Of course, proxy wars are like video games… until you meet the victims.
(Although Bruno was still a little shoite even when I fixed his breakfast and water bowl, ungrateful git).
Ouch. Via Telegram and Twitter.
Silly question for Friday…with these NLAWs and Javelins, are they one use only then throwaway or, are they reloadable? Hope the empties are not just v being left around for Russian elements to collect for possible re-engineering.
And if they’re that bloody good let’s hope the MOD has pressed the procurement button for the UK forces and start installing these and other more powerful atms on the UK Boxers at least!
Is the Rapier system still serviceable?
A far more devastating weapon can be sent to stop the war. Give every Russian a free VPN!
What’s the latest on sending them some longer range SAMs? Have the Starstreaks been sent?