re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Storm Shadow sounds like a gay Gladiator ngl

The only reason to announce Storm Shadow now is that Ukraine is about to use these missiles to start using them to prepare the battlefield for its offensive.

So, I expect "shock and awe" to begin immediately, with the major ground actions starting soon afterward. The ground is already dry in much of Ukraine, and the rest of it will be dry enough very soon.

By the way, here's the first video, back on December 12, of Ben Wallace raising the possibility of sending them:

LINK

from the quotes in your previous post, the UK stated that this is not an escalation because Russia is using long range missile platforms with much greater range and speed. and that Russia using those weapons is the "reason" the UK is sending storm shadow.....a is probably why they sent out a request for a platform with a longer range...still under that of which Russia is using...

and i would be willing to bet, with the new announcement, that storm shadow is already in country...may see some new explosions deep behind the line in the next few weeks....before russia can move depots and command and control

Daily Prigozhin:

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Prigozhin said that the situation on the flanks in Bakhmut is developing for the Russians according to the worst-case scenario.

"Those territories, which were taken with the blood and lives of our fighting comrades for many months, every day - walking tens or hundreds of meters - today are abandoned almost without a fight by those who should hold our flanks."

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LINK

Article from the AP about Ukrainian Air Defense improvements since start of war

https://apnews.com/article/ukraine-russia-war-air-defenses-3f0a918c617534251e53da4a93121c42

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With the help of Western weapons and growing experience, Ukraine’s air defenses have made great strides in the past 14 months, saving infrastructure and lives and preventing Russia from achieving air superiority — a critical step as Ukrainians prepare for a counteroffensive.

The bolstered defenses have deterred Russian aircraft from going deep behind the front lines and “greatly shaped the course of the war,” Ian Williams wrote this month in an analysis for the Center For Strategic and International Studies, or CSIS.

Since April 28, Russia has fired a total of 67 missiles and 114 drones at Ukraine, according to Ukrainian air force reports. Only seven missiles and 11 drones got through, and none hit Kyiv.

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So what missiles are in NATO arsenals that haven't been announced that have better capability? Excluding US stocks ( since we have handshakes with China not to provide any).

UK also have given them Neptune missiles but those are only for firing at Naval ships right?

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quote:"these systems [i.e. Storm Shadow] are not even in the same league as the Russian as the Killjoy hypersonic missile [Kinzhal] or [Shahed drone] or even the Kalibr cruise missile with a range of over 2000 kilometres, roughly seven times that of a Storm Shadow"

quote:"Russia must recognise their actions alone have led to such systems [i.e. Storm Shadow] being provided to Ukraine. It is my judgement as Defence Secretary that this is a calibrated, proportionate response to Russia's escalations."

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I really can’t understand why it’s taken so long to get real comments like this from the right people.

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Continuing with the obsolete tanks, here is a T62 in Ukraine with an elaborate cope cage and side slat armor.

Darth, modeling opportunities abound

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Friends "fresh" (last 20 years) from the military tell me that a Bradley sabot an penetrate that easily.

Before receiving the Storm Shadow missiles...



And after receiving the Storm Shadow missiles.

Just thinking out loud for a minute:

Ben Wallace confirmed that Ukraine is getting the "export version" of Storm Shadow with the limited 250 km range, and we know that the UK almost certainly doesn't keep many of missiles of this variant lying around, so these were almost certainly made specifically for Ukraine.

British PM Sunak announced in February that “The United Kingdom will be the first country to provide Ukraine with longer range weapons,” so the assembly line has likely been churning out these missiles since then. I would guess that the factory could make 100 or so in that time frame, and since these cost about $1 million each, that's probably the amount that the UK was prepared to spend on an initial batch.

I really wonder how many of them will actually hit their targets. Russia certainly CAN shoot these missiles down. To hit a well-defended target such as the Kerch Bridge, Ukraine will probably want to get all 12 or so of its Su-24s in the air at the same time, to launch enough to overwhelm Russian air defense.