The particular solid propellants used (it’s a dual grain motor*) are not really subject to expiration like artillery propellants. The explosive main charge is also fine for decades. I don’t have my references (retired from the bomb, bullet, and missile business some years ago) but there are some pyrotechnic devices that could be changed out (think initiators in the guidance package), I seem to remember an hydraulic accumulator to drive the fins which will have a couple of pyrotechnic actuators, and thermal batteries. Pyrotechnics do have specific shelf and service life requirements.
The electronics should all be the latest version but subject to testing. While long inactive for US forces, other nations use/used the system recently with US backup for parts and technical information.
*Back in the 1991/92 area, I participated in the pouring/curing of HAWK motors at Aerojet in Sacramento, CA. The booster grain was cast first and cured. On pour day, the booster grain would be placed on a roller lathe and a guy would trim the skin (rind) off the grain with a non-sparking knife. This would assure bonding to the sustainer grain. There were only 3 of us in the room where the cutting was done to minimize casualties (we’d be black goo) in the event of an accident. The guy dong the shaving had done this for some twenty years but my boss observing was freaked out. The trimmed grain would be vertically transferred to the assembly area. Rocket motor cases were suspended on another line and the sustainer propellant was poured in to a certain level. The booster grain would be submerged vertically into the motor/sustainer propellant to get it centered as it displaced the sustainer liquid. A guy up top would monitor levels and add/remove sustainer (still liquid at this point) to get the right fill. The completed motors would be transported to a temperature controlled room while everything cured. The rooms were massive, hot, and the odor of raw rubber binder was everywhere.
Doxxing Ukrainian supporters & soldiers and threatening to rape their mothers and sisters. It’s even more terrifying because they’ve found addresses and photos online.
Aren’t these the types of troops that would turn on their commanders the first chance they got and flee towards Ukraine? Hasn’t Putins Russia already taken everything from them?
Have they verified where the threats are coming from? I mean, Russian troll farms are the obvious bet, but there’s a part of me that fears that a lot of these threats are coming from the US.
The Russian Troll farms are probably behind most of it.
Doxxing can come from any Armchair warrior that supports the Russian war. Doxxing has been a problem on the Internet for a long time. Social media allows the personal information to easily spread.
Anyway, back to the war. Bastards are stealing everything…
[D]ozens of drafted troops were captured on video late Friday berating military leadership outside a collection point for the newly mobilized.
The angry crowd complained of a lack of water, food, and “rusty” rifles from the 1970s that one soldier said were too “dangerous” to even use, according to local outlets. Spectacularly, the troops were not cowed by a military officer who threatened to call in riot police.
“What kind of riot police are you trying to scare us with? We’ll call everyone we know right now, and they’ll come and we’ll pummel all of you and the riot police,” one protesting soldier yelled back.
The officer was forced to retreat as the crowd of rioting troops chanted “cocksucker,” the video shows.
I don’t get the mindset of those who think that way. Negotiations with Putin are just as useless as negotiations with Hitler were back in the day. How anyone could think otherwise boggles the mind. The only realistic options are surrender, lose on the battlefield, or win on the battlefield.
Yes. Russia takes Ukraine, and next they will claim that Poland, Romania and Hungary can no longer be NATO members because they border Russia now, and besides, they are full of Nazis/Satanists/Baptists now.
Putin has made it very clear that his plans include taking back all of the former USSR, and also the Warsaw Pact countries. He’s serious.
And then, just to add a buffer, those nations that border the old Warsaw Pact countries. And then those new additions will also need a buffer, and so on. He might be satisfied once he reaches Portugal. Might.
That sounds a lot like the old “people are saying”, or other similar deflection to unnamed others. If some of Ukraine’s other allies are concerned and want negotiations, let them say so. As for my little corner of the US, I say let us keep giving Ukraine as much support as they need for as long as they need it, whatever those other “concerned allies” might think.
What’s wrong with negotiations? Ukraine just has to say that their conditions are that Russia pull out of all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea; and cease all hostilities (these points are not negotiable). In return, Ukraine promises to remove Nazis from their government. Then ask Russia what else they want (aside from the non-negotiable points). If Russia balks, then the world will see that Russia refuses to negotiate.