If the war continues on its current trajectory, eventually Russia will no longer have the means of killing Ukrainians, simply by virtue of running out of munitions. I think that, if the worst were to come to pass, Ukraine is tough enough to survive to that point.
Though obviously that’s not the win that they want. So they’re hastening the end, and decreasing their suffering, by destroying as many Russian munitions as they can before they’re used.
is it possible that this isn’t Ukraine doing it? Someone else might be sneaking in attacks as well, since they might not be able to tell the origin of the attacks . Or has the West been sending cyber experts to help UKR do these sorts of things?
Either way, it’s in their best interest to pretend Ukraine is the one doing it.
The award is well deserved.
This is what I’m most curious about. What sort of terminal guidance system is in place? Do they operate via remote control with a continuous (or at least final stage) television feed, or are they capable of flying pre-programmed flight paths with sufficiently precise guidance to hit within a hundred meters or so of a given point after flying 800 kilometers? Or is it remote control with retrofitted GPS to keep the remote operator appraised of position only?
Laser guidance seems least likely because I can’t imagine the original drones were designed with that capability, and retrofitting such a form of terminal guidance seems, well… I don’t know how one would go about it, but my WAG would be it’s not easily done, if it’s even possible at all.
For gravity bombs, there is a bolt-on package called JDAM.
The Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM ) is a guidance kit that converts unguided bombs, or “dumb bombs”, into all-weather precision-guided munitions…
The JDAM is not a stand-alone weapon; rather it is a “bolt-on” guidance package that converts unguided gravity bombs into precision-guided munitions (PGMs). The key components of the system consist of a tail section with aerodynamic control surfaces, a (body) strake kit, and a combined inertial guidance system and GPS guidance control unit.
I recall Ukraine being quite innovative with their weaponry and tactics. They laughed at Russian drones that used off-the-shelf components – something not expected from a superpower. I have no idea how Ukraine is guiding their cruise missiles; but they’ve shown themselves to be quite resourceful, and I have no doubt they’d be able to improve the accuracy of Soviet-era weapons.
Necessity is a mother.
At the very least, the West has been giving Ukraine very specific target information, based on current satellite imagery.
If there’s one thing that Ukraine has proved extraordinarily adept at doing in this conflict it’s been inflicting strategic embarrassments on Russia. Penetrating hundreds of kilometers into Russian airspace and striking three of their strategic bomber bases is only the most recent humiliation. How many others have there been? Forcing Russians to retreat from Kyiv, sinking the flagship of the Black Sea fleet, recapturing virtually the entire Kharkiv oblast in a week while Russians slog for months to take Sevrodonetsk, attacking the Kerch Bridge, forcing Russians to withdraw from the capital of the oblast they annexed a few weeks earlier…I’m sure there are others I’m forgetting.
Apparently there was an old joke that seems fitting for the moment: after the Mattias Rust incident, Gorbachev ordered Russian Air Defense personnel to start drinking more vodka because at least tipping a glass would force them to look up from time to time.
Ukrainian government, I don’t like to say this, but you are overstepping the mark here:
On the first day of class, my Russian teacher in college told us: “The Russian language is not your enemy.” Likewise, Russian culture is no one’s enemy.
Agreed. It’s othering, something Russia is very guilty of themselves, but the goose is not good for the gander. It just leads to ethnic hatred, which leads to war crimes.
The joke I remember from the time was about the B-2 bomber, which was under development at the time. ‘Why spend $2 billion on an airplane that does what a German boy can do in a $17,000 Cessna?’
Boycotting their products, sure, but boycotting their books and music is just silly. Shostakovich remains awesome no matter who’s in charge of the government.
It’s not as if Putin & Friends are making any money from public domain works.
I’m boycotting Russian porn.
How about this: I’ll continue to enjoy Tchaikovsky, but I’ll also constantly remind any Russians I encounter that he was gay. Good enough?
his job was outsourced to the lowest bidder - which happened to be a company with a german name …
jokes aside: that is what you get when you convert your S-300 and S-400 Air Defense systems into devices shooting at schools and hospitals
“elect one”
I’ve cancelled my Russian mail-order bride.
Upcoming Frontline episode on PBS covers what happened at Bucha: