With all the news regarding how much trouble Russia is having with mobilization, it's doubtful they'll be able to arm and supply that many men in the first place. It would make more sense to partially mobilize the economy for war production instead.
The War in the Ukraine
- Thread starter SampanViking
- Start date
Has anything strategically changed since the mobilisation? Or is it still the same small scale skirmishes and artillery bombardment every day?
Seems like a huge cost to pay for not much change on the battlefield. The 1 million young males leaving is going to hurt the Russian economy
Seems like a huge cost to pay for not much change on the battlefield. The 1 million young males leaving is going to hurt the Russian economy
Captured Ukranian MRAP
Only sides and back.
The L7 doesnt have enough power to penetrate anything beyond a T-62, regardless of the APFSDS it gets. At least on the frontal arc.
Only sides and back.
You sure about that? Chinese choose 105mm precisely because it could penetrate baseline T-72B in the front.
What range tho ?
~1000m? This is the spec sheet for 105mm phase 2 export APFSDS.
I think you are underestimating the 105 mm L7. In late in the cold war, plenty of NATO tanks were expected to deal with stuff newer than the T-62 with the L7 and other 105 mm guns. The Leopard 1 series, M48/M60 family, Centurions, AMX-30 and early M1s. Even wheeled tank destroyers like the AMX-10RC and Centauro were developed to defeat T-72s with 105 mm guns. It won't be as reliable as a 120 mm or 125 mm gun, but this isn't World of Tanks either.
"A relay drone isn't something I would expect of an Orlan 10"
But a relay drone is exactly what an Orlan 10 is capable of and sold as a package of (due to it's swappable mission modules).
"If you need a human in the loop, the datalink would be constrained by the radar horizon and the low flight of the drone itself.
*snip*
The observing drone is likely the target spotter, which tells the station to send the second and attacking drone to this coordinates"
An attack/suicide drone (eg. Switchblade, Lancet, et al) doesn't fly fast - about 110 - 150kmph. Sending an attack drone 10km to prosecute a target of opportunity already incurs a time lag of 4~6minutes (ToF) during which a vehicular target can easily displace a few km.
If you are sending targeting info to the attack drone while it is already in the air to adjust that, then it implies you pretty much already have the ability to have man-in-the-loop operation of the attack drone anyway.
Flying low and slow with man-in-the-loop is what exactly makes these attack drones cheap and able to be used in numbers rather than only for targets of value. The tech for a man-in-the loop drone is essentially the same as that for any basic drone - secure datalink. An autonomous attack drone capable of searching a grid for the displaced target will involve more complicated electronics that will add significantly to it's per unit cost.
In this day and age, LOS and radar horizon is hardly a limiting factor for large tactical UAVs. As the Orlan 10 demonstrates, a simple relay drone within the family can greatly extend your reach out to a strategic depth.
There is a time and place for autonomous munitions.
There is also a time and place for non-autonomous munitions.
Why limit yourself to one when you can have both?
And here an article on the issue that proves that everything that makes BANG! is been sent in Ukraine and the use that the Ukranian Army is making of it !!!!