Don’t want to derail the thread, so this is my last post on this. As I said, I don’t know M777 specifically. I’m not sure what the disconnect is, seems like we have some kind of initial misinterpretation over some minor detail, but my only point was that the rounds can be programmed by an external device. Even that slide deck shows it is possible.
The War in the Ukraine
- Thread starter SampanViking
- Start date
Don’t want to derail the thread, so this is my last post on this. As I said, I don’t know M777 specifically. I’m not sure what the disconnect is, seems like we have some kind of initial misinterpretation over some minor detail, but my only point was that the rounds can be programmed by an external device. Even that slide deck shows it is possible.
My fundamental point is that manually entering just the target coordinate is not sufficient. The guided artillery projectile needs trajectory data as well (aka a series of coordinates throughout the expected flight time). I think the confusion is that posters here don't think the trajectory data is needed and only the target location is necessary (this applies to guided artillery projectiles used by both sides in this war). It isn't feasible (takes too long) for the gun crew to enter trajectory data manually into the fuze setter. That's why whoever has the FCS software (usually battery command) sends this data digitally to the gun crew who then set it using the fuze setter (this is actually simple for the gun crew if they have a reliable means of digital communication and interface to the fuze setter).
Whether they gave the Ukrainians this is unknown (I said fog of war in a previous post). All the videos only show the howitzers, but not the supporting C4 equipment. The longest range confirmed projectiles we have on video are the RAP rounds with 30 km range.
plawolf
Lieutenant General
There were major screw up on both sides.
First, the UAV missed with its tiny bomblet. But I think it was a mistake to even try to drop the bomblet as the probability of hitting the guns would have been very low. Yet in dropping the bomb, the UAV exposed its presence and prompted the gun crew to pack up and go. Although granted this may be overly harsh as the M777s were setting up to presumably drop a lot of hurt on something important nearby, so dropping the bomblet to force them to relocate could be an end in itself.
The gun crew then messed up by only driving a short distance to the nearby woods when they should have legged it for at least a couple dozen kilometres down the road before stopping to check if the drone was still following, and to keep going if it was. Although that may also be overly harsh, as with Russia owning the skies, prolonged time on the roads is probably not good to one’s health if one was on Ukraine’s side with obvious military hardware in tow.
Just a few thoughts on some on the key events of the last few weeks and the nature of the narratives from both East and West related to what we actually can see happening on the ground
Marketing for Russian MIC, which after this poor showing so far, needs every "Battle Proven" sticker to restore image even if it's prototype samples used in battlefield.
If Erdogan was a smart strategic thinker he would realize that his newfound leverage over Sweden and Finland comes from the fear of Russian might. Then consider whether it is really in Turkey's interests to provide Kiev so easily with Bayraktars.
What happened to Turkey A400 stuck in Kiev at the start of the war ? Are they busted ?
According to flight trackers, they haven't moved since February, and there aren't any mentions of the planes on twitter since the end of month.