War

[cannabineer]

Stealth is not as hard as you think these days, for instance they make light planes by shaping the wing say in foam, then they spay on fiberglass and resin. You have a non conductive composite with a foam core and it is very strong even without reinforcing, that is naturally stealthy. The engine can be enclosed in it and painted with RAM too, a cruse missile would use one of several small jet engines commercially available. A small instrumented lab can measure radar cross sections. Aluminum reflects radar and it is used less and less today. They are talking about retrofitting American fighters to become more stealthy. There has been a lot published on stealth technology, not all of it is secret apparently, physics is kinda an open book!

Plainly stated: I don’t believe this. We spent decades and billions just measuring radar cross sections. Any facility that does such work is big, expensive and hard to hide.

 

[cannabineer]

Who is talking about retrofitting fighters to be more stealthy and how exactly are they going to do it? Convert the plane with CF?

It is my impression that stealth must be designed in from a clean sheet. There are hundreds of interacting parameters. Supercomputer hours I’m guessing in the tens of thousands. One of several factors driving the high unit price of the B-2 and the Raptor.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Looks like Vlad might have finally found out the truth about his military situation and got some predictions about what will happen to his beat up army in Ukraine in a few weeks. He needs an out, the humiliation would be unbearable.
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Ukraine Official: Draft Peace Treaty Documents Between Ukraine And Russia At 'An Advanced Stage'

 

[xtsho]

Looks like Vlad might have finally found out the truth about his military situation and got some predictions about what will happen to his beat up army in Ukraine in a few weeks. He needs an out, the humiliation would be unbearable.
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Ukraine Official: Draft Peace Treaty Documents Between Ukraine And Russia At 'An Advanced Stage'

Outdated and unreliable old Soviet junk for weapons vs a stream of good stuff from the UK, USA, and other countries flowing into Ukraine. Putin is screwed.

It shows how bad people overestimated Russian military power. The soldiers have poor training and their equipment is junk. At least the truth is out. They may have nukes but they'll never use them and most probably wouldn't function anyway. The Russian military is a relic from the past and belongs in a museum.

 

[printer]

It is my impression that stealth must be designed in from a clean sheet. There are hundreds of interacting parameters. Supercomputer hours I’m guessing in the tens of thousands.

Just have to cover it with foam.

F-35A jet is accidentally covered in foam on arrival in Netherlands

Two crash trucks at Leeuwarden Air Base coated the F-35A Lightning II in foam after reportedly forgetting to switch to regular water following their response to an earlier emergency.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Plainly stated: I don’t believe this. We spent decades and billions just measuring radar cross sections. Any facility that does such work is big, expensive and hard to hide.

I saw a British guy do it with models on TV or Youtube

Can't find the video, but this is what is on Youtube alone about radar cross sections. If you were doing full scale stuff and testing against all kinds of conditions, especially years ago. For this kind of "project" not so much of a setup is required. The drone and RC plane world are being swamped with new regulations, including ID in the sky, where anybody can point a cellphone at ya and get your ID, for this reason. The empowering nature of modern technology.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=measuring+radar+cross+ections

 

[printer]

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Funny, I was bothered to Google the Ukrainians capturing the weapons and as luck would have it on the first two pages I got no hits on them having the bombs. Not to say they do not have any, but I can not say they do.

Same goes for the rest. You talk the talk like you know the capabilities and what Ukraine should do and then say you are to lazy to see if what you say is right. What makes you any better than the trolls repeating stuff? Not trying to pick on you but I could take what you say more seriously when you talk about what you actually know.

The Patriot missiles shot down less than 40% of the scuds. The system takes about 75 people to operate and if the US fires it from outside the Ukraine the Russians will see it as Nato getting in the fight. If the system is brought into Ukraine it will be seen as Nato getting into the fight.

And why do you want to hit a Russian population center? Then Russia has more reason to escalate.

I did say I didn't google it and was speculating.

To avoid retaliation by the Israelis widening the Iraq war America did bring in patriot systems, it worked for it's intended purpose, even if it didn't kill 100% of the scuds back then. I dunno what Uncle Sam or the EU would do, but they have some options to sweeten up the Ukrainians and prevent a war, they do also hold the purse strings.

I don't want to hit a population center, but the Ukrainians might have other ideas if provoked.

It might all be moot anyway as Vlad may have seen the light and there could be a peace treaty, for now, while Vlad licks his many wounds.

 

[cannabineer]

I saw a British guy do it with models on TV or Youtube

Can't find the video, but this is what is on Youtube alone about radar cross sections. If you were doing full scale stuff and testing against all kinds of conditions, especially years ago. For this kind of "project" not so much of a setup is required. The drone and RC plane world are being swamped with new regulations, including ID in the sky, where anybody can point a cellphone at ya and get your ID, for this reason. The empowering nature of modern technology.

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=measuring+radar+cross+ections

I will use YouTube for entertainment but not research.

 

[cannabineer]

Also, I think Zelenskyy recognizes the value of operating under rules of engagement and not threatening their righteous-victim status. Moral high ground matters.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

But will it be stealthy enough to spoof look down systems such as the new A-100? This craft was developed to spot low-flying stealth fighters and cruise missiles.

Fly over the traffic FPV! It would be as much fun as a video game. Stealth rarely makes you invisible, it and low level, makes ya hard to spot. Hey F117 was one of my favorite video games years back!

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

I will use YouTube for entertainment but not research.

This is not a serious subject and though I have an electronics bench in my basement, I'm not gonna spend money to do this shit, besides I'm no engineer. I watch this kind of stuff for nerd entertainment.

 

[injinji]

Interesting. Why the third party (US)? Can anyone tell me why Poland doesn’t let UAF have them directly?

Poland's Plan to Give US its Fleet of MiG Fighter Jets for Ukraine Blindsides American Officials

Poland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that the country plans to deliver all of its Soviet-era fighter jets to a U.S. Air Force base in Germany.

www.military.com

Most likely we are going to replace whatever they give away. Plus Poland wants some protection from Russian anger. If NATO does it, it spreads the risk around.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Looks laser guided from a drone plus GPS to get it to the area, Ukrainian special forces might like to capture those intact.

 

[cannabineer]

Fly over the traffic FPV! It would be as much fun as a video game. Stealth rarely makes you invisible, it and low level, makes ya hard to spot. Hey F117 was one of my favorite video games years back!

No. That is one of the three things you said today that are beyond the pale:
First use of wmd
Nuking population centers
Using civilians as human shields for a cheap bit of hardware

You may wish to develop a less binary view of war. You seem to recognize only two states: no war, and total war.
Consider that in US history we waged total war once. It was against a foe who shared your concept, requiring us to fight with a brutality not seen since Gettysburg.

Generally (!) flag ranks apply a more restrained and nuanced view of the methods and objectives of warfare. It helps us keep a few nice things.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

Most likely we are going to replace whatever they give away. Plus Poland wants some protection from Russian anger. If NATO does it, it spreads the risk around.

Maybe Russia could pay for it? Vlad is running to the peace table while he and Russia still have money in the bank, he won't like the peace terms.

 

[DIY-HP-LED]

No. That is one of the three things you said today that are beyond the pale:
First use of wmd
Nuking population centers
Using civilians as human shields for a cheap bit of hardware

You may wish to develop a less binary view of war. You seem to recognize only two states: no war, and total war.
Consider that in US history we waged total war once. It was against a foe who shared your concept, requiring us to fight with a brutality not seen since Gettysburg.

Generally (!) flag ranks apply a more restrained and nuanced view of the methods and objectives of warfare. It helps us keep a few nice things.

I speculated on what it would take for Joe to do such a thing, ran through some possibilities and concluded it was a bad idea in a few sentences.

I'm not nuking population centers or advocating it. Please remember you are dealing with Putin who is already a mass murder, speculating on options like closing the Baltic and black sea too. Using nukes is not unthinkable to Vlad, it is an option. If a Ukrainian were flying such a mission to the Kremlin, civilian cars blowing up on the highway would not be an issue. The only time I would fly such a mission would be in a flight simulator game.

War is brutal business, you are dealing with someone who uses force to make you submit and become a slave or simply die. We have and live by liberal democratic laws and values, so did the Ukrainians and though at war they still do. But liberal democracies also do ugly things to survive too and these must be accounted for also.

Vlad looks at the world differently from you and I and when you try to get inside his head, you must think like him too, which is unfortunate.

 

[injinji]

i have no idea if this is right or not, but i think he may have thyroid cancer, and knows he doesn't have long to live...
https://news.yahoo.com/putin-visited-cancer-surgeon-dozens-112724988.html
there isn't a lot of confirmation to any of this, but it seems to make enough sense to me to be plausible.
he is 70 years old, and any kind of cancer at that age isn't something you can just shrug off, radiation or chemo therapy take their own toll, and he probably doesn't want to submit to it, as it would become obvious he was ill.
i realize this has been suggested before, but it seems to become more likely to me as time passes.
most of the time thyroid cancer is pretty treatable, but as i said before, he is 70 years old, usually under a large amount of pressure, and seems to have a fair dose of paranoia...
i don't know...it's something to think about

I had thought that he might be a short timer and decided to go out in a blaze of glory.

 

[cannabineer]

I speculated on what it would take for Joe to do such a thing, ran through some possibilities and concluded it was a bad idea in a few sentences.

I'm not nuking population centers or advocating it. Please remember you are dealing with Putin who is already a mass murder, speculating on options like closing the Baltic and black sea too. Using nukes is not unthinkable to Vlad, it is an option. If a Ukrainian were flying such a mission to the Kremlin, civilian cars blowing up on the highway would not be an issue. The only time I would fly such a mission would be in a flight simulator game.

War is brutal business, you are dealing with someone who uses force to make you submit and become a slave or simply die. We have and live by liberal democratic laws and values, so did the Ukrainians and though at war they still do. But liberal democracies also do ugly things to survive too and these must be accounted for also.

Vlad looks at the world differently from you and I and when you try to get inside his head, you must think like him too, which is unfortunate.

No. You spoke with glee and not horror, as I read it. I am capable of extremely brutal fantasies, but by and large I don’t indulge them.

I can’t get inside his head for the critical “why” or “what next” reasons and plans he has. I am even speculating when I am correlating his sudden recklessness with impending death or incapacity. Without the data, I cannot limit his possible actions and more crucially, reactions. So I’d calculate the worst case, which is a deadly habit if you’re a warrior.

I’m very pleased that the commander-in-chief is a cool head, and the top brass as well.

 

[cannabineer]

I had thought that he might be a short timer and decided to go out in a blaze of glory.

Or accomplishing a goal he wants to see met. I believe he had designs on Ukraine and likely Belarus from earliest days. But something apparently made him rush and spook the game.