Discussion of Military, real or fictional

[Pharaoh RutinTutin 1,586]

1 hour ago, mlooney said:

  "Using plant based puns now.  Needs further study."

I'm sure you will get to the root of the problem.

 

[mlooney 3,417]

While I suspect that this is Photo shopped, I'm still amused.

[ijuin 572]

10 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

Yeah, which is a real comfort after you have taken out yourself and all your friends, too.

Also I am not sure a rat qualifies as an enemy worth spending kilotonnes' worth of explosives on.

https://schlockmercenary.fandom.com/wiki/The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries
 

Maxim #20: If you are not willing to shell your own position, you’re not willing to win.

[mlooney 3,417]

[Don Edwards 548]

6 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I'm sure you will get to the root of the problem.

 

Hey, /me is busy thinking. Leaf him alone.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

12 hours ago, ijuin said:

Maxim #20: If you are not willing to shell your own position, you’re not willing to win.

I'd rather not be a WW1 general, thank you.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

16 hours ago, Pharaoh RutinTutin said:

I'm sure you will get to the root of the problem.

 

It is apparently a growing issue.

[ProfessorTomoe 1,308]

20 hours ago, mlooney said:

While I suspect that this is Photo shopped, I'm still amused.

Thank you. This is the first good laugh I've had in days.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

23 hours ago, ijuin said:

https://schlockmercenary.fandom.com/wiki/The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries
 

Maxim #20: If you are not willing to shell your own position, you’re not willing to win.

That can be safer than it sounds. If you are dug in, and the assault is in the open, they are far more vulnerable to close hits than you are.

There was some use of this by US troops in Vietnam. Weird conflict. They won most of their battles, but lost the conflict. 

 

20 hours ago, Don Edwards said:

Hey, /me is busy thinking. Leaf him alone.

Now you're just needling him.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

On 5/17/2023 at 11:56 AM, mlooney said:

While I suspect that this is Photo shopped, I'm still amused.

Reminds me of something out of Girls und Panzer.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

23 hours ago, ijuin said:

https://schlockmercenary.fandom.com/wiki/The_Seventy_Maxims_of_Maximally_Effective_Mercenaries
 

Maxim #20: If you are not willing to shell your own position, you’re not willing to win.

There are some gems in there.

1. Pillage, then burn. (This is indeed an important life lesson)

11. Everything is air-droppable at least once.

24. Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big gun.

 

[ijuin 572]

Corollary to #24: Any slightly less advanced technology is indistinguishable from a big bomb.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

Apparently Putler is so mad that his hypersonic missiles have been intercepted by Patriot missile batteries that he has had one of his top rocket scientists arrested and placed under trial for treason, joining two others he had arrested last year just after a test firing of the same missile.

I am not certain this is his best idea ever. It seems to me that you can run out of rocket scientists awful fast that way.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

2 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

Apparently Putler is so mad that his hypersonic missiles have been intercepted by Patriot missile batteries that he has had one of his top rocket scientists arrested and placed under trial for treason, joining two others he had arrested last year just after a test firing of the same missile.

I am not certain this is his best idea ever. It seems to me that you can run out of rocket scientists awful fast that way.

It might hurt his recruiting for replacements.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

58 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

It might hurt his recruiting for replacements.

He could always start drafting them.

Forcibly drafted random students make ideal rocket scientists, right?

[Darth Fluffy 302]

5 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

He could always start drafting them.

Forcibly drafted random students make ideal rocket scientists, right?

Yeah, it's not rocket science, . . . oh, wait . . .

[The Old Hack 2,448]

I'm rather curious. I've looked a bit at the Russian T-14 and people can't seem to agree on whether it is a superweapon or a huge waste of resources. Is anyone here knowledgeable about it and able to shed a little light on the topic?

[mlooney 3,417]

47 minutes ago, The Old Hack said:

I'm rather curious. I've looked a bit at the Russian T-14 and people can't seem to agree on whether it is a superweapon or a huge waste of resources. Is anyone here knowledgeable about it and able to shed a little light on the topic?

Laser Pig makes some strong arguments that it sucks.

[Darth Fluffy 302]

Per Wiki, the gun sounds good, but the ammo effective but expensive; they may run into supply issues. They aren't cranking out a lot of T-14s, yet, but they are fielding what they have, so we may get some operational reports, soon.

I'm reading mixed signals in the article. It seems like an initial focus was 'one chassis fits all', which the US has tried in the past, in various aspects, and it never seems to actually work well in practice. Taking a main tank chassis and adapting it down for pedestrian jobs seems to work, but trying to scale up, not so much.

There was mention that 'It isn't needed, the T-70s through T-90s are being upgraded and are good enough, we should focus there.' (paraphrase) I suppose their right, eventually hardware is outmoded, but we're all using some fairly old designs.

I don't see a game changer, not by itself. Honestly, the Nazis in WW II had much more relatively advanced designs for their era, and it did not count for a win. As The Gambler said, "Every hand;s a winner, and every hand's a loser . . ."

[mlooney 3,417]

44 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

They aren't cranking out a lot of T-14s, yet, but they are fielding what they have, so we may get some operational reports, soon.

There aren't many serious reports of T-14s being deployed to Ukraine as yet.  The damn sure aren't building any new ones, so the prototype run of them is all they have.  It's telling that they weren't in this years victory parade.  Of course that may indicate that they weren't in Moscow.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

4 hours ago, mlooney said:

There aren't many serious reports of T-14s being deployed to Ukraine as yet.  The damn sure aren't building any new ones, so the prototype run of them is all they have.  It's telling that they weren't in this years victory parade.  Of course that may indicate that they weren't in Moscow.

Speaking of the defeat parade, apparently the T-34 caught wind of a rumour that it was to be sent to Ukraine after the parade and tried to injure itself to avoid going into the grinder.

https://twitter.com/DarthPutinKGB/status/1655946975836262400?cxt=HHwWgMDS2YfAjfstAAAA

[Darth Fluffy 302]

17 hours ago, The Old Hack said:

. . . apparently the T-34 . . . tried to injure itself . . .

<face palm> Was the driver drinking the fuel again? How difficult can it really be, to line yourself up with a trailer and go straight. To be fair, I've never driven a tracked vehicle of any sort, but my impression watching them is that an experienced driver can make it go where he wants it to go. Plus, I can parallel park, and I've successfully backed a trailer to where I wanted to unload it.

Maybe mechanical problems? The steering not responding properly? Given the age of the vehicle, that sounds likely. OK, maybe not totally on the driver. Still, situational awareness and brakes?

I like how it turned into an upside down turtle (or bug). Ivan and his buddies are not going to turn it over on their own.

If they surplus it, I'm interested. It reminds me of an upscale Sherman. Maybe not though, shipping would be a bitch.

[mlooney 3,417]

59 minutes ago, Darth Fluffy said:

If they surplus it, I'm interested. It reminds me of an upscale Sherman. Maybe not though, shipping would be a bitch.

The Russians bought a battalion worth (31 tanks) of T-34 from Laos in the mid 90's for parade use.  There are a handful of countries that still have T-34, North Korea having the most.  According to "Military Balance 2023" Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,Namibia, Vietnam,Yemen, and Congo have some still in active duty or in store.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

1 hour ago, Darth Fluffy said:

<face palm> Was the driver drinking the fuel again? How difficult can it really be, to line yourself up with a trailer and go straight. To be fair, I've never driven a tracked vehicle of any sort, but my impression watching them is that an experienced driver can make it go where he wants it to go.

I think part of Putler's problems is a serious shortage of experienced drivers and crew. I imagine the poor sod driving it was a recent conscript.

[The Old Hack 2,448]

28 minutes ago, mlooney said:

The Russians bought a battalion worth (31 tanks) of T-34 from Laos in the mid 90's for parade use.  There are a handful of countries that still have T-34, North Korea having the most.  According to "Military Balance 2023" Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,Namibia, Vietnam,Yemen, and Congo have some still in active duty or in store.

The T-34 is still an excellent tank as long as the opposition doesn't have any of its own nor any weapons able to hurt one. I'm sure it does just fine against civilian demonstrators or striking workers.