Reply to VitaMan and Lusty Lad, in new thread to avoid going off topic, about deaths in Ukraine and the Ukrainian war in general

[VitaMan]

I would say it has, as Russia is the invading force, and has to drive around Ukraine in their tanks, and have
a good chance of being blown up.


There are astronomical figures mentioned as to how many tanks and other equipment Russia has lost. I don't think any exact figures are available.

[Tiny]

Originally Posted by Tiny

Drones in Ukraine have changed the practice of war, in a way that doesn't necessarily give Ukraine an edge. This is what Christopher Kirchoff had to say on Zakaria this week. He's a leading military strategist who helped launch the Pentagon's Silicon Valley office.

Ukraine is such a tragic war, but there is a silver lining. And that is, it has woken up everybody to the reality that war is now drone on drone. And just to drive this home, you know, the U.S. M1A1 Abrams tank is the most advanced battle tank in the world. About $10 million apiece. We provided early in the war the Ukrainians with 31 of them. Almost all of them have now been destroyed by Russian Kamikaze drones. And that tells me that the era of mechanized warfare, which -- manned mechanized warfare, which began in the First World War, is coming to an end.

You can read the whole interview about half way through the transcript here, and it's fascinating:

https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/fzg...-08/segment/01

Russian "infantrymen" now use motorcycles to evade drones. It's like something out of Mad Max.

More about drones:

A key part of Ukraine’s resilience has been its early edge in drone warfare, but that advantage is now eroding. Eduard, a (Ukrainian) officer in the 93rd brigade, says Russia has even pulled ahead in what he calls the “front-line drone marathon”. A new Russian unit called Rubikon is causing particular trouble around the Kostiantynivka-Pokrovsk sections, chopping up Ukrainian supply lines up to 40km to the rear. First seen near Kursk in 2024, Rubikon reports directly to the Ministry of Defence and is seen as well-resourced and tightly organised.

Rubikon strikes deep by using large “mothership” drones that deploy smaller ones controlled by fibre-optic cables, along with wireless drones that operate on hard-to-intercept frequencies. Growing co-operation with China has also become obvious to those fighting it on the frontlines, especially when it comes to reconnaissance drones, the eyes of the battlefield. China is declining to sell them to Ukraine while, says President Volodymyr Zelensky, it is facilitating drone production in Russia. It is not all one-way traffic. Ukraine recently hit a tank hidden in a hangar 42km away. But the newest generation of jamming-resistant drones often fly so high they can only be neutralised by short-range surface-to-air systems—like American-made Hawks and Soviet-era Buks—and here Ukraine has acute shortages.

https://www.economist.com/europe/202...-break-ukraine

[Jacky S]

This is just like how in WW-2 the advent of the Aircraft Carrier and it’s planes obsoleted what was then the most expensive weapons that countries had…..Battleships.

[Jacky S]

This is just like how in WW-2 the advent of the Aircraft Carrier and it’s planes obsoleted what was then the most expensive weapons that countries had…..Battleships.

I would not want to be a Tanker on today’s battlefield.

[VitaMan]

Dropping bombs from the sky is nothing new. It started in WW1 when pilots dropped them over
the side of the planes.


Drones are more effective at doing that and cost around $ 1,000. They are very smart smart bombs.



And there are a lot of them.

[VitaMan]