Russia vs Ukraine anyone watching this ignite?

[Mikey1911]

I'm not so sure about that. The Ukrainians seem to have some daring pilots.

Just like during WW2 you had a bunch of air defense around Berlin but you still found many Allied willing pilots to go on air raids.

Can a Mig-29 (or whatever they fly) reach Moscow undetected and fire a few missile into Vlad's office?

I should have written "nobody is going to give it (Putin's ABM system) a live-fire test with an ICBM".

Regardless of the effectiveness of Russian antiaircraft systems, I rather doubt that Putin is above ground very much while he's in Moscow.

There are probably some Ukrainian pilots who would "go Downtown" into Moscow on a one-way trip with or without missiles; just like there probably some Israeli pilots who would drive their planes right into the tunnel entrance of Iran's enrichment facility.

 

[KellyinAvon]

This ain't curling and that ain't EOD!!

 

[Mongo59]

This ain't curling and that ain't EOD!!

It takes 350lbs to hear a boom...

 

[BigMoose]

Uuuummmmm... NO! Not just NO, but heyell NO!! For your next trick, River Dance through the cluster bomblets!!!

Block the road, cordon off the area, do your best Red Foreman from Ukraine impression on anyone in the area, report the mines to whoever you report to, wait for EOD.

This has been a public service announcement from a former Base Recovery After Attack Team (BRAAT) Leader. This is more challenging at MOPP 4.

 

[KellyinAvon]

Almost Norman Rockwell there. I like his spotter. Different camo pattern than I've seen in-theater so far. British woodland camo?

 

[KellyinAvon]

It takes 350lbs to hear a boom...

Except for that one...

 

[Principal Skinr]

The F35 is not the CAS machine its press purports it to be. You can stay high and stay safe all day but you will be doing jack diddly squat for the ground troops.

Also, if you engage in a war your need to expect losses. It's just the way it works.

Actually you can do a great deal for the ground troops with PGM's from altitude. Far more than diddly squat.

The losses the A10 would take in contested airspace with a peer or near peer foe would be unacceptable. Far above what we would sustain or accept.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Like smoking the cigarette is a risk for detonating the mine?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Except for that one...

This one time, at mine camp...

 

[rooster]

It takes 350lbs to hear a boom...

Mhmm another reason to make weight loss a priority. A 250 lb guy with full kit and ruck could tip 350

 

[bobzilla]

Not to mention his antiballistic missile defense system around Moscow. Don't know how effective it might be, but nobody is going to want to give it a live-fire test.

If it’s as effective as their tanks reactive armor I’d not be worried about it

 

[Mikey1911]

If it’s as effective as their tanks reactive armor I’d not be worried about it

It's said that Curt LeMay thought that SAC could have succeeded with a live-fire test in the middle 1950s while he was CINCSAC, but that window closed a while ago.

 

[mmpsteve]

I know a lot of y'all are ex-military here, and I'm not, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and call BS on this one. I don't believe mines would be laid out in the open like that. What military is going to run those over? Or am I missing something obvious?

.

 

[BigMoose]

I know a lot of y'all are ex-military here, and I'm not, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and call BS on this one. I don't believe mines would be laid out in the open like that. What military is going to run those over? Or am I missing something obvious?

.

Russians that dont care in a hasty retreat

 

[KellyinAvon]

Actually you can do a great deal for the ground troops with PGM's from altitude. Far more than diddly squat.

The losses the A10 would take in contested airspace with a peer or near peer foe would be unacceptable. Far above what we would sustain or accept.

We lost some Hawgs to ground fire in Desert Storm and we'd established air superiority about an hour into the operation. I saw a lot of A-10s carrying a couple AIM-9 Sidewinders back in the day, just in case I guess.

With air supremacy? The Hawgs do their thing day or night at medium altitude. The A-10 became operational after the F-15A and before the F-16A IIRC. The last A-10 rolled off the line when I was in high school and the last F-15C was built before I joined the USAF in 86. That was a different time for certain.

When I was at HQ ACC 2003-2006 (a lot of dudes in flight suits who flew little pointy planes) I remember hearing a lot about "effects". It didn't matter how the steel got on target, as long as the steel got on target. I also heard from the Ops guys that when JTACs (Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, Enlisted dudes who call in CAS) called for CAS the first choice was the AC-130 Spectre, second choice was the Hawg's 30mm. Some serious old school stuff there.

My first operational base was flying F-4Es, some has red stars painted on the intake from ther MiGs they'd shot down in Vietnam. Sometimes it feels like we were flying balloons it was so long ago. I do know the USAF has had air supremacy since the early days of the Korean War. Hope that trend continues.

 

[Leadeye]

I assume the Kremlin in Moscow is too far and too well protected to reach by helicopter or fighter jet?

Mathias Rust got there in a Cessna 172.

 

[Wolfhound]

We lost some Hawgs to ground fire in Desert Storm and we'd established air superiority about an hour into the operation. I saw a lot of A-10s carrying a couple AIM-9 Sidewinders back in the day, just in case I guess.

With air supremacy? The Hawgs do their thing day or night at medium altitude. The A-10 became operational after the F-15A and before the F-16A IIRC. The last A-10 rolled off the line when I was in high school and the last F-15C was built before I joined the USAF in 86. That was a different time for certain.

When I was at HQ ACC 2003-2006 (a lot of dudes in flight suits who flew little pointy planes) I remember hearing a lot about "effects". It didn't matter how the steel got on target, as long as the steel got on target. I also heard from the Ops guys that when JTACs (Joint Terminal Attack Controllers, Enlisted dudes who call in CAS) called for CAS the first choice was the AC-130 Spectre, second choice was the Hawg's 30mm. Some serious old school stuff there.

My first operational base was flying F-4Es, some has red stars painted on the intake from ther MiGs they'd shot down in Vietnam. Sometimes it feels like we were flying balloons it was so long ago. I do know the USAF has had air supremacy since the early days of the Korean War. Hope that trend continues.

I remember the AC-130’s. It was reassuring to hear them up there at night. You couldn’t see them but you could definitely hear them. There was a significant delay between them firing and the impacts on the ground. Back in my day they had 20mm Vulcan, 40mm Bofors and then the 105mm. They each had a different sound. Not sure what they are packing these days.

 

[freekforge]

I know a lot of y'all are ex-military here, and I'm not, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and call BS on this one. I don't believe mines would be laid out in the open like that. What military is going to run those over? Or am I missing something obvious?

.

I'm not military but if I'm just going to hastily drop mines I think I'd take advantage of the "mine clearers" clearing a path and utilize a command detonated IED to take out the dismounts and if the boom was big enough maybe disable a few vehicles. A buddy of mine encountered something similar in Iraq where they'd place obvious IEDs and then trigger a bigger ied when eod arrived.

 

[KellyinAvon]

I remember the AC-130’s. It was reassuring to hear them up there at night. You couldn’t see them but you could definitely hear them. There was a significant delay between them firing and the impacts on the ground. Back in my day they had 20mm Vulcan, 40mm Bofors and then the 105mm. They each had a different sound. Not sure what they are packing these days.

I think they've gone to 30mm, 40mm, and 105mm. The Spooky IIs (AC-130U Models) had a 25mm rotary cannon when I was still AD, IIRC they were converting to the GAU-8 30mm.

 

[Wolfhound]

I think they've gone to 30mm, 40mm, and 105mm. The Spooky IIs (AC-130U Models) had a 25mm rotary cannon when I was still AD, IIRC they were converting to the GAU-8 30mm.

I think the ones supporting us were AC-130H. Would have been 1989. Those guys really knew their jobs and I wish I could have bought them a beer afterwards.