Putin starts “military operation” on Ukraine

[Kb27]

M1 Abrams crew survived multiple strikes by fibre-optic FPV drones.

 

Crew of Stricken M1A1 Shared Their Combat Experience

The crew of the Ukrainian M1A1SA Abrams tank spoke about their experience of being ambushed by fiber optic FPV drones and the effectiveness of anti-drone defense.

A corresponding interview with the tankers was prepared by American journalists Rob Lee and Michael Kofman.

On December 18, the Russian Ministry of Defense released footage of a Ukrainian tank that was ambushed while traveling on the roads of the Kursk region.

The combat vehicle was hit numerous times by fiber optic FPV drones in the engine compartment and a vulnerable area under the left side of the turret, immobilizing it.

A tank commander from the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade said that his vehicle had been hit twice within two minutes. However, apart from contusions, the entire crew survived and managed to return to their positions unharmed.

“Between four and six hits within like 2 minutes. I believe that at least one more got stuck in the net. Two more missed several minutes before,” he said.

The tanker speculates that one of the strikes hit the engine, immobilizing them. The entire time the crew was inside, no drone was able to penetrate the armor and hit the crew in the turret or hull, despite the fact that the Russian operators had time to do so.

After the crew abandoned the vehicle, “Russian FPV crews hit the tank with several more FPVs… but it was not destroyed and can still be saved,” the commander said.

The commander and his crew returned to their unit on foot.

“We could not evacuate because the FPVs were coming one after another. When I finally could hear no sound, we just jumped out of the tank and ran to a treeline. They were tracking us, so a mortar started working with some more drones, but we crawled away through the treeline. In the end, in a spot still under FPV control, our company commander rushed in and took us away,” he said.

The tank commander owes his life and the crew’s survival to the Abrams’ sophisticated design with a separate ammunition compartment and knockout panels, which allows for survival in the event of an ammunition detonation. He also emphasized the importance of dynamic protection and anti-drone nets on the turret.

“Without the additional ERA and ‘cope netting’ on the top of the turret, we would have been smashed and surely dead by now without any chance,” said the tank commander.

The crew developed the additional protection on their own based on the experience of previous hits on this type of tank. A set of additional Kontakt-1 ERA on turret, which covered even the roof, and folding nets were installed with the permission of the command.

He added that the crew was in love with the tank and was extremely grateful to the United States. At the same time, he noted that if the U.S. had provided the tanks with full sets of U.S. ARAT reactive protection, it would have made them more secure.

According to him, the additional 2-3 tons of weight for the M1A1Sa due to the additional protection was not a significant problem.

The tank commander also said that during the training, his crew had received “luxurious fire training” from American instructors – about 100 shots for each gunner.

However, the U.S. military was completely unaware of the current threats on the battlefield and is still poorly versed in this issue.

“E.g. they are shocked that Russians can see us at night with thermal-vision recon drones (we were taught that we would be haunting the Russians who are blind at night), they do not understand at all the threat posed by the FPVs,” he said.

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/crew-of-stricken-m1a1-shared-their-combat-experience/

[Playtime]

On 12/24/2024 at 8:19 AM, Kb27 said:

M1 Abrams crew survived multiple strikes by fibre-optic FPV drones.

 

Crew of Stricken M1A1 Shared Their Combat Experience

The crew of the Ukrainian M1A1SA Abrams tank spoke about their experience of being ambushed by fiber optic FPV drones and the effectiveness of anti-drone defense.

A corresponding interview with the tankers was prepared by American journalists Rob Lee and Michael Kofman.

On December 18, the Russian Ministry of Defense released footage of a Ukrainian tank that was ambushed while traveling on the roads of the Kursk region.

The combat vehicle was hit numerous times by fiber optic FPV drones in the engine compartment and a vulnerable area under the left side of the turret, immobilizing it.

A tank commander from the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade said that his vehicle had been hit twice within two minutes. However, apart from contusions, the entire crew survived and managed to return to their positions unharmed.

“Between four and six hits within like 2 minutes. I believe that at least one more got stuck in the net. Two more missed several minutes before,” he said.

The tanker speculates that one of the strikes hit the engine, immobilizing them. The entire time the crew was inside, no drone was able to penetrate the armor and hit the crew in the turret or hull, despite the fact that the Russian operators had time to do so.

After the crew abandoned the vehicle, “Russian FPV crews hit the tank with several more FPVs… but it was not destroyed and can still be saved,” the commander said.

The commander and his crew returned to their unit on foot.

“We could not evacuate because the FPVs were coming one after another. When I finally could hear no sound, we just jumped out of the tank and ran to a treeline. They were tracking us, so a mortar started working with some more drones, but we crawled away through the treeline. In the end, in a spot still under FPV control, our company commander rushed in and took us away,” he said.

The tank commander owes his life and the crew’s survival to the Abrams’ sophisticated design with a separate ammunition compartment and knockout panels, which allows for survival in the event of an ammunition detonation. He also emphasized the importance of dynamic protection and anti-drone nets on the turret.

“Without the additional ERA and ‘cope netting’ on the top of the turret, we would have been smashed and surely dead by now without any chance,” said the tank commander.

The crew developed the additional protection on their own based on the experience of previous hits on this type of tank. A set of additional Kontakt-1 ERA on turret, which covered even the roof, and folding nets were installed with the permission of the command.

He added that the crew was in love with the tank and was extremely grateful to the United States. At the same time, he noted that if the U.S. had provided the tanks with full sets of U.S. ARAT reactive protection, it would have made them more secure.

According to him, the additional 2-3 tons of weight for the M1A1Sa due to the additional protection was not a significant problem.

The tank commander also said that during the training, his crew had received “luxurious fire training” from American instructors – about 100 shots for each gunner.

However, the U.S. military was completely unaware of the current threats on the battlefield and is still poorly versed in this issue.

“E.g. they are shocked that Russians can see us at night with thermal-vision recon drones (we were taught that we would be haunting the Russians who are blind at night), they do not understand at all the threat posed by the FPVs,” he said.

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/crew-of-stricken-m1a1-shared-their-combat-experience/

would be interesting if next time NDP we see our leos with the cages.

[Kb27]

it's a bird, it's a plane, no, it's a flying orc.  😁

 

 

[macrosszero]

People fall out of windows, drink the wrong tea, battery explode 

and now a Russian ship has been converted to Russia's latest submarine after a bbq... 

Edited December 24, 2024 by macrosszero

[Playtime]

 

 

Said to be bird strike ... but looks a bit unusual. 

 

New video from Azerbaijani Airlines plane crash site by Azerbaijani source showing shrapnel damage everywhere.

 

 

Edited December 25, 2024 by Playtime

[Playtime]

 

Moment of impact. 

From report. Not my words:

RU shot down another civillian airplane. The official version, the plane did not land in Grozny because of fog. However, at that time, "ultra-precise" air defense and GPS jamming of the RU was operating in the region. There are alot of shrapnel marks on the plane. debris.

Edited December 25, 2024 by Playtime

[Playtime]

 

Amazing that anyone survived the crash. 

Reportedly chose to 70 on board,  around 30 survived. 

[Sturtles]

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/us/politics/trump-greenland-panama-canal.html

 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/12/23/politics/trump-us-expansion-panama-canada-greenland

 

[Sturtles]

On 12/26/2024 at 8:51 AM, Sturtles said:

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/23/us/politics/trump-greenland-panama-canal.html

 

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2024/12/23/politics/trump-us-expansion-panama-canada-greenland

 

 

For the strategic and long term interest of United States,

Panama, Cuba, Canada and Greenland must be subsumed under USA so China cannot deploy tools against US on them, as proxies or otherwise

Russia only wants neutrality from Ukraine.

Sweden and Finland will be settled in due time.

Either Russia disintegrates or such will be all big powers’ worldview 

[Atonchia]

On 12/26/2024 at 3:30 AM, Playtime said:

 

Amazing that anyone survived the crash. 

Reportedly chose to 70 on board,  around 30 survived. 

Survivor mainly from tail?

[Playtime]

On 12/26/2024 at 1:35 PM, Atonchia said:

Survivor mainly from tail?

Yeah,  the front part supposedly all gone.

So... better book tail end ticket.😬

[Kb27]

now russia frantically trying to cover up and shift blame.

 

[Sosaria]

It's quite amazing - if indeed the aircraft was hit by AD - to survive long enough without breaking up in the air. 

With so many survivors, and apparently foreigners among them , it is futile to try to cover up. The truth whatever it is will be out soon.

[Atonchia]

On 12/26/2024 at 2:09 PM, Playtime said:

Yeah,  the front part supposedly all gone.

So... better book tail end ticket.😬

True... statically most of the crashes survivors are those seated at rear...

Near wings one usually got burnt.

[Sosaria]

There's a video I saw that supposedly showed the interior of the cabin during flight. Passengers donned oxygen masks which indicated that there was a decompression event, i.e. the cabin could not be pressurised - no surprise, due to the numerous punctures. 

But a view out the window showed that the aircraft was still flying normally under control. 

[Kb27]

Instructions for DPRK soldiers. One is to act as live bait  😁

 

https://mil.in.ua/en/news/dprk-soldiers-are-taught-to-shoot-down-fpv-drones-on-live-bait/

DPRK soldiers are taught to shoot down FPV drones “on live bait”

“When detecting a drone, you need to create a three-man team (3 people), with the one who lures the drone keeping a distance of 7 meters, and those who shoot – 10-12 meters. If the luring person stands still, the drone will also stop moving. At this point, the one who shoots will eliminate (the drone),” the note reads.

“In case of getting into the shelling zone, having designated the point of the next assembly (group), you need to split into small groups and leave the shelling zone.

Another way: since artillery does not fire at the same point, you can hide in the point of (previous) hit and then leave the shelling zone,” the trophy notebook says.

[macrosszero]

If you look at the route of the ill-fated Embraer, between Baku and Grozny, its nowhere near the conflict area in Ukraine - either way its a bad look if it truly was shot down by Russian air defence considering it is nowhere near Ukraine territory (at least 1,000km away) or that Ukraine has gained the capability to threaten Russia deep within its territory

  

[Playtime]

On 12/26/2024 at 9:13 PM, macrosszero said:

If you look at the route of the ill-fated Embraer, between Baku and Grozny, its nowhere near the conflict area in Ukraine - either way its a bad look if it truly was shot down by Russian air defence considering it is nowhere near Ukraine territory (at least 1,000km away) or that Ukraine has gained the capability to threaten Russia deep within its territory

  

Ukraine drone has struck there b4.

The AD probably kan chiong... kua tio toh pah. AD units under stress and not well trained is a bad combination.... and Russian ones has been top score at own goal.

Even the highly trained US navy just shot down one of their own F18.

https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-war-grozny-drone-attack-7655bcd300e3e11e28f571a613d59ef0