Ukraine: The Aristoblyats

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Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Submarines are a bigger deathtrap elmo

# ? Jan 7, 2023 23:01

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 13:36

Stultus Maximus: Dec 21, 2009; USPOL May

Arsenic Lupin posted:

https://twitter.com/MarkHertling/status/1611768817805414403

Whatever, pedo guy. He commanded 1st Armored Division in Iraq and we didn't win in Iraq so he must not know about tanks too good.

# ? Jan 7, 2023 23:03

Arsenic Lupin: Apr 12, 2012; This particularly rapid💨 unintelligible 😖patter💁 isn't generally heard🧏‍♂️, and if it is🤔, it doesn't matter💁.

Stultus Maximus posted:

Whatever, pedo guy. He commanded 1st Armored Division in Iraq and we didn't win in Iraq so he must not know about tanks too good.

He's only a *Lieutenant* General, after all.

# ? Jan 7, 2023 23:05

M_Gargantua: Oct 16, 2006; STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES; Exciting Lemon

Submarines are:
1) packing incredibly devastating weapons, either as torpedos or missiles
2) very stealthy
3) fast (for water)
4) immune to cruise missiles and ballistic missiles
5) always a wink and a nudge away from sinking to eternal patrol with all hands.

# ? Jan 7, 2023 23:54

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

M_Gargantua posted:

Submarines are:
1) packing screaming children to a watery grave
2) very pointless
3) fast (for water, but not as fast as cave divers)
4) immune to any kind of critical thought
5) always a wink and a nudge away from killing hundreds of Thai children

# ? Jan 8, 2023 00:01

M_Gargantua: Oct 16, 2006; STOMP'N ON INTO THE POWERLINES; Exciting Lemon

Oh I didn't even notice the elmo in that sentence and didn't connect it to the murder sub he came up with

# ? Jan 8, 2023 00:04

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

it was fun coming up with that

# ? Jan 8, 2023 00:20

pantslesswithwolves: Oct 28, 2008

Comrade Blyatlov posted:

it was fun coming up with that

I have had it up to here with your continual badmouthing of the Compact Aquatic Submersible Kid Extraction Tool.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 00:35

Soul Dentist: Mar 17, 2009

pantslesswithwolves posted:

I have had it up to here with your continual badmouthing of the Compact Aquatic Submersible Kid Extraction Tool.

lmao

# ? Jan 8, 2023 00:37

Comrade Blyatlov: Aug 4, 2007; should have picked four fingers

Soul Dentist posted:

lmao

If you say that aloud it sounds a lot like elmo

# ? Jan 8, 2023 00:47

Soul Dentist: Mar 17, 2009

I pronounce it in the original French as le mao

# ? Jan 8, 2023 01:02

Nystral: Feb 6, 2002; Every man likes a pretty girl with him at a skeleton dance.

pantslesswithwolves posted:

I have had it up to here with your continual badmouthing of the Compact Aquatic Submersible Kid Extraction Tool.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 01:27

Arrath: Apr 14, 2011

pantslesswithwolves posted:

I have had it up to here with your continual badmouthing of the Compact Aquatic Submersible Kid Extraction Tool.

You guys are on fire today.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 01:29

Karate Bastard: Jul 31, 2007; Soiled Meat

Model F.

F3XY.

I don't know why that's funny.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 02:01

Pine Cone Jones: Dec 6, 2009; You throw me the acorn, I throw you the whip!

https://twitter.com/Don_Standeford/status/1611925029884944386

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1611926475611033601

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1611928418911657984

# ? Jan 8, 2023 05:14

Alan Smithee: Jan 4, 2005; A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms.

Enthusiasms, enthusiasms...

Stultus Maximus posted:

Whatever, pedo guy. He commanded 1st Armored Division in Iraq and we didn't win in Iraq so he must not know about tanks too good.

The Last Russian general to pull rank on him wound up dead

Makes you think

# ? Jan 8, 2023 06:20

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

M_Gargantua posted:

Submarines are:
1) packing incredibly devastating weapons, either as torpedos or missiles
2) very stealthy
3) fast (for water)
4) immune to cruise missiles and ballistic missiles
5) always a wink and a nudge away from sinking to eternal patrol with all hands.

Still interesting to scroll through a list of maritime disasters by lives lost of the 20th century and see how many of them were (often unescorted) Japanese troopships hit by allied submarines during the late war.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_maritime_disasters_in_World_War_II

# ? Jan 8, 2023 06:58

Murgos: Oct 21, 2010

1944 alone they lost like 5+ divisions.

That�s an army.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 15:55

A.o.D.: Jan 15, 2006

The US sub fleet accomplished in total what the German U-Boat fleet nearly did in WWI and tried to do in WWII.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 16:24

Just Another Lurker: May 1, 2009

A.o.D. posted:

The US sub fleet accomplished in total what the German U-Boat fleet nearly did in WWI and tried to do in WWII.

Would have been even better if the Mk14 torpedo had actually worked from the start of the war (was fixed by 1943). :ughh:

# ? Jan 8, 2023 17:14

A.o.D.: Jan 15, 2006

Just Another Lurker posted:

Would have been even better if the Mk14 torpedo had actually worked from the start of the war (was fixed by 1943).

Someone in ordnance bureau should have been court martialed for that.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 17:51

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

Murgos posted:

1944 alone they lost like 5+ divisions.

That�s an army.

Oh yeah it was bizarre how contemptuously Japan threw away their own guys. Thousands starved on Guadalcanal as they were under supplied, navy pilots forced to fly until they dropped combined with inadequate search and rescue at sea, meanwhile the US was putting ice cream makers on ships & had so many destroyers that at one colossal anchorage a ship�s main job was rotating movies among the fleet to keep morale high.

Just Another Lurker posted:

Would have been even better if the Mk14 torpedo had actually worked from the start of the war (was fixed by 1943).

Argh yeah that is so frustrating to read about, especially how they refused to adequately test the bad torpedos because of how much each one cost.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 17:59

Murgos: Oct 21, 2010

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Argh yeah that is so frustrating to read about, especially how they refused to adequately test the bad torpedos because of how much each one cost.

That and the lead designer of the magnetic detonator had move up to head of Bureau of Ordinance and was like, �my detonator? Nope it�s good.�

Little did he know that the magnetic environment in the South Pacific was vastly different than his test range. Whoops.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 19:49

Arrath: Apr 14, 2011

Hyrax Attack! posted:

Argh yeah that is so frustrating to read about, especially how they refused to adequately test the bad torpedos because of how much each one cost.

Especially when you think of the cost of a torpedo in testing versus a sunk enemy ship, or the cost of a sunk submarine after a spread of torpedoes go "donk'. Beancounters, man.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 20:06

Hyrax Attack!: Jan 13, 2009; We demand to be taken seriously

Murgos posted:

That and the lead designer of the magnetic detonator had move up to head of Bureau of Ordinance and was like, �my detonator? Nope it�s good.�

Little did he know that the magnetic environment in the South Pacific was vastly different than his test range. Whoops.

For sure, made worse by the Japanese torpedoes being excellent. That, combined with their training in night fighting, led to some heavy Allied ship losses.

Arrath posted:

Especially when you think of the cost of a torpedo in testing versus a sunk enemy ship, or the cost of a sunk submarine after a spread of torpedoes go "donk'. Beancounters, man.

Oh for sure especially as the US later had a two ocean Navy, lend lease, the Manhattan Project, and it was manageable.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 20:11

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

Arrath posted:

Especially when you think of the cost of a torpedo in testing versus a sunk enemy ship, or the cost of a sunk submarine after a spread of torpedoes go "donk'. Beancounters, man.

Well especially when the guy running the US Navy Bureau of Ordinance has a personal bias because he was PERSONALLY involved in the development of the Mk 14 and there's no way he'd make a mistake, Sub Captains experience and even testing be damned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ5Ru7Zu_1I

Hyrax Attack! posted:

For sure, made worse by the Japanese torpedoes being excellent. That, combined with their training in night fighting, led to some heavy Allied ship losses.

Oh yeah, Japanese torpedoes were crazy good, granted, compressed pure oxygen is scary poo poo to be handling on a pitching and rolling ship...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kb5F5s2F3mA

CommieGIR fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Jan 8, 2023

# ? Jan 8, 2023 20:50

Rust Martialis: May 8, 2007; by Fluffdaddy
(and can't post for 5 days!)

So CAPTOR could be laid by a drone boat, no? Wondering what a few would do laid off Sevastopol harbor.

# ? Jan 8, 2023 21:57

Blistex: Oct 30, 2003; Macho Business
Donkey Wrestler

Rust Martialis posted:

So CAPTOR could be laid by a drone boat, no? Wondering what a few would do laid off Sevastopol harbor.

They should say that they gave Ukraine 50 of them in the next arms package and see how fast the Russians retask their fleet's crew.

# ? Jan 9, 2023 00:27

Alan Smithee: Jan 4, 2005; A man becomes preeminent, he's expected to have enthusiasms.

Enthusiasms, enthusiasms...

Blistex posted:

They should say that they gave Ukraine 50 of them in the next arms package and see how fast the Russians retask their fleet's crew.

lol if you think Russia is responding to anything

# ? Jan 9, 2023 07:10

mlmp08: Jul 11, 2004; Prepare for my priapic projectile's exalted penetration; Nap Ghost

Intro, excerpts, highlights, etc. SMO background briefing from 9JAN23. Not much, really.

Link: https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3262960/senior-defense-official-holds-a-background-briefing/

-Cannot confirm any Russian plans of further mobilization
-Still does not assess that Belarus is planning to enter the conflict or for Russia to launch ground attack out of Belarus
-Working out the combined arms training over "next several months" with initial kickoff "later this month." Ukraine able to rotate forces to attend training, R&R, etc.
-Fighting remains intense around Bakhmut and surrounding towns. Lots of artillery, intense fighting, often over 100-100s of meters of territory or platoon positions at a time.
-Sees generlaly positive results from Ukraine's air defense efforts, from the perspective of withstanding and reducing effectiveness of Russian attacks on civil infrastructure
-No territory movement vic Kherson; Ukraine still dealiing with operations to clear mines, booby-traps, debris, etc.

quote:

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Thanks, Sabrina.

First of all, everybody, happy new year. First time I've been back since the turn of the year, so I hope you had good holidays, and that your year is starting off with a bang.

The -- so this is the 320th day of Russia's illegal and unprovoked large-scale invasion of Ukraine. I think -- you know, -- we're starting -- just, it's my fault we're starting a couple minutes late, so what I would tell you is that in terms of how it -- how the battlefield looks, not significant adjustments to the battlefield, quite honestly, over the last couple weeks. That said, there's been some pretty severe fighting in a number places, in Kreminna, as you know, and in Bakhmut in particular, and then I'd say Bakhmut, the area around Bakhmut, Soledar to the north of Bakhmut being some of the most significant fighting over the past couple weeks in particular.

Otherwise, the battlefield has not changed significantly, and so, you know, the maritime posture -- three ships underway, including Kalibr-capable ships, and in the air posture, you know, the air remains contested over Ukraine. I think you know, we may end up talking a little bit about that, as well. But in the interest of your time, why don't we -- why don't we go to questions?

...

Q: So I just wondered specifically if you could address how much can the Ukrainians spare troops at this point with the fighting conditions as they are today, to send them to training?

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Yeah, so, you know, just like us, I think, you know, what they have come up with over time is a way of making sure that the folks that they have on the front lines don't stay -- those folks in the front lines haven't been there since 24 February not replaced and not removed for things like R&R, recuperation, additional training. And so the Ukrainians have figured out ways to pull organizations out of the fight to allow them a period of time to continue to train.

I think what they've realized is that, you know, they have places that they're able to -- you know, to stabilize and to move folks around and recognize that, in the long run, this collective training will be extremely beneficial to their ability to promulgate the fight. Over.

STAFF: Great, thank you. Next, we'll go to Joe Gould, Defense News.

Q: Hi, thanks so much for taking my question. Ukrainian officials, over the last few days, have warned that Russia's planning a mobilization of 500,000 troops this month for a new offensive in February and March, potentially through Belarus. Does the Pentagon share that assessment?

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: So I am not particular on the -- Joe, I'm not particular on the mobilization. I can't give you a lot of background on the information related to the mobilization. You know, we do know that the Russians and the Belarusians are going to train together. We are not seeing any indications that Belarus has the intent to enter into the conflict. We just believe it's continued training between the Belarusians and the Russians. Over.

Q: Then as a follow-up, can I just ask what's the -- can you say a little bit more about the timing of the combined arms training, the provision of the armored vehicles now, and, you know, to the degree that sets the Ukrainians up for an offensive or potentially, you know, defense, if the Russians do plan some major mobilization? Thank you.

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Yeah, I would -- you know, I'm not going to give you the particular dates. I'd just tell you it's -- you know, these are all things that are in the works to occur over the course of the next several months.

...

Q: Hi, thanks for taking our questions. I had a couple of follow ups since you mentioned the training. General Ryder said that the expanded training in Germany would be starting in January. Can you confirm that that expanded training of 500 Ukrainians has begun in Germany already?

And then if you don't mind, kind of giving us a better picture of what's going in Bakhmut, what's going on there? We've been seeing a lot of imagery of the craters and everything. Who is winning right now in that area? How would you describe what's going on with the intense fighting?

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Yeah, Carla. So on the first one, as General Ryder said, it is set to begin this month. I can't tell you if we've started already but I can tell you we'll start this month. And that's for a portion of the collective training.

The -- in terms of Bakhmut, you know, if you think of Bakhmut as a triangle -- I want to -- and if you'll wait -- if you'll give me a minute, I'm going to pull up a graphic that I've got because I think it will help, in terms of defining for you some size and space. Just one second, I'm sorry.

Q: That's okay, take your time.

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Hey, I'm sorry, Carla. So I can't find the graphic. The team's going to look for me while I'm doing it. What I was hoping to do for you is kind of describe to you the -- what the battlefield looks like, in terms of size and space, to give you some perspective, particularly back here in D.C., for those who are in the D.C. area.

The bottom line is if you look at -- if it's a triangle the northern portion of that triangle is Soledar, and then you work your way south, again, through Bakhmut and then down south of Bakhmut -- Andrivka is the other town on one of the axis, and then Chasiv Yar -- if you come out to the northwest to Chasiv Yar and then you drive that thing back to the northeast, over to Soledar, that would give you the triangle that I'm talking about.

Throughout the past and you all have watched this as well as I have. In fact, there may be people on the line now that have been there who will have better SA on this than I do -- but essentially, over the last couple of months, as you know, this fight in Bakhmut has been just really savage.

And what I mean by "savage" is you're talking about thousands upon thousands of artillery rounds that have been delivered between both sides. In many cases, you know, you're looking at, you know, several thousand artillery rounds in a day that are being exchanged.

I think I mentioned the last time I did a presser, where I talked about the comparison between World War I and, you know, I had a picture, a graphic, and that graphic was from Bakhmut. And essentially it showed, you know, the devastation that's been or the devastation that's resulted because of that.

You also, as a result, because of the trenches and because of the rain, and this is rolling terrain. So, you've got -- if you were able to zoom in on the terrain itself, you'd find that there are a number of valleys and as a result a number of spurs or larger pieces of high ground that also transport them -- or that are a part of this portion of this triangle.

And so, you had, and you have trench lines and others across all of these to the point where over the course of a day you may see an exchange of 100 meters. You may see an exchange of 300 or 400 meters. You'll have a platoon position, and this is on either side, you'll have a platoon position that is overrun -- or overrun's a wrong term, but platoon position that is taken by one or the other and then the next day you may see that platoon position change hands again. So, over the last 10 days or so we've seen some movement in the north on Soledar.

And so, Soledar itself is a town which is at the base of one of these draws I was talking about, has been contested now pretty significantly. So, we do think that there are a good portion of Soledar that the Russians have in their hands and the Ukrainians do as well. And these exchanges are -- and as I mentioned, savage. So, when you -- they have these rolling volleys of artillery fire and then the Russians we know will follow that with all sorts of people that are not their best fighters.

So, read, you know, the prisoners from Wagner Group, read mobilize soldiers. And then once those folks go up and, you know, essentially take the brunt of whatever Ukrainian response there is, then you have better trained forces that move behind them to claim the ground that these individuals have walked over. And if you go back in Russian history, you'll see that there are plenty of examples of the Russians trading individuals for bullets and we're seeing that in this area.

So again, really severe and savage fighting that's occurring along this series of axis. I think the different -- or the distance from Soledar, and again, I'm still working on this graphic, but the distance between Soledar and Bakhmut I think is really somewhere around 7 kilometers. It's not very far. But, so anyways, back and forth fighting here and, you know, forces are rolling people into the line as quickly as they can, in some cases to preserve what they have on either side.

...

Q: Hey, thanks for doing this. I just had a question about given Russia's ongoing aerial barrages from cruise missiles and Iranian drones, I was wondering if you can give us a sense of how you view the state of Ukrainian air defense? Do they the capabilities to continue pushing back against these and intercepting a high percentage of them and just how you see that capability holding up as we hit -- as we near the one year mark.

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: Yes, you know it -- this is interesting that you asked that, Oren. I think -- you know I said this last summer. Last summer we were talking about the Ukrainian withdrawal from Severodonetsk and I mentioned that I thought at some point we would probably study the Ukrainian's ability to conduct, you know, withdrawal under contact.

I think we will do the same thing as it relates to air defenses. If you look at the way the Ukrainians have created an air defense network of all sorts of different types of air defense and you look at the success that they're having against not just cruise missiles but in particular against the UAV situation. It's really staggeringly positive.

And so the question will be, you know -- again, it's not like -- it's not unlike any other stuff. I mean how long until the Russians decide that, you know, this is a kind of fruitless effort on their part. And you know recent decisions by the international community, again, to support the air defense aspect of the site I think are only going to enhance the Ukrainian ability to sustain themselves from that regard.

...

Q: Can they hear me? Sorry, I'm just asking about Kherson.

STAFF: Okay.

SENIOR MILITARY OFFICIAL: So Lara, no significant adjustments to what we're seeing in Kherson. The -- you know, the Ukrainians continue to receive shelling from across the river from the Russians and they continue to try to resolve the situation the Russians left behind, in terms of armaments and booby traps, mines, you name it, but no other major adjustment.

# ? Jan 10, 2023 00:54

Murgos: Oct 21, 2010

I�m going to posit that Ukraine being able to rotate units out for R&R and advanced combined arms training while Russia is slamming raw recruits into the line as fast as they can get their heads shaved is a pretty good sign for Ukraine for the coming year.

# ? Jan 10, 2023 02:56

IPCRESS: May 27, 2012

Right, but what about the psychic weapons?

# ? Jan 10, 2023 06:46

Arrath: Apr 14, 2011

Ukraine just has to find a plucky Loner to take out the Brain Scorcher and they'll be home free.

# ? Jan 10, 2023 07:04

Tiny Timbs: Sep 6, 2008

I saw somebody post about Russians being afraid that Ukrainians would kill their ghosts so they can't go to heaven and isn't that the plot to Spirits Within

# ? Jan 10, 2023 14:48

Just Another Lurker: May 1, 2009

Tiny Timbs posted:

I saw somebody post about Russians being afraid that Ukrainians would kill their ghosts so they can't go to heaven and isn't that the plot to Spirits Within

edit:

SURPRISE!!!... The Ghost Of Kyiv never ran out of targets, he's killing them on a higher plane.. :pilot:

Just Another Lurker fucked around with this message at 16:27 on Jan 10, 2023

# ? Jan 10, 2023 16:23

Joke Miriam: Nov 17, 2019

Tiny Timbs posted:

I saw somebody post about Russians being afraid that Ukrainians would kill their ghosts so they can't go to heaven and isn't that the plot to Spirits Within

I saw someone suggest they coat the bullets with Estradiol

# ? Jan 10, 2023 22:15

Pine Cone Jones: Dec 6, 2009; You throw me the acorn, I throw you the whip!

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1612928221904879617

https://twitter.com/AndrewPerpetua/status/1612915594990583808?t=9Toa8IreNkVfqEbEpDLdUg&s=33

# ? Jan 10, 2023 23:17

CommieGIR: Aug 22, 2006; The blue glow is a feature, not a bug; Pillbug

Pine Cone Jones posted:

https://twitter.com/sentdefender/status/1612928221904879617

Was saying in the GBS thread: I doubt Ukraine is just giving it up, and if this is all Wagner has to show for the last 6 months....I'm assuming this is only a temporary reprieve.

# ? Jan 11, 2023 00:02

Aces High: Mar 26, 2010; Nah! A little chocolate will do

Collapse the mines? A news report I heard was that the tunnels could be useful for overrunning Ukrainian positions in Bakhmut.

Though something tells me that collapsing mines are not that easy to do

# ? Jan 11, 2023 00:21

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# ? Jun 5, 2024 13:36

Crab Dad: Dec 28, 2002; behold i have tempered and refined thee, but not as silver; as CRAB

Lol if those tunnels aren�t already prepped to be flooded after they pulled out of them and waiting for the counterattack by the Russians.

# ? Jan 11, 2023 00:26

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Internet VFW > Ukraine: The Aristoblyats

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