Sanctions against Russia

[willedoo]

This is Russia's nightmare. I counted ten HIMARS on the move in this clip.

 

https://twitter.com/NOELreports/status/1591166221839663104

 

Just an edit - I thought the HIMARS sounded like a GM engine, but looking up the Wiki page, it says they have Caterpillar 3116 ATAAC engines. Interesting also on the Wiki page, Australia is listed as a future operator with 20 units approved for sale in May of this year.

Edited November 12, 2022 by willedoo

[willedoo]

Another Kherson liberation video clip. The granny on the scooter is on a mission.

 

https://twitter.com/bayraktar_1love/status/1591144510628761610

 

 

[facthunter]

"Huggar Hero".Why not?  Nev

[onetrack]

The Ukrainians have released some information about their new little Kamikaze drone boats. They are asking for donations so they can build a fleet of 100 of them. These things will revolutionise naval warfare, and making having large warships unnecessary. Rotax features for power in these little beasts, too.

 

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukraines-shadowy-kamikaze-drone-boats-officially-break-cover

[willedoo]

I didn't realise they travelled so fast. A low radar signature by the look of it as well.

[willedoo]

Ukrainian Engineers are getting temporary crossings across some of the smaller bridges the Russians blew up when they were retreating.

 

[willedoo]

[onetrack]

The bridgelayers are a handy piece of gear, but only suitable for small gaps. The Bailey Bridge is the premium item for temporary bridges, and many Bailey Bridges have been in position for 50 years or more.

 

I'm a little surprised the Ukrainians haven't started setting up Bailey Bridges, the available supplies of Bailey Bridge panels are huge, and even in Europe, they probably have large supplies of panels.

The design of the panels has never changed since they were first perfected in 1941, so a panel from 1941 still locks into a panel from 2022.

The Americans need to be supplying Bailey Bridge panels in bulk, pronto. They're as important an item as armaments. The Bailey Bridge was one of the key developments that helped the Allies win WW2.

 

They take very little effort to construct, just two or three weeks Engineer training, and you can have teams knocking them up in good numbers, and they will span long distances.

They're like a Meccano set, but no bolts are involved, the panels are just simply pinned with large pins knocked in with a sledgehammer, and then cotter pins retain the main pins.

 

The panels can be double-stacked and triple-stacked to create a bridge capable of carrying big tonnage. This was a major problem during WW2, the tanks got heavier and heavier until even existing, fixed bridges (particularly wooden bridges) couldn't carry the weights. The Bailey Bridge can be built to carry 75 tons with just a 2-panel height.

 

Even the story of the development of the Bailey Bridge is a saga in itself. The Bailey Bridge panels rely on deadly-accurate precision in manufacture, which ensures 100% compatibility and interchangeability of panels. The British perfected the fabrication of the bridge panels, despite the fabrication being carried out by a multitude of suppliers, because they utilised high-precision Master gauges.

But incredibly, the Americans stuffed up badly when it came to the construction of the bridge panels for their own troops use. They acquired a set of the bridge Master Gauges from the British, via the Canadians - and then set about copying the Master Gauges.

 

But their Master Gauge copying was sloppy, they failed to ensure their Master Gauges were of durable, high quality materials - and they failed to initiate regular dimensional checks of their Master Gauges.

The result was, their Master Gauges became damaged by excessive rough treatment in use, and they fell out of specifications - and the result was thousands of their bridge panels were fabricated to incorrect dimensions, and the panels wouldn't match up with the precision-built British bridge panels. It became a huge headache for the U.S. military, and it no doubt cost them dearly.

The American-manufactured bridge panels had to be separated from the British-built panels, and even then, many American bridge panels wouldn't fit with other American bridge panels, and they had to be modified to enable them to be connected.

 

The full story of the Americans Bailey Bridge manufacturing balls-up, is in the article in the last link. It makes for great reading.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bailey_bridge#:~:text=A Bailey bridge is a,and American military engineering units.

 

https://www.tracesofwar.com/thewarillustrated/198/how-the-armys-amazing-bailey-bridge-is-built.asp?c=twi

 

https://www.doc-developpement-durable.org/file/Construction-Maisons_et_routes/Ponts Bailey Bridges/c-3-3.pdf

 

 

 

Edited November 13, 2022 by onetrack

[kgwilson]

I remember Bailey bridges in NZ over the many rivers in Canterbury in the 1950s. I imagine they were war surplus. The rivers meander across the Canterbury Plains often with many channels being fed from snow fields in the Southern Alps and change course rapidly when there is flooding. I guess the Bailey bridge got cut off communities back up & running quite quickly. Some may still even exist, I don't know.

[willedoo]

The Ukrainians are keeping the pressure on. Now that they have the west bank of the Dnieper secured, their HIMARS have a range reaching almost to the northern boundary of Crimea. They've hammered the Chaplinka air base that the Russians have been using as a major hub. Multiple explosions and fires are reported, so most likely a lot of ammunition up in smoke. It's not clear how many aircraft were still at the base; the Russians had been evacuating their helicopters from there in anticipation of the west bank falling.

 

 

[Marty_d]

7 hours ago, kgwilson said:

I remember Bailey bridges in NZ over the many rivers in Canterbury in the 1950s. I imagine they were war surplus. The rivers meander across the Canterbury Plains often with many channels being fed from snow fields in the Southern Alps and change course rapidly when there is flooding. I guess the Bailey bridge got cut off communities back up & running quite quickly. Some may still even exist, I don't know.

There used to be one here in Hobart too, when a ship took out the Tasman bridge in 1975.  I never knew it was a brand name - that's just what it was called!

[kgwilson]

Ukraine will not want to leave Kherson in range of Russian artillery. It seems the Russians are not digging in on the other side of the Dneiper. It is all flat with sand basins and virtually no cover so they'd be totally exposed. Once Ukraine gets a foothold on the other side it will not be hard for them to cut the main supply line to Crimea and then knock out the other lane of the Kerch bridge. Then it becomes very interesting and will Putin still be around to see it?

[kgwilson]

The Bailey Bridge was named after its inventor, Donald Bailey a civil servant with the British War Office. Like a lot of good ideas it was rejected when he put forward his proposal in 1936 but in 1940 he drew a proposal on the back of an envelope and that led to a full scale prototype being built by May 1941 & the rest is history.

[willedoo]

2 hours ago, kgwilson said:

Ukraine will not want to leave Kherson in range of Russian artillery. It seems the Russians are not digging in on the other side of the Dneiper. It is all flat with sand basins and virtually no cover so they'd be totally exposed. Once Ukraine gets a foothold on the other side it will not be hard for them to cut the main supply line to Crimea and then knock out the other lane of the Kerch bridge. Then it becomes very interesting and will Putin still be around to see it?

Another advantage is that the west bank that the Ukrainians hold is higher ground than the country on the east side. All they have to do is blast away. The fortifications the Russians have built on the east side are a bit of a joke - WW2 style trenches, concrete dragon teeth and portable concrete bunkers that are essentially a coffin. All good stuff if it was 1916 in Belgium or France.

 

I recon the Ukrainians will HIMARS the stuffing out of the Russian logistics and command and control centres. Basically what they have been doing, whiteant the Russians until they collapse and pull back. Combine that with a drive down from the north and real estate prices in Crimea will take a big dive.

 

 

[facthunter]

They are sorting out "Collaborators" and that gets a bit nasty. These are 2 countries living alongside each other and the Ruskies have pinched stuff and maltreated people enough to genuinely rev up the population. . Vlad .. Me Lad, Never start something you don't know how to stop OR believe those around you who have said things to please YOU because that's what you wanted..  Nev

[willedoo]

Winners are grinners - some more footage from Kherson city. Somehow they don't look like people who voted 87% yes to join Russia.

 

https://twitter.com/SlavaUk30722777/status/1591815296628948992

[facthunter]

Puton by Western fake actors in the hundreds no doubt.. There's NO "Special Military Deception" On Vlad's part  (Much). Nev

[willedoo]

There's some very brave people in Crimea who have been gathering in the street and singing Ukrainian songs and dancing Ukrainian dances. Both are illegal in Crimea, with heavy fines and arrest applicable. They must think there is now a very real chance of Crimea being Ukraine again. Also, partisans in Melitopol have been pulling down Russian flags from flagpoles, just to keep the pressure on.

 

There's unconfirmed reports from the Russian side that they are pulling back from the east bank area of the Dnipro to shore up defences further east. That will be good for the civilians in Kherson if the Russian artillery pulls back out of range. There's also other unconfirmed reports that the Ukrainians have crossed the river and taken a town on the Kinburn Spit at the Dniprovska Gulf. There was some talk that the spit was where a lot of Iranian drones had been launched from. 

 

It doesn't look like the Russians are going to get much rest after evacuating the west bank. The house of cards will start looking shaky soon. Putler will have to start wearing his brown trousers.

[willedoo]

[willedoo]

The question now is when will the next big missile barrage happen. Every time Putler has a big setback on the battlefield, he rains missiles and bombs on civilians in the cities. His stocks are getting low and he will soon have to start conserving them for high value targets.

[facthunter]

This is the Person who Trump regards as very clever. Maybe in the same universe where Lies come prolifically and cheap. Trumps "Modus Opperandi " as well.  They are both BULLIES and actually COWARDS. A common combination. Nev  .

Edited November 14, 2022 by facthunter

[kgwilson]

After the disastrous results for Trumps picks in the mid terms & the comments now coming quicker more frequently from the Republicans, Trump may finally be confined to the dustbin of history where he will find good company with Putin.

[facthunter]

Trumps Neice Mary Trump, who wrote a book about him says He is NOW at his most dangerous and has never been able to lose any contest. so maybe we need to watch both a little longer before we can celebrate.  Nev

[Yenn]

The Republicans are at last beginning to see the light, but another round of lies from Trump will see them fall in line behind him again. They have to develope some intelligence to be able to drop him and I can't see that happening yet.

Some are coming round, but there are an awful lot of idiots in the USA.

[nomadpete]

I am still peplexed. I expected the Ruskies to obliterate Kherson city as soon as the Ukranian flags went up.

I don't believe they will let go so easily. Unless they really are getting more unstrategic (is that even a word?)

 

The ukranians would be well aware that they are at their most vulnerable when they are lined up just across the river from their opponent.