Ukraine War Watch Thread

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Yuli Ban
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

Post by Yuli Ban »

Not quite. WW2 was already essentially over by the time we bombed the Japanese. If anything, it was the Soviet Union going to war with Japan that really got them to capitulate.
And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future
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ibm9000
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

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Poland to ask EU for compensation for supplying tanks
Poland will ask the EU for compensation for the cost of Leopard 2 tanks it wants to send Ukraine, the Polish prime minister said on Tuesday.
“We will apply for reimbursement to the European Union, it will be another test of good will,” Mateusz Morawiecki told a news conference.
Maybe the whole business about the 14 tanks has a lot to do with tensions between the UE and Poland (not only about the judiciary) and not only about the good will towards Ukraine.
weatheriscool
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

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In reversal, US poised to approve Abrams tanks for Ukraine

Source: AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — In what would be a reversal, the Biden administration is poised to approve sending M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday, as international reluctance to send tanks to the battlefront against the Russians begins to erode. The decision could be announced as soon as Wednesday, though it could take months or years for the tanks to be delivered.

U.S. officials said details are still being worked out. One official said the tanks would be bought under an upcoming Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative package, which provides longer-range funding for weapons and equipment to be purchased from commercial vendors.

The U.S. announcement is expected to come on Wednesday in coordination with an announcement by Germany that it will approve Poland’s request to transfer German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, according to one official. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision has not yet been made public.

Weapons provided through USAI can take many months to several years to reach the battlefield. Much of the aid sent so far has been through a separate program drawing on Pentagon stocks to get weapons more quickly to Ukraine. But even under that program, it would take months to get tanks to Ukraine and to get Ukrainian forces trained on them.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/us-m1-abrams ... 2182076a02
weatheriscool
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

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weatheriscool
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

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ibm9000
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

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Yes, we are sending Leopards and Abrams...

The question is how many and when. When are enough crews going to be combat ready and when support (maintenance) is going to be ready. Three months at least, so four counting from now, but probably six, unless we decide to keep them in training for one year. (The second part of the Croatia-Serbia war; being very optimistic here). It's going to be even longer for the technicians, unless we decide to actively participate in this war.

But the security map of Europe has been redrawn, as have the dividing lines in the international diplomacy. Russia’s unprovoked invasion of another country has demonstrated more clearly than ever that moral values are not universal.
CNN.

Could we apply that to when Iraq Invaded Iran (and our support to Iraq)? Well, talking about Iraq... "Moral values" is a joke, right?
weatheriscool
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

Post by weatheriscool »

Germany agrees to provide Ukraine with advanced battle tanks

Source: AP
BERLIN (AP) — After weeks of hesitation that saw growing impatience among Germany’s allies, Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced Wednesday that his government would provide Ukraine with Leopard 2 battle tanks and approve requests by other countries to do the same.

In a statement, the German government said it would initially provide Ukraine with one company of Leopard 2 A6 tanks, which comprises 14 vehicles, from its own stocks. The goal is for Germany and its allies to provide Ukraine with a total of two battalions, or 88 tanks. “This decision follows our well-known line of supporting Ukraine to the best of our ability,” Scholz said after a Cabinet meeting in Berlin. Germany was “acting in close coordination” with its international allies, he added.

The long-awaited decision came after U.S. officials said Tuesday that a preliminary agreement had been struck for the United States to send M1 Abrams tanks to help Ukraine’s troops push back Russian forces that remain entrenched in the country’s east almost a year after Moscow’s invasion and war.

Scholz had insisted that any decision to provide Ukraine with powerful Leopard 2 tanks would need to be taken in conjunction with Germany’s allies, chiefly the United States. By getting Washington to commit some of its own tanks, Berlin hopes to share the risk of any backlash from Russia.
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukrai ... e58d23acae
weatheriscool
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

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Biden approves sending 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine
Source: ABC News
In a major increase of U.S. support to Ukraine, President Joe Biden has signed off on sending 31 M1 Abrams tanks to the war-torn country as concerns mount over a new Russian offensive this spring, according to senior administration officials.

"The reason for 31 is because that is how many tanks would constitute a Ukrainian tank battalion," a U.S. official told reporters in a conference call earlier Wednesday. "So we are specifically meeting that requirement."

The president is set to speak at noon ET from White House's Roosevelt Room on the "continued support for Ukraine," as Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has put out a direct appeal for more tanks with a harsh winter and the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion approaching.

The U.S. announcement about its tank commitment comes the same day Germany has also pledged to send Ukraine 14 of its own Leopard 2 tanks.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-a ... d=96660143
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ibm9000
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

Post by ibm9000 »

I just read an expert giving his opinion: two months to train a crew; I think that is a bit optimistic. I can learn to play a PC game in a coupe of weeks... Getting a full crew doing a good teamwork?, getting a battalion or a company doing that? My non-expert opinion is that you need more than that even if you don't have to fly them to the States.

Is US sending the other 900 tanks? So far, 100 tanks, that's two (mixed) tank battalions, you do not win a war with two battalions, you may win a battle.
These western tanks all have greater mobility, more lethal firepower and stronger armour than those used by Russia. This also makes them heavier, which gives the lighter Russian tanks an advantage on boggy ground, of which there is no shortage in Ukraine once the thaw takes place. Even so, the modern western tanks’ control and navigation systems give them an all-round ability to operate in combined manoeuvres involving artillery and infantry, including at night, that the Russians cannot match.
The Guardian.
Because the Soviet Army never conducted offensives with Tank Armies and because officers only study how to command an infantry platoon, on foot. It seems that the "Blitzkrieg" has to be invented again, but only with these tanks...
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ibm9000
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Re: Ukraine War Watch Thread

Post by ibm9000 »

31 Abrams...

That's still a WW2 Soviet tank battalion. It is easier to train that, but what are they planning to win? Two armoured brigades, that's a small campaign, they "destroyed" 1.000 tanks and they expect that these ones are going to be untouchable?, because Russia has no ATM?
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