Live Conflict Ukraine-Russia War

Woland

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The F-16 would only be a marginal upgrade on the Mig-29 because of it's weapon's suite and the radar capability it possesses. Even if the West sent, let's say 24 of then to Ukraine, they would be a at the same risk of being hit by Russian air defense as Ukraine's current Migs and Sukhois.

They would definitely be an upgrade on what Ukraine has, but make no mistake, F-16s would not be the game changer that some think they would be.

Put it this way, at this stage of the conflict, if Ukraine could get let's say 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles, or 24 F-16s with a full compliment of armament, I'd go with the cruise missiles all day. The ability to launch them in salvos and overwhelm air defenses, while striking critical Russian targets, would be of great strategic value. Ukraine's greatest need right now is the ability to strike Russian targets, with precision, in the 100-200km range. Especially if you gave them to Ukraine before announcing them, you could really cath the Russian by surprise and target their big ammo store and command centers deep behind enemy lines. You could really massacre their military leadership in that way and further complicate their logistics, rendering their army undersupplied and overwhelmed at the front.
That's why F-16s are not the priority in our requests to the US - we're asking the most for air defense, artillery, armored vehicles and various ammo. Combat aircraft is only our 7th priority.
 

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If I could wave a magic wand and send you guys 5 things, in a reasonable quantity, for the upcoming offensive, it would be the following.

1. 200 cruise missiles of varying types, to be used for strategic strikes while advancing.

2. 50 mobile air defense systems such as American made Avengers and British made Stormers with Starstreak.

3. 93 additional Leopard 2A4/5/6 MBTs sourced from German industry and the all of the countries that use them in Europe, paired with 100 additional Bradley M2 ODS sourced from U.S. stockpiles. Essentially, another complete mechanized brigade of fairly modern Western equipment.

4. 5000 rounds of GPS guided munitions such as Excalibur and SMART rounds. Quality and accuracy as you guys advance, rather than quantity and saturation.

5. 5000 GMLRS rockets (ideally the ER) version. Enough that you guys wouldn't have to save them for high value targets, but so you could afford to "waste" a couple thousand on concentrations of Russian infantry and mechanized vehicles, as well as built up defensive positions.

That would make a much bigger impact than F-16s and none of it is an unrealistic act. It simply requires the will.
 

chibiyabi

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every single high rank UA officer said its in final stage of counter offensive preparations, is there any clues where gonna happen, kherson, zapho, donbass, luhanks or...
 

Lool

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every single high rank UA officer said its in final stage of counter offensive preparations, is there any clues where gonna happen, kherson, zapho, donbass, luhanks or...
Kherson and zapo
These are the areas of most priority rn
 

UkroTurk

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bigger impact than F-16s
Currently Russians send glide bombs from 50km of Russian airspace. If Ukraine had more powerful air force, Ukrainian jets wouldn't allow Rus AF approaching borders.

Also A solid air force allows you infiltrating deep inside enemy's territory.

More long air defense systems ( patriot/samp-t) would also be great if financially okay.

Another game changer would be long range HİMARS.

Last but not least,
Ukrainian tank crews are complaining: they have too much AP sabot rounds. But they are lack of HE rounds. They find HE ammunitions more useful.
 
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Kathirz

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Propaganda is being weakened every day this war comes along without successes for Moscow elites supporting Putin.


Internationally isolated, almost all countries in the world agreed with latest UN voting that internationally recognized borders are the basis por convivence between people, every day international community is forced to understand the one crossing those borders with military forces, would be the aggresor, or they would be on the stake of being invaded without support from international community.


Despite the efforts to take over Bakhmut before May 9th, more actions are being taken to hide the real new economic reallities:


As it will end in the same place they were years ago as the defenders of the freedom and then they withdrew:

 
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Gary

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Currently Russians send glide bombs from 50km of Russian airspace. If Ukraine had more powerful air force, Ukrainian jets wouldn't allow Rus AF approaching borders.
Not that easy,F-16 is a quantum leap compared to legacy MiG-29 in terms of electronics and weapons. But in the face of VKS its more or less the same. Russia has AWACS, they could see further and earlier than ukrainians and give russian pilot the superior situational awareness. In fact its very likely that the Russians are waiting (in excitement) the very scenario you wrote,that is the UkAF going head on with Russian fighters.

Some of Russian air force hardware like the MiG-31 and Su-35 are suited for the long range engagements before the onboard radars on the F-16 could even sniff their target.
 

UkroTurk

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Not that easy,F-16 is a quantum leap compared to legacy MiG-29 in terms of electronics and weapons. But in the face of VKS its more or less the same. Russia has AWACS, they could see further and earlier than ukrainians and give russian pilot the superior situational awareness. In fact its very likely that the Russians are waiting (in excitement) the very scenario you wrote,that is the UkAF going head on with Russian fighters.

Some of Russian air force hardware like the MiG-31 and Su-35 are suited for the long range engagements before the onboard radars on the F-16 could even sniff their target.
Let's see Ukraine will receive F-16s very soon.
 

UkroTurk

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If we had F-16s, then Lviv airport could be opened - Kuleba

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Dmitry Kuleba noted that work is underway to open the sky for civil aviation.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba commented on the forecast of Eurocontrol to limit flights over Ukraine until 2029. He noted that if there were F-16 fighters, there would be chances to open an airport in Lviv.

“We all would like at least one airport to work, but this is a safety issue and whether airlines will resume operation. We are working on this, we want it to happen as quickly as possible. But the fact that Eurocontrol expressed its position too conservatively is unambiguous. By the way, if we had F-16s and they patrolled the Ukrainian sky, then the Lviv airport could be calmly opened and nothing to worry about at all. It's all about delays in making decisions," the head of Ukrainian diplomacy said.

At the same time, he recalled the story of the Patriot, which Ukraine asked for at the beginning of a full-scale war, but received a year later.

“If they had given it right away, much fewer cities and power facilities would have been destroyed. The same story is repeated from the F-16. Of course, I want to come and say: “Well, what are you pulling, you will do it anyway.” In principle, I I say, to be honest. But they have their own thinking, logic and analysis," Kuleba summed up.
 

Relic

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Currently Russians send glide bombs from 50km of Russian airspace. If Ukraine had more powerful air force, Ukrainian jets wouldn't allow Rus AF approaching borders.

Also A solid air force allows you infiltrating deep inside enemy's territory.

More long air defense systems ( patriot/samp-t) would also be great if financially okay.

Another game changer would be long range HİMARS.

Last but not least,
Ukrainian tank crews are complaining: they have too much AP sabot rounds. But they are lack of HE rounds. They find HE ammunitions more useful.
You have to realize that Russians have S-400 air defence systems near the border (probably some in Ukraine as well). They have a range greater than 250km, which means that Russian bombers can fire missiles from well inside Russia, fully protected by their air defense envelope, and Ukrainian F-16s would not even be able to come close to intercepting the bombers without being shot out of the air.

The Russian aircraft doing the most damage in Ukraine, the Rusian bomber fleet, are not launching missiles from Ukrainian airspace. They're in Russian, or over the Caspian Sea, well protected by their own air defense, let alone fighter escorts.

That's why cruise missiles would be a much bigger game changer than F-16s. You could use drones to identify weak points in the Russian air defense, then launch volleys of cruise missiles (10+ at one time) at strategic Russian targets. The idea would be to saturate a weak point in the Russian air defense and strike key targets, without putting a valuable F-16 and it's pilot, at obvious risk of being shot down. If you lose a cruise missile to interception, it's not a big deal. If you lose an F-16 and it's pilot, that is a big deal.

Long range, accurate missiles such as TLAMs or Storm Shadows would have a much more devastating effect on the Russians than a couple squadrons of F-16s would.

24 F-16s + Armament or 200 Western Cruise missiles? That's an easy choice for me. The cruise missiles easily. You probably get 75% of an F-16's capability in the form of Ukraine's Mig-29s. Ukraine has nothing in any kind of mass production that gives you the range, accuracy and destructive capability of a modern cruise missile.
 
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Gary

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Julian Roepcke is a well known Anti Russian journalist since the SCW, reporting Russian air force atrocities to people (Syrian) that the world doesn't even give a shit about waaaaayyy before NAFO and freedom loving internet brigade start cursing Russians. looking at the butthurt from the comment below, I felt sorry for him, must be hard to explain to the morons how appreciating pilot skills =/= praising invaders. I mean some of the very best fighter ace are Nazi's :LOL:


anyway...I'm hoping to see more JDAM footage too

 
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Gary

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Julian Roepcke is a well known Anti Russian journalist since the SCW, reporting Russian air force atrocities to peoples (Syrian) that the world doesn't even give a shit about waaaaayyy before NAFO and freedom loving internet brigade start cursing Russians. looking at the butthurt from the comment below, I felt sorry for him, must be hard to explain to the morons how appreciating pilot skills =/= praising invaders. I mean some of the very best fighter ace are Nazi's :LOL:


anyway...I'm hoping to see more JDAM footage too


 
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UkroTurk

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Blinken: The US knows that Ukraine is preparing an offensive in the coming weeks

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TUESDAY, MAY 02, 2023 19:44
AUTHOR: DMYTRO BRASLAVSKY



The United States of America know that Ukraine is preparing an offensive in the coming weeks.

This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the statement of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, which is cited by "Voice of America".

"We know that the Ukrainians are planning a counteroffensive in the coming weeks," the statement said.

Blinken urged to watch what will happen next. According to him, success on the battlefield is the best and perhaps the fastest way to negotiations that will bring a just and sustainable peace.

The US Secretary of State also explained that Russia's plans have already been defeated. In this way, he answered the question that despite active international support, the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine seems to have reached a dead end.
 

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RUSSIAN OFFENSIVE CAMPAIGN ASSESSMENT, MAY 1, 2023​

May 1, 2023 - Press ISW

 

GoatsMilk

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Julian Roepcke is a well known Anti Russian journalist since the SCW, reporting Russian air force atrocities to people (Syrian) that the world doesn't even give a shit about waaaaayyy before NAFO and freedom loving internet brigade start cursing Russians. looking at the butthurt from the comment below, I felt sorry for him, must be hard to explain to the morons how appreciating pilot skills =/= praising invaders. I mean some of the very best fighter ace are Nazi's :LOL:


anyway...I'm hoping to see more JDAM footage too


watching the footage especially that second strike just looks like they hit an empty building. You can see it seems to be part of a farming complex, the sheep are too the right side of.
 

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