Live Conflict Ukraine-Russia War

[Relic]

Wasting money on air defence, while there is no talk of Taurus, Tomahawks or other long range missiles, which is what Ukraine actually needs.

No amount of Patriots, NASAMS, IRIS-T or any other air defence systems will be able to stop Russia from launching hundreds of drones daily at Ukraine. There is only one way to stop that, and that is based on offensive capabilities. The Russian MIC needs to be targeted inside Russia. Otherwise, we will continue to see nightly waves of drones and missiles exhausting Ukraine’s air defenses, no matter how many new missiles the West sends.

Israel bombed Iran in order to stop the missiles coming. The same must be done with Russia. Anything else is just wasting money down the drain, while Ukraine continues to lose lifes.

The systems you named are largely not designed, nor are they being regularly used to intercept drones. Those systems are imperative to protect Ukrainian cities, critical infrastructure and military sites from cruise missiles and ballistic missiles. Sure, they'll target the odd drone as required, but Ukraine has a number of other cheeper systems designed for that purpose. Everything including Gepard, Skynex, F-16s, Mirage-2000, Mig-29, SU-27, Crotale, Manpads, FrankenSAM, ASRAAM, Starstreak, Martlett, Avenger, etc, etc are primarily used to shoot down drones.

I continue to believe that Ukraine needs a robust and diverse air defense network AND additional offensive strike capability. And not just long range missiles, but all kinds of armor, artillery and medium range weapons as well.

There is room for the purchase / donation of both..

 

[contricusc]

The systems you named are largely not designed, nor are they being regularly used to intercept drones. Those systems are imperative to protect Ukrainian cities, critical infrastructure and military sites from cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.

I know what those systems are designed for. My point is, Ukraine’s biggest problem right now is not the few ballistic missiles that Russia fires at them. Yes, they need to be able to defend from those too, but it is ridiculous that the bulk of the money spent on arming Ukraine goes to intercepting those few ballistic missiles, instead of going to offensive capabilities that are required in order to destroy Russia’s weapons factories, oil refineries, etc.

The problem with those high end anti air systems is the price tag. They are extremely expensive for the tiny role they play in the conflict. If the West is willing to spend that much money for Ukraine, and provide them with high end systems, they should focus that spending on offensive missiles, that can do a lot more damage to Russia and have a much greater influence on the war.

The West spent many billions of dollars on Pariots and their missiles for Ukraine, but were unwilling to provide the weapons to take down the Kerch bridge, which would have cost a fraction of that.

What bothers me is the missalocation of the resources. They consume the most money on the least important and most expensive systems.

Even when talking about air defence, Russia is now sending hundreds of drones daily, which cause the most casualties among the civilian population now. For that, you need cheap air defense systems in bulk. Two or three additional Patriots will not resolve anything, but cost a fortune.

 

[Soldier30]

Footage of strikes by Russian Kh-101 cruise missiles with cluster warheads in Chernivtsi. The missiles were presumably launched by Tu-95 and Tu-160 aircraft. The Kh-101 missile has a range of up to 5,500 km and a 400 kg warhead.

 

[Soldier30]

Footage of the destruction of Ukrainian drones, of an unknown type, by Russian Ka-52 helicopters. The location of the shooting is not reported.

 

[Woland]

US tells Switzerland its order of Patriots will be delayed as Ukraine gets priority. Meanwhile, the Swiss defense ministry has just said that it was informed by the US Department of State that its deliveries of Patriot missile systems will be delayed as a result of its decision to reprioritize deliveries to Ukraine.

The Swiss statement says that its five Patriot systems, ordered in 2022, were meant to be delivered between 2027 and 2028, but the US announcement means that they will be “affected by the new prioritization” and delayed further.

“It is currently unclear how many systems will be affected and whether the delivery of guided missiles will also be affected. No statement can be made at this stage regarding the exact timing and any further implications for Switzerland. Clarifications are ongoing,” the statement added.

Basically what this means is that the five Patriot systems in production that were supposed to go to Switzerland will be redirected to countries that provide theirs to Ukraine. Right now we know of the intention of Germany to send two of theirs, and that Norway is willing to pay for one system.