The Su-57 isn't really a thing yet, it wasn't due to be in service till 2025, with Putin's Russia going broke it may be a lot longer.
It has had a limited prototype role out, we did see videos of them in Syria, and there was a video of what looked like a Felon in Ukraine. But I would love to see that verified.
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My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
I cannot see how Russian "wins" a war of attrition here. So long as Ukrainians are physically able to fight (i don't see morale being an issue here), they are getting endless supplies from NATO countries.
The issue is that there may not be much left of the country after this is over. I hope the rest of Europe (and NATO) is able to inject some money into the country to aid in its rebuild.
It would be great to see some companies move manufacturing out of China and into Ukraine.
Russian forces really do seem like the most inept military on the planet right now
Quote:
Originally Posted by blankall
The Russians really do seem like they are at least an entire generation of tech behind. They're rolling in mass amounts of armour, but being stifled by locals exploiting cell phone and drone technology.
This is what happens when you build a military and a government from a place of systematic corruption. You have generals reporting they have enough professional combat troops, when the real combat strength partially made up of conscripts and cadets, secure communications systems that the government paid for that don't really work or were bought commercially because some corrupt general signed off on it, rations that are decades expired, and supply forces insufficient for your fighting strength.
When you have parasitic Oligarchs siphoning off money at almost every level of government, these are the results that will be expected. Most despotic governments intentionally opaque operations with zero oversight will end up this way. Putin chose these ppl for his own inner circle not for their talent, but their loyalty. Problem was he started believing his own propaganda and lies. Doesn't help that Russian military planning is fully of lunatic unrealistic idiots all the way back to the Soviet Union that are probably still around now. Soviet cold war military planners expected their armed forces to just liberally uses tactical nukes, march across a radioactive wasteland, and take over Europe in under seven days. See the "Seven Days to the River Rhine" plan from the cold war.
At least in the West we can kinda get audits to see how bad things are to keep things in check, asking that question would get you defenestrated in Russia.
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Quick massive overhauls of staff are a huge security risk, so this seems insane, and I can't find confirmation on this from any of the larger news sites, even though this supposedly happened last month.
This is what happens when you build a military and a government from a place of systematic corruption. You have generals reporting they have enough professional combat troops, when the real combat strength partially made up of conscripts and cadets, secure communications systems that the government paid for that don't really work or were bought commercially because some corrupt general signed off on it, rations that are decades expired, and supply forces insufficient for your fighting strength.
When you have parasitic Oligarchs siphoning off money at almost every level of government, these are the results that will be expected. Most despotic governments intentionally opaque operations with zero oversight will end up this way. Putin chose these ppl for his own inner circle not for their talent, but their loyalty. Problem was he started believing his own propaganda and lies. Doesn't help that Russian military planning is fully of lunatic unrealistic idiots all the way back to the Soviet Union that are probably still around now. Soviet cold war military planners expected their armed forces to just liberally uses tactical nukes, march across a radioactive wasteland, and take over Europe in under seven days. See the "Seven Days to the River Rhine" plan from the cold war.
At least in the West we can kinda get audits to see how bad things are to keep things in check, asking that question would get you defenestrated in Russia.
For sure a big part of it is corruption. Putin surrounds himself with people that give him the answers he wants, instead of the information he needs. I was watching an interview with a person who studies Russian politics, and they suggested that over the past few years, Putin only regularly interacts with around 20 people. It seems like a really low number for a major world leader who leads over 100 million people and the world's largest country.
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"A pessimist thinks things can't get any worse. An optimist knows they can."
At this point - it doesn't even seem like Russia is trying to move forward in a lot of spots. Just firing rockets and artillery from distance while getting a ton of their equipment and vehicles destroyed and their men killed. Can't imagine that's great for morale.
