We see the destroyed property. We aren't seeing who is doing it, nor are we really seeing and hearing the truth of the Russians stupidity.

I saw a video of some Russians taking a truck and leaving other Russians behind. They were chasing the truck on foot in the snow lol. I wonder if it was the grunts leaving leadership behind and deserting or something.

Saw another video of Ukrainian infantry with a tank capturing Russians.

I read some statistics the other day and Ukraine has more tanks than when the war started.

And the Russians have a lot fewer than when they started. The Javelin has proven to be a very effective weapon.

Are tanks basically obsolete now or am I ?

Don't answer the second question... Lol

No, but russia is using alot of their obsolete tanks. Not that they were very good to start with. They do have a few with upgraded tech but they aren't using them. I can't remember the name but its basically the improved version of Shtora-1.
Also, the way russia is using the tanks battalions is ww2 tactics, that doesn't work on todays battlefield.

Shtora-1 (Russian: Штора, "curtain") is an electro-optical active protection system or suite for tanks, designed to disrupt the laser designator and laser rangefinders of incoming anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs). The system is mounted on the Russian T-80 and T-90 series tanks and the Ukrainian T-84. The existence of Shtora was revealed in 1980 by Adolf Tolkachev.[2]

I was thinking the same thing the other day. And to a certain degree, I think that they are. I also believe that to a certain degree aircraft and ships of certain types are also going to become obsolete. And the main reason is man portable missile targeting systems have evolved to such a degree, that there's nowhere to hide. What we now have are weapons systems that cost a small fraction of the high dollar equipment that they are destroying. Those systems can be carried and fired by a relatively minimally trained foot soldier to destroy much more costly weapons systems and kill much more highly trained combatants.

Remember in WWII, where the vaunted battleships that were once the rulers of the sea, were suddenly made completely obsolete by basically cargo ships with flight decks on top? Between drones and manpads, I think this is where we are now. If a country spent a larger amount of money on effective drones and manpads and spent less on fighter jets, assault helicopters, and tanks, gave one to every soldier, it would be a force to be reckoned with.

There is no way I would want to be a tanker or a helicopter gunship crew these days. I would much rather be on a 4 man fire team, with a drone and some javelins and stingers.

Pretty good assessment there Irish. But I would like to point out that a 4 man fire team may be successful in a defensive position against Russia garbage army. It wouldn't last very long against a real army. Like Ali said, you can't hit what you can't see. Our tech and tactics are second to none, that's one of the advantages of being in combat for the last 20 years and an unlimited military budget.

Well... I meant being in a 4 man fire team, as part of a Squad, as part of a Battalion, as part of a Regiment, as part of a greater Division. etc... etc...

I certainly wasn't insinuating that a 4 man fire team can change the World, but a whole damned Army of them armed the way I laid out, certainly could.

My whole point is that hopefully the folks in the upper echelons of the military high command are taking note of the way the Ukrainians are handling themselves against the Russians and are thinking hard on where to spend the money in the next military budget.

Makes an Osprey a scarier ride. As if those things were fairly enthused to stay aloft to begin with.

What if the four men were Chuck Norris, Rambo, Jack Bauer, and Outback?

I agree. I do think the ruskies went in way over confident and with a poor plan. We utilize armor differently than what is being used in ukraine.

My guess is our military advisors are implementing what we learned in the last 20 years fighting against guerilla fighters. I find the whole thing interesting. I wish we could see more footage, but I understand the need for opsec. The geospatial technology is crazy these days.

https://twitter.com/WarintheFuture/status/1509696162575519753

Check out this ied ambush

https://twitter.com/worldonalert/status/1508482688058945537
Here's another

Thinking of the way we have fought wars against tribalists won't help us in the next peer to peer war against Russia or China. Watching the way Ukraine fights against the Russians will. That was my point.

It will help us if we adopt a lot of the guerrilla tactics we saw in the Middle East, especially if it ever reached our soil.

Just checking in again, is the war over now?

Don't see this as a Russian loss. Just a step in the process. We need to identify the end game. I'm still not sure about that part.

Who knows what the Russians wiill do next but there is no doubt in my mind that so far this has mostly been a failure for them. I think they definately wanted to overrun Kyiv and could not. I think Putin wanted Zelensky either dead, in their custody or forced into leaving the country. Hasn't happened yet. They have also lost some serious amounts of men and machines even if the most conservative estimates are true. And they don't have the endless supply they used to when the Soviet Union existed. They also don't have the thriving economy to replace them either. California has a higher GDP than Russia. So does Texas and New York. Russia is currently 15th on a list of the top GDP countries which puts them just under South Korea. I would lastly say that Russia's prestige as a military super power has taken a serioius ding so far in this conflict.

Agreed jawbone and irish.

Jets are a totally different game from a helicopter though. Still need jets to fight jets. Or am I wrong?