Who’s paying him? Seriously:

• If nobody is, then we got our value’s worth.
• If someone is, then we should look at who, how much, and why.

Source?

(just saying, because we used CRTs in 1993, and those look like LCDs… 👽)

what’s all this NATO equipment done?

Stopped Russia from taking over Ukraine.

These new weapons have done nothing to shift the front lines

That is correct, they’re intended to prevent Russian advances, not to support Ukrainian advances.

There is a non-zero risk that if Ukraine was given full offensive support, they’d try to take over Russia… or at least a chunk of it… which would self-justify Russia into using nuclear weapons, something that most people don’t want to see.

Ukraine needs artillery, ammunition, drones, and supplies

Supplies, they’re getting. There is a problem with ammunition though; since Ukraine is using Soviet era weapons, they are non-NATO caliber. Most of the stock of Soviet stuff that Western countries had, they have already shipped to Ukraine. In order to ship more, Ukraine will need to switch to NATO gear, which means basically re-arming the whole country from scratch.

It is no coincidence that Russia would become buddies with China, India, or North Korea, they’re one of the few countries left producing some Soviet-compatible ammunition and gear.

All of this also means a NATO-ification of Ukraine’s armament, which is something very desirable for NATO, and in particular for the main NATO weapons producer: the US.

the West has sat behind the idea that every single new weapon they send to Ukraine will be a GAME CHANGER

That’s propaganda used to get the expenditures approved. Nothing is going to be a “game changer” by itself, it’s all a step by step way to replace Ukraine’s soviet-era weapons, with an updated NATO weapons kit.

Once the kit gets completed, we’ll see what happens. For now, each part is proving superior to its Russian counterpart. The Patriot is a defensive system intended to prevent Russia from achieving air superiority, and it’s doing just that.

because F-16s will absolutely be able to achieve what Su-27s couldn’t… Because, reasons I guess?

We’ve been over this: because F-16s have updated hardware (radars, ECMs, etc.) that couldn’t be retrofit into a Su-27.

This war lives and dies on attrition and logistical superiority

That too. This wouldn’t be a war in the first place if Russia hadn’t fucked up their initial logistics so severely.

By your reasoning […] this counteroffensive was a severe tactical blunder

Personally, that’s my opinion, yes.

I think they’ve done it to “boost morale” by hopefully regaining “some” territory before the whole place turns into a mud bath, but from a tactical point of view, yes, I think they should have waited it out, stick to defense and drones for the time being.

Ukraine is already protected from those magnificent Russian Su-57s, they don’t need F-16s for that. All Ukraine needs is to keep maybe 5 of those F-16s in the air over whatever scrap of land they happen to be trying to take back at any given moment. And yes, those pieces of land are going to be much smaller than Taiwan, what matters is that piece by piece, they will no longer be under Russian control.

You’re supporting my point: those F-16s are going to have the latest countermeasure suit.

It doesn’t matter how “invisible” is the plane (Ukraine already downed a Russian Su-57) or how “hypersonic” is the missile it launches (Ukrainian ground countermeasures are also taking care of those), what matters is whether it can hit you or not.

A bunch of “old” F-16s equipped with the latest stuff, plus some decent ground support… we’ll see how it goes, but since Russia hasn’t been able to establish air superiority over Ukraine in all this time, with a little push Ukraine likely will.

From Moscow: https://www.reuters.com/graphics/RUSSIAN-CRASH/PRIGOZHIN/dwvkaealmvm/

There were two jets though, the other one did the roundtrip fine.

FML… that is indeed the fascist salute.

I know de-nazification was half-assed; I lived in Italy, now I live in Spain, and man, 45 years after the fascist regime was “gone”, there are still those opposing the removal of some fascist symbols. They used to argue that “it’s too soon”, now they’re arguing “it’s too late, let them be”, while there are still people killed by the dictature laying unidentified in some ditch or another.

Guess we’ll have to live and see where it all goes.

If we go far enough up the command chain, there are fallout shelters and slaves subordinates to rule over.

But you’re right, chemical and biological are likely lower on the “let’s fuck every treaty” scale.

It’s not about how old is the platform, it’s about what you put into it. Is the F-35 still randomly rebooting mid flight? The F-16 hasn’t had that problem for decades, and it can run modern hardware just fine.

Stealth planes are irrelevant in a dogfight, or in defending ground assets, and all those Su-* have been shown to be lacking proper maintenance for decades. We’ll see how they manage against a fully operational and updated bunch of F-16s.

I’m blind in my left eye, thank you very much… but since we’re copying other comments:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_Ukrainian_Nationalists

It’s mainly associated with “Ukrainian Nationalists” since WWI, adoped by the fascist organization which took part in the Holocaust and massacre of Poles, whose members have been granted veteran benefits in 2019, and its emblem is being used by present Ukrainians.

I’m not defending it, and as a Pole I’m definitely suspicious of Ukraine’s true intentions behind the slogan and the emblem… but I’m also pro-EU, and right now it’s better to support Ukraine, than to let Russia think about which EU member state to invade next.

Afterwards, if Ukraine wants to get its shit in order to a level where it could join the EU and NATO… then go ahead. Germany did it, Italy and Spain did it, and we’re all better for that.

Ukraine is getting fully functional F-16s, Russia has already shown that they tape down Garmin GPSs to their fighter jet dashboards. That’s… not “marginally close”.

Maybe Ukraine should regroup and stay on the defensive in the meantime, but I wouldn’t bet on Russia in 2024.

A day earlier, Prigozhin published a video purportedly from Africa. Next day, he managed to get himself killed on a flight from Moscow. While being exiled.

Not sure what the CIA believes, but it’s all sus AF.

A wing an the tail fell of… chance in a million /s

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organisation_of_Ukrainian_Nationalists

It’s mainly associated with “Ukrainian Nationalists” since WWI, adoped by the fascist organization which took part in the Holocaust and massacre of Poles, whose members have been granted veteran benefits in 2019, and its emblem is being used by present Ukrainians.

Meanings can change; denying history… is sus.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slava_Ukraini

You might want to specify whether you’re talking about the pre-WWI, post-WWI, WWII, USSR, or post-USSR meaning.

For reference, the current year is 2023.

Found the bot with a script.

We don’t live in a “1 soldier = 1 soldier” world, haven’t for several millennia actually. There are weapons that multiply lethality by different amounts on both sides, so it’s more of a question of who gets the better gadgets and manages to use them in better strategies.

But for Russia to stop being a threat it’s sufficient to just lose this war finally

What would be the definition of “losing” in this case? Countries tend use all the weapons at their disposal in order not to “lose”, in the case of Russia that would include its nuclear arsenal.

Sounds like a better outcome for everyone would be for Russia to get a civil war, and just “forget” about Ukraine.