Politics

[jpr9954]

 

[Red Leg]

Russian Ruble continues to tank against the USD. The average Russian is most likely feeling the economic brunt of this and can't be happy.

View attachment 544296

Yep. A rubble is basically worth a penny.

 

[jpr9954]

 

[PARA45]

View attachment 544340

 

[PARA45]

 

[Red Leg]

Latest update from Strieff over at RedState. Excellent answer to those on the right and left whining about providing Ukraine with "cluster" munitions. By the way, the Russians have been using their version since the beginning of the conflict.

US Releases Cluster Munitions to Ukraine in Stopgap Effort to Aid Ukraine's Offensive

A long overdue decision delivered at a critical time.

redstate.com

 

[Ray B]

Back in the day the cluster shells, at that time were a big deal secret called COFRAM and even had a call sign of different words to call for them in a fire mission but otherwise were considered a conventional bullet for a 155mm. Not sure what dual purpose and improved amounts to, but it shouldn't be an escalation of the war to send some of these to Ukraine.

 

[Red Leg]

Back in the day the cluster shells, at that time were a big deal secret called COFRAM and even had a call sign of different words to call for them in a fire mission but otherwise were considered a conventional bullet for a 155mm. Not sure what dual purpose and improved amounts to, but it shouldn't be an escalation of the war to send some of these to Ukraine.

The old ICM round from the Vietnam era dispensed what were essentially small grenades. They were problematic when fired into forested areas because they hung in the trees waiting to eventually fall. They also had a high dud rate. DPICM is a cylindrical sub-munition that goes off simultaneously as a shaped charge and a fragmentation grenade. The charge is powerful enough to penetrate the top armor of a tank or infantry fighting vehicle introducing a jet of molten metal into the fighting compartment.

Since the Gulf war where DPICM decimated Iraqi (Russian) armor, Russia has carried out a very successful campaign to stigmatize such munitions. They don't kill or maim any more "horrifically" than any other explosive device. But because they are so effective against Russian designs they have worked tirelessly to get them banned.

Of course Russia has used their own stockpiles of cluster munitions since day one of the Ukraine invasion.

I hope that we have a bunch of MLRS rockets that have not yet been de-milled. My brigade used them in counterfire a lot during Desert Storm. Each rocket carried over 640 DPICM bomblets. We would typically fire six to twelve rockets at a target saturating the are with thousands of these munitions. No Iraqi artillery battery or battalion ever fired again after being struck.

At the cease fire, a couple of our targets from two days previously were nearby (we were advancing). I drove over. It was a towed 122 battalion occupying an area about 300 meters by 200 meters. Trucks were backed up to the guns apparently prepared to pull them out quickly. Most of the trucks, loaded with ammo, had been destroyed catastrophically. The command a fire direction tracked vehicles were riddled. I didn't count them, but there were likely 50 KIA in the area, Lord knows how many wounded had been moved away.

Awesome weapon.

 

[mark-hunter]

@Red Leg
Thanks again for your input. i always learn something.
Question:
What is the Russian equivalent of this ammunition and effectiveness? Is it comparable?

 

[sestoppelman]

Father of Our Country - Kunstler

“If cocaine is so prevalent in the West Wing that there is somehow ‘extra’ cocaine just laying around, when is the White House going to start drug testing its employees?” — Margot Cleveland

kunstler.com

 

[Red Leg]

@Red Leg
Thanks again for your input. i always learn something.
Question:
What is the Russian equivalent of this ammunition and effectiveness? Is it comparable?

The Russians have submunition warheads for the BM-30 Smerch, BM-21 Grad, and 9K57 Uragan multiple rocket launchers and all have been used fairly extensively and indiscriminately in Ukraine. As far as I am aware, they have never developed a dual purpose munition capable of taking out armor.

The US Army literally has no doctrine for using DPICM in built up areas where it would be of limited effectiveness regardless of the target set.

https://airwars.org/anatomy-of-a-russian-cluster-munition-strike-ukraine/

 

[mark-hunter]

Thanks @Red Leg!

 

[Wheels]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1677370913988173825

 

[Ray B]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1677370913988173825

He's talking about the other indians- the ones from India- not the casino operators.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

 

[Red Leg]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1677370913988173825

 

[jpr9954]

 

[sestoppelman]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1677370913988173825

Is this a joke, c'mon man!

 

[Marc Ret]

View attachment 544607

If that homely looking thing in the pic is "Lauren", she better add vision-impaired to the list...

 

[JES Adventures]

So after spending a month in two relatively calm African Countries, maybe there is a better option. If you are living in a corrupt country, maybe being someplace you truly enjoy is a better option. All the Zambians and Namibians I spent time with were fundamentally happy. Politics on a smaller scale.