War

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I thought China was cornering the market on One birth / One Child bullshit. Especially as china’s elderly population will be as high as 39% by 2050.
Russian young men may be in short supply after the dust settles.
China dropped one child a while back when they saw the writing on the wall. However, with the introduction of modern society, birth control, education and the emancipation of women, they are having a lot of trouble kickstarting population growth. Russia's population has been in serious decline for decades and many who left won't be going back, if they can find a place in the west. Those were mostly educated upper middle-class young men who left, it is a tremendous brain drain.
 

Budzbuddha

Well-Known Member
China dropped one child a while back when they saw the writing on the wall. However, with the introduction of modern society, birth control, education and the emancipation of women, they are having a lot of trouble kickstarting population growth. Russia's population has been in serious decline for decades and many who left won't be going back, if they can find a place in the west. Those were mostly educated upper middle-class young men who left, it is a tremendous brain drain.
‘Yeah , I heard the news about “ educated and degree carry netizens “ having a terrible time finding work as XI puts the Zero - Covid policy into overdrive. The ridiculous neighborhood shutdowns , daily nucleic testing , shuttered businesses , etc. has caused many young men unable to even own a house or suitable housing ( which is what Chinese women want ) to be considered “ worthy “ of marriage and family. So most lie flat and suffer. Found out recently that the nucliec acid testers make more money than established doctors ( which is insane ).

China is fucked up right now as XI is holding congress for re-election. To them , party always comes first. ( CCP )
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
China dropped one child a while back when they saw the writing on the wall. However, with the introduction of modern society, birth control, education and the emancipation of women, they are having a lot of trouble kickstarting population growth. Russia's population has been in serious decline for decades and many who left won't be going back, if they can find a place in the west. Those were mostly educated upper middle-class young men who left, it is a tremendous brain drain.
insert humorous remark here about knowing how to build a (word) wall
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Uh, no. Russia will gear up again and Ukraine would have to also. The problem is a lot of money is being spent on Ukraine is not free, they will have to pay some of it back after the war. There is no way Ukraine could afford the goodies it has been using if they were paying for them themselves.
It will take Russia a long time to recover militarily, and their economy is fucked and about to become more so. They need to change the military culture and organization from the ground up and that won't happen until there is political change. They can still be dangerous, but of an order of magnitude less so than before the invasion of Ukraine, at least in their and our perceptions. Yes, Ukraine needs help at this point, but I and the EU like to look ahead 5 years and Ukraine has NG and oil reserves and the money Europe spends on their energy would also pay for their defense. NATO can have allies too Ukraine need not be a member if they can defeat the Russians and eject them. After this pounding Russia is gonna be weak for a long time, depending on how all in Vlad goes on this war and perhaps subsequent ones in the region.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I expect the high-tech screws to be turned on Russia and Iran even more as the US and allies crack down harder with sanctions and enforcement.


US spy chief: Russia using weapons at ‘unsustainable rate’

568,714 views Oct 18, 2022 Western officials believe that Russia is running low on its precision guided munitions, and, according to one source familiar with Western intelligence, is likely on the brink of dipping into its strategic reserves to continue the war. CNN’s Katie Bo Lillis reports.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
I hear Ukraine grows fabulous blue berries...they use the proper Russian fertilizer..
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They return the bodies of those they can find, though Saint Javelin doesn't leave much behind from what I've seen, cremation or turned into hamburger and slime while being fried at the same time. Over 6:1 for the Ukrainians, training, morale and weapons count, so does leadership and generalship. The big gains recently have been low in cost and high in profit, with captured equipment and ammo as a bonus. Moving forward and against increasing numbers of untrained demotivated conscripts, the going should only get easier and prisoners will make up a larger percentage of Russian loses.
 

printer

Well-Known Member
They need to have air defense outside the city and GPS can be jammed too, I think they will get most of the cheap drones soon and are at 85% now. They will only get better with more experience and redeploying defenses. Ballistic missiles are another issue and systems to deal with them are on the way, or I figure will be. Russia would have a harder time defending against attacks on power substations than Ukraine would and have a more difficult time replacing damaged equipment.
Blanket the countryside around Kiev might be a tall order, especially if you do have powerful enough transmitters as then they become the target. Ballistic missiles are already will be covered by the interceptor systems designed for the task. The cost to send the missile and the defending missile being comparable. But using them up to take down a glorified RC plane with a $100,000 shot does not make sense.
 

cannabineer

Ursus marijanus
Blanket the countryside around Kiev might be a tall order, especially if you do have powerful enough transmitters as then they become the target. Ballistic missiles are already will be covered by the interceptor systems designed for the task. The cost to send the missile and the defending missile being comparable. But using them up to take down a glorified RC plane with a $100,000 shot does not make sense.
soon there will be energy weapons, and a gigajoule pulse will be the cost of about 300 kWh. That could get expensive if you gotta charge up during peak use hours. ;)
 

Billy the Mountain

Well-Known Member
... But using them up to take down a glorified RC plane with a $100,000 shot does not make sense.
Really depends on the circumstances; I initially thought the same.

The $20,000 drone itself isn't worth it, but if that $20,000 drone destroys a $2,000,000 M777 (or locates it for destruction) because you didn't fire a $100,000 missile is a mistake.

The calculus is the potential damage from the drone rather than its sticker price.
 

DIY-HP-LED

Well-Known Member
Blanket the countryside around Kiev might be a tall order, especially if you do have powerful enough transmitters as then they become the target. Ballistic missiles are already will be covered by the interceptor systems designed for the task. The cost to send the missile and the defending missile being comparable. But using them up to take down a glorified RC plane with a $100,000 shot does not make sense.
From what I can gather the intercept 85% of them now and they aren't very accurate when they do strike, nothing to hit a power substation with. I believe they also only carry around a 30 lb warhead, not big by missile standards, like a flying artillery shell which usually contains around 30 lbs of explosive, the rest of the 100 lbs being steel, not required in a drone warhead.

They can have directional antennas pointing a more powerful jamming or even frying beam at them too. Also, those track mounted German AA guns on the likely lines of approach might be effective too. However, something like those cheap light missiles with seekers that can be palletized and commercial truck mounted, would be the most effective and could be deployed in large numbers, something with low to medium range capability. In a war of attrition costs will eventually count and if the Russians fire 100 of those drones and only a couple get through, that's attrition too. It depends on the targets; power infrastructure and cities are worth the extra expense temporarily. However even at this point I don't think the Ukrainians are using much more than manpads and guns to intercept them since they are pretty stealthy and don't produce a big heat signature or radar cross section.
 

printer

Well-Known Member
Really depends on the circumstances; I initially thought the same.

The $20,000 drone itself isn't worth it, but if that $20,000 drone destroys a $2,000,000 M777 (or locates it for destruction) because you didn't fire a $100,000 missile is a mistake.

The calculus is the potential damage from the drone rather than its sticker price.
Of course. But if you have a limited amount of missiles you have to pick and choose.
 
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