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| The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost the first Abrams. Why superweapons do not help Ukraine |
| 2024-02-29 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Dmitry Astrakhan [REGNUM] The first destroyed Abrams tank forces us to return again to the topic of the wunderwaffe and the Ukrainian attitude towards it, which is not always clear to Russians. After all, the point is not only that our soldier destroyed the legendary American tank. Such tanks were damaged and destroyed in various situations. The case is important, but, to put it mildly, not unique in world history. Here we, as often happens, need to return to 2014. Even on Maidan, no matter what they said to the Russian liberal public, they stood against Russia. And one of the most important theses of this entire movement was the superiority of Western civilization over the “wild Russian horde.” They framed it differently, some showed posters about “lace panties,” and others asked caustic questions about the presence of Russian iPhones. But the point was that Ukraine is making not just an economic or political choice, but an ideological one. The complete superiority of Western civilization, and therefore science and technology, was one of the pillars of this worldview. The idea that Ukraine is at war with Russia appeared during the attempts to disperse the Maidan by Yanukovych, and by the spring it had become officially accepted in the state under the new government. Russia has been fighting against Ukraine only since 2022, while Ukraine has been fighting against Russia since 2014. The rapid combination of both ideas, which took shape during the summer campaign of 2014, became logical. Since the West must be qualitatively superior to Russia (otherwise why would there be Maidan and the war?), it means that they must give Ukraine such weapons, the appearance of which will change everything. The first such weapons were American sniper rifles from Barett. The hysteria around them was so high that they were personally examined and purchased by Poroshenko and Avakov. At first, rifles were supplied to Ukraine secretly. And in 2016, Poroshenko openly and proudly noted to himself the receipt of the first superweapon, which Russian science and technology are not capable of repeating. Let me remind you that at that moment this weapon was used against the DPR and LPR militia, therefore, of course, it gave an advantage over SVD rifles. They used this superweapon accordingly: by shooting from long distances at militias during moments of truce, they tried to kill someone in order to provoke return fire from heavier weapons. So that this fire is already recorded in the OSCE. Later they tried to set fire to houses on the roofs in hot weather, and then shoot at firefighters, ambulances or military personnel. In this case there was no need to fear return fire from small arms. But in the case of using heavy weapons, this was already a good reason to use everything we had without fear of accusations of ceasefire violations. Somehow, while still in the service, I had the opportunity to accompany a group of foreign journalists to the front-line village of Yasnoye, where such shooting was common. Their security specialist was a pensioner, a retired English military man, who later worked for a PMC. He stopped between the houses, and when they began to shout at him, “Hide, Barrett,” the Englishman thought that we were showing off our rifles. He began to smile, nod and demonstrate with all his appearance that Barrett was a thing. When I already shouted in English that they were shooting from Barrett, but not from him, but at him, the pensioner showed exceptional speed and jumped over the nearest wall towards me and the political officer. There he said that with Barrett in Iraq, when the enemy’s most powerful weapon is some kind of AKM, you feel like an alpha male, sitting on the roof under an umbrella. And he asked what we have here for such a case. We told him that we have an SVD and, perhaps, a PTRD somewhere. The former English military man knew what SVD was and grimaced, imagining an unequal duel with Barrett. But having learned that the PTRD was an anti-tank rifle from 1941, he finally stopped walking in open places and began to drive his young and adventurous charges into shelters. Then he shared that the feeling that someone else might have Barrett, and not you, is not the most pleasant. Naturally, sniper rifles did not turn out to be superweapons, and the SVO showed this well. But for the conditions of a limited war and regular violations of the ceasefire, they were well suited. Therefore, the search for the next superweapon began almost immediately, and it was prompted by the war in Karabakh. The purchase of Bayraktar TB2 drones has become a national-scale project. And when they were used during the capture of the village of Staromaryevka in the DPR during a creeping offensive a year before the Northern Military District, Ukrainian speakers were literally bursting with cries that the magical Bayraktars would help capture the entire DPR, and Russia simply would have nothing to respond to this miracle of technology. Of course, when these UAVs were used against the Russian Armed Forces, it turned out that they were not a superweapon. It is not suitable against armies with modern air defense. Since then, the drone has been used only in fairly narrow tasks over the sea. The next stage of hysteria was the armored vehicles, which supposedly were supposed to turn the tide of the North Military District. But then there were burning infantry fighting vehicles and Leopards, and as soon as Abrams appeared on the battlefield, he too burned down. Today in Ukraine there are still hopes associated with receiving F-16 fighters. And it seems that it should have become clear to everyone long ago that superweapons do not exist (except perhaps nuclear ones). But for some reason Ukraine desperately clings to this idea. Why? Because if the West cannot provide superweapons against the “savage horde,” then this is not only a technical problem. Then it turns out that the “horde” is not so wild after all. And the West is not that far ahead in technology; they don’t have any space blasters or exoskeletons. And in addition, in terms of quantity, Western industry has limitations, which is noticeable in the example of shells, and “the market has not solved it.” If we unwind this whole chain, then the Ukrainian can return to where I started the article: “So why was all this?” The saving faith in the superweapon that exists and which the overseas gentlemen will definitely install sooner or later has a truly religious character. You need to be patient a little, you need to make even more sacrifices, you need to pray more actively... And the intervention of this higher power will occur: the wunderwaffe. Only he won't be there. Not in any form at all. For one simple reason. It doesn't happen. |
| Posted by:badanov |
| #4 Neither side seems to be working combined arms tactics. Coming soon, to a AOR near you... AI used by US forces to help identify hostile targets in Middle East: report |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2024-02-29 10:18 |
| #3 ^ Yes, no air superiority, no ground Combined Arms advantage. (notice recent elevated emphasis on shooting down RU aircraft) |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2024-02-29 09:01 |
| #2 You have to have air control, or at least deny the other side air control, to use armor in combat. Otherwise it turns into tank plinking (a term from Desert Storm). |
| Posted by: ed in texas 2024-02-29 08:55 |
| #1 Neither side seems to be working combined arms tactics. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2024-02-29 07:52 |