“Due to a lack of communication, it is believed that Russian artillery has targeted its own troops.
Air defences have also engaged friendly aircraft as the Khibniy system of electronic countermeasures that is supposed to protect Russian pilots has interfered with their own planes.
The authors of the report argue that the issue of friendly fire and the way that Moscow’s troops have easily been deceived by Kyiv are major issues.
They said: “Fratricide has been a widespread problem for the Russian forces during their invasion of Ukraine.”
Comment: Because of the widespread evidence of the incompetence of Russian officers and, indeed, of the system itself, it would be easy to fall into an attitude of complacency.
As for the Russian soldiers – Poor bastards. pl
Putin humiliated as Russian troops struggle with friendly fire and Ukrainian tricks (msn.com)
Hypothermia is going to kill a lot of those poor Russian bastards this winter. I’ve already seen drone footage of Russians checking who is still alive after a night in their fighting positions. They’re ill-equipped and ill-trained to face the weather. Worse still, their officers don’t seem to give a rat’s ass about the situation. Either that or they’re clueless as to what to do about it. They’ll need another 100,000 mobiks just to keep what they got.
Hypothermia is an insidious condition. Eventually you stop shivering and are overcome by a feeling of warmth and euphoria. Then you die. I’ve reached the warmth and euphoria stage. It takes a supreme effort to fight that siren song, keep your wits about youself and continue. My Ranger School class lost two to hypothermia during one night in the swollen swamps of the Yellow River of Eglin AFB. We were breaking thin ice most of the night. But you don’t have to be in the water to succumb to hypothermia.
Having lived in cold climates as a youth, I am well aware of the hypothermia problem and it is astonishing how quickly the condition can develop. You are also correct in that it does not have to be freezing to be a problem. I also concur that this will be a serious problem for the Russian troops. It takes a lot of layers of clothing to avoid exposure and also how you deal with it. Lighting a fire is probably just an act of suicide in a war zone.
In scouts I was with group of 8 youths and 2 adult leaders on a “Polar Bear” outing in the upper peninsula of Michigan. Temps got down to -5. We had down bags with heavy liners and a change of clothes to sleep in. Wearing body moistured clothing to sleep in increases the horrible chills. Our leaders stayed up all night checking on us. They had hot tea available which countered the “shakes” of one scout.
I doubt that the Russian “leaders” are as well prepared and concerned.
Money quote is “Air defences have also engaged friendly aircraft as the Khibniy system of electronic countermeasures that is supposed to protect Russian pilots has interfered with their own planes.”
I don’t understand the problem as the Khibiny ECM system has been in service for awhile. So why hasn’t the VVS worked out any bugs? Or perhaps Ukrainian electronic engineers are playing interference games with the Khibiny. They captured one ten or eleven weeks ago. I wonder if they reverse engineered it within a few days and figured out how to spoof it into sending out false signals.
https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/ukraine-just-captured-one-of-russias-most-capable-aerial-electronic-warfare-pods
Leith,
In the late 70s, my college frat brother and best man was flying F-4s in the Philippines while I was in Hawaii with the 25th ID. On a visit, he told me they never turned on the ECM in their Phantoms because they worked as homers rather than jammers. I guess that stuff is tricky.
In the first Gulf War, he flew A-10s. He preferred “open sight” aiming rather than use the electronics. Later he flew Harriers with No. 1 Squadron RAF. I visited while in England with 10th Group and got to fly with him in the 2 seat trainer. We used compass, altimeter and paper topographic maps to fly over the North Sea and back… like a high speed land nav course.
TTG –
I’ve heard similar stories. Some pilots even reportedly silence their IFF transponders until returning to base. But that doesn’t explain the self-interference referenced in the article. That would seem to be caused by Ukrainian EW, or gross incompetence the Khibiny system design.
Leith,
I’ve written several articles here on the supposedly awesomeness of Russia’s REC (radio-electronic combat) capabilities. Maybe they are good and we just leap frogged them in the counter-counter war. Maybe I was fooled by all the Russian and industry claims. I do remember hearing of several instances when Russian air defense missiles were launched and then turned right back on their launchers. Sounds like Ukrainian (or our) EW to me.
Right. What would Russians know about keeping warm in the winter? Their country is an equatorial tropical steamy jungle. So it’s rough going for them now. Their grass skirts and thongs are not suited for the harsh Ukrainian winters. It’s “Hi! Pot Her, Mia” the Anthem of Mia the Cannibal Lady who boils other women in pots after saying Hi! politely, from here onwards. Dear female Russians – I hope you enjoy being cooked by Mia in a Pot!
Yeah. They don’t need cold weather gear. They’ll be walking around in shorts this winter.
F@L
Thanks for the image of mobiks in grass skirts. I’m going to have trouble forgetting that one. Maybe I should just relax and enjoy it.
Any comments on this admission – Ursula von der Leyen has deleted a video message in which she talks about more than 100,000 losses.
Here it is.
https://twitter.com/AZgeopolitics/status/1597913370023579648
She got one zero wrong because she didn’t study and reread the speech that others had written for her.
It was printed 10000. ‘Cause everyone knows KIA number is 10,000 or 15,000 at the most.
She knows that with age her eyesight becomes bad, but she does nothing. UvdL is an irresponsible lazy person. It’s that simple.