Russia/Ukraine conflict

[MC3OZ]

On a battlefield, any charging stations would become targets.

Hypothetically in a future war they could charge bots and drones in underground bunkers using micronuclear reactors to generate electricity..

The way bot development is progressing the movie Terminator seems like science fiction that many one day turn into science.

The problem with most technology is it can often be used for both good and evil.

 

[wdolson]

Hypothetically in a future war they could charge bots and drones in underground bunkers using micronuclear reactors to generate electricity..

The way bot development is progressing the movie Terminator seems like science fiction that many one day turn into science.

The problem with most technology is it can often be used for both good and evil.

A nuclear reactor is going to be a hot spot on the map, and getting underground is not going to be an option in some battlefields.

Current nuclear reactor tech requires a fair bit of infrastructure to operate it. Plus a damaged nuclear reactor on a battlefield is going to be like a chemical weapon you can't disperse. I wouldn't want one under my command.

There are some technologies that look good in science fiction, but they prove to be impractical in the real world. Flying cars were supposed to be a thing "soon" in the 1950s, but they proved to have too many limitations to be practical. Chrysler built a car with a turbine engine in the early 60s, but its fuel consumption even for the era was way too high.

Battlefield robots for recon and other uses that require small numbers may become a thing. Possibly robotic supply vehicles might become a thing if the depot has enough power available to keep them charged. But I don't see large numbers of robotic infantry on the battlefield any time in the near future.

 

[MC3OZ]

Current nuclear reactor tech requires a fair bit of infrastructure to operate it.

The smallest microreactor design I have seen (render not the actual thing) is shipping container sized.

The designers are ex-SpaceX engineers.

The US military are considering deployment of reactors of this general type on military bases, they are providing inventors with some encouragement.

The TRISO fuel is about the size of a poppy seed, or a grain of rice (depending on the type) It is about as safe a Uranium based fuel can get, much safer than conventional fuel types.

I can't see why this design can be scaled down to 1/4 of the size, or perhaps smaller eventually...

If not in an underground bunker, then on a truck, or on a truck inside a bunker.

IMO human inventiveness steps up to the plate when it comes to winning wars...

The current race is on for drones, not just drone designs high density batteries to go into drones....

 

[jabloomf1230]

I have no credible reference to provide, but I'm guessing that the Taliban tipped off the US about the planned ISIS attacks in Iran and Russia.

 

[AudubonB]

Bedfellows get strangerer and strangerer.

 

[SmokyPeat]

Rumor has it that one of the four Tajik gunmen from the Moscow mass shooting had his ear cut off and was forced to eat it by Russian security. The other three looked pretty well worked over as well.

 

[Crutonius]

I have no credible reference to provide, but I'm guessing that the Taliban tipped off the US about the planned ISIS attacks in Iran and Russia.

That tracks actually. The Taliban has more of a reason to hate ISIS than we do. ISIS-k is the ones who did that terrorist attack when we pulled out of Afghanistan and the Taliban are the ones who actually tracked down the ones that did it.

 

[MC3OZ]

Rumor has it that one of the four Tajik gunmen from the Moscow mass shooting had his ear cut off and was forced to eat it by Russian security. The other three looked pretty well worked over as well.

That has been mentioned, and probably will not lessen the motivation of these terrorists groups...

The attackers were rank amateurs who even left the scene in the same car they arrived in, but still had no trouble getting the weapons....

All countries need to think about security against this type of attack, restricting access to weapons, and good intelligence networks are things that will help..

In the Soviet era they were very good at spying,,, like China, Russia has a lot of cameras with facial recognition software everywhere....

The US even tipped Russia off about the possibility of a threat,

What investigations did Russian intelligence do?

Do the Russians have any idea who owns military style assault weapons within their country, or if any other terrorist groups exist?

Putin's lame attempt to blame Ukraine hasn't fooled anyone who counts in Russia....

Not only is the folly in Ukraine reducing living standards, and costing many Russian lives, it seems to be impacting on the ability of the Russian state to protect its own citizens within Russia.

 

[CorneliusXX]

Rumor has it that one of the four Tajik gunmen from the Moscow mass shooting had his ear cut off and was forced to eat it by Russian security. The other three looked pretty well worked over as well.

The Russians aren't finished. They brought out the car battery too.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772096927884312990

 

[SmokyPeat]

That has been mentioned, and probably will not lessen the motivation of these terrorists groups...

The attackers were rank amateurs who even left the scene in the same car they arrived in, but still had no trouble getting the weapons....

All countries need to think about security against this type of attack, restricting access to weapons, and good intelligence networks are things that will help..

In the Soviet era they were very good at spying,,, like China, Russia has a lot of cameras with facial recognition software everywhere....

The US even tipped Russia off about the possibility of a threat,

What investigations did Russian intelligence do?

Do the Russians have any idea who owns military style assault weapons within their country, or if any other terrorist groups exist?

Putin's lame attempt to blame Ukraine hasn't fooled anyone who counts in Russia....

Not only is the folly in Ukraine reducing living standards, and costing many Russian lives, it seems to be impacting on the ability of the Russian state to protect its own citizens within Russia.

I very much doubt the beatings and torture were/are intended to lessen the motivation of ISIS. It was probably employed to extract information and elicit confessions. And purely for revenge purposes.

 

[wdolson]

That has been mentioned, and probably will not lessen the motivation of these terrorists groups...

The attackers were rank amateurs who even left the scene in the same car they arrived in, but still had no trouble getting the weapons....

All countries need to think about security against this type of attack, restricting access to weapons, and good intelligence networks are things that will help..

In the Soviet era they were very good at spying,,, like China, Russia has a lot of cameras with facial recognition software everywhere....

The US even tipped Russia off about the possibility of a threat,

What investigations did Russian intelligence do?

Do the Russians have any idea who owns military style assault weapons within their country, or if any other terrorist groups exist?

Putin's lame attempt to blame Ukraine hasn't fooled anyone who counts in Russia....

Not only is the folly in Ukraine reducing living standards, and costing many Russian lives, it seems to be impacting on the ability of the Russian state to protect its own citizens within Russia.

Gun ownership is possible in Russia, but there are a lot of limits. Because of the war and the country is basically a mafia state military weapons have been making their way into the civilian population. The Russian police have caught people with AKs and rocket launchers in Moscow and other Russian cities. Before the war those weapons were not making it into the civilian population, though there was a robust black market in non-weapon military hardware stolen from the military.

In many places stopping these sorts of attacks entirely is pretty much impossible, but measures can be taken to curb them. Good intelligence services help a lot. In the US the FBI does a pretty good job of picking up on anybody planning anything, if the type of group is a priority. 9/11 wasn't repeated because the FBI caught anyone planning an attack before it happened. The ones who got away with any kind of attack were the lone wolf type attacks who weren't communicating with anyone before the attack.

I remember one case where some would be terrorists were arrested when the people they bought the explosives from were an FBI sting set up for their benefit.

I very much doubt the beatings and torture were/are intended to lessen the motivation of ISIS. It was probably employed to extract information and illicit confessions. And purely for revenge purposes.

The Russians have a history of creative torture.

 

[MC3OZ]

I very much doubt the beatings and torture were/are intended to lessen the motivation of ISIS. It was probably employed to extract information and elicit confessions. And purely for revenge purposes.

I guess that they will get some (perhaps useful) information,,... but this kind of public torture increases the motivation of future would be terrorists, and lessens the chances that future terrorists will surrender....

If they thought they needed to do that, no need to make it public...

The public aspect is probably PR for the Russian public, and further intimidation of the Russian populace

 

[SmokyPeat]

I guess that they will get some (perhaps useful) information,,... but this kind of public torture increases the motivation of future would be terrorists, and lessens the chances that future terrorists will surrender....

If they thought they needed to do that, no need to make it public...

The public aspect is probably PR for the Russian public, and further intimidation of the Russian populace

Do the radical islamic death cults really need any more motivation? I don't see the torture of these gunmen moving the needle one way or another. It is interesting to observe, though. I would agree that the Russian public are probably happy to see them looking worse for the wear.

 

[DanCar]

Ukraine aid bill maybe coming to a vote in the house after Easter. Previous it was said that the house would start to work on Ukraine aid in the second half of March.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/24/ukraine-aid-bill-easter-mccaul-00148727

 

[cusetownusa]

Ukraine aid bill maybe coming to a vote in the house after Easter. Previous it was said that the house would start to work on Ukraine aid in the second half of March.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/24/ukraine-aid-bill-easter-mccaul-00148727

Perviously it was after Christmas, then after border bill then after etc, etc. I will believe it when I see it. Mike Johnson just continues to delay it and can’t be trusted. Hopefully this time it does happen.

 

[Crutonius]

Still pessimistic. They talk about making it some kind of loan. If it were like lend lease that would be one thing but a new bill is something they'd have to pass to the senate so a couple more months of Ukrainians dying because Mike Johnson is playing stupid games.

 

[khorton]

Still pessimistic. They talk about making it some kind of loan. If it were like lend lease that would be one thing but a new bill is something they'd have to pass to the senate so a couple more months of Ukrainians dying because Mike Johnson is playing stupid games.

The pessimistic view is that he knows that the concept of a loan won't be acceptable to the Senate, so the whole thing will fall apart, further delaying aid.

The optimistic view is the he knows that the Senate's version of any aid bill will be structured as traditional aid, and that the House will eventually have to accept that version. He talks about a loan now, as that makes it easier to keep the conservative wing of the GOP in the House quiet

Given his history on this issue, and Russian financed political contributions, I'm tending towards the pessimistic view

 

[SwTslaGrl]

Drone vs drone. 1-0 to UA

https://twitter.com/x/status/1772299297200943379

 

[DanCar]

The pessimistic view is that he knows that the concept of a loan won't be acceptable to the Senate, so the whole thing will fall apart, further delaying aid.

The optimistic view is the he knows that the Senate's version of any aid bill will be structured as traditional aid, and that the House will eventually have to accept that version. He talks about a loan now, as that makes it easier to keep the conservative wing of the GOP in the House quiet

Given his history on this issue, and Russian financed political contributions, I'm tending towards the pessimistic view

The Senate will know it is a take it or leave it situation. Any changes with a house bill will cause months of delays or kill it.

 

[samppa]

I guess that they will get some (perhaps useful) information,,... but this kind of public torture increases the motivation of future would be terrorists, and lessens the chances that future terrorists will surrender....

If they thought they needed to do that, no need to make it public...

The public aspect is probably PR for the Russian public, and further intimidation of the Russian populace

Does anybody actually believe these were the guys responsible?

Its all about as credible as that bear in the old joke about russians. KGB are told to find a rabbit, after 20min torture they have a bear who has confessed to being a rabbit.