YPR-765 and M113

 A YPR-765 and a rare Australian M113 AS4 knock themselves out together

Australian M113 AS4

Dugin Says...Quote of the Day

 Says Dugin the philosopher:

It is unpleasant to admit, but Israel's radical determination in the ruthless destruction of its enemies clearly contrasts with the behavior of not only these enemies, but also ourselves regarding the Kyiv regime. Israel is playing ahead, and it is now clear that it was Israel that provoked Hamas to attack, which did not bring any fruits to the Resistance at all, but Israel managed to destroy the leadership of the forces antagonizing it in the Middle East and to easily carry out a large-scale genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. Again - whoever is faster is right. Whoever acts more decisively and recklessly wins. But we are cautious and constantly wavering. By the way, Iran is the same. This is a road to nowhere. Gaza is gone. Hamas's leadership is gone. Now Hezbollah's leadership is gone. And Iranian President Raisi is gone. And his pager is gone. But Zelensky is here. And Kyiv is standing as if nothing had happened.
We either enter the game for real, or... I don't want to think about the second option. But in modern wars, timing, speed, dromocracy decide everything. The Zionists act quickly, ahead of the curve. Boldly. And they win. If only we could do that.

 

Simplicious - Israel's Short-Lived Glory Celebrated by Kneejerk Polemicists, + Ukraine War Updates

 More from Simplicius on Israel and whoever else

Israel's Short-Lived Glory Celebrated by Kneejerk Polemicists, + Ukraine War Updates by Simplicius

Read on Substack

On Situation In ME Amid Israel's Latest Escalations

 On situation in the ME - someone else's expertise we thought we'd share with you:

Well, and some general thoughts on Lebanon.

 

1. Hezbollah and Iran certainly put themselves in serious trouble when Iran first raised the bar of expectations very high and then began to delay its response to the murder of Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, while Hezbollah limited itself to an extremely modest response to the murder of its commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut.

 

In August, I wrote that something like this would hit the deterrence potential and provoke the Zionist enemy to even more daring actions. Iran's strategy in support of the Palestinians after October 7, 2023, to drag Israel into a swamp of conflicts on various fronts with a slow escalation boiling the frog was quite understandable and workable, but the fact that Israel would ultimately try to escalate sharply in order to get out of this swamp should also have been expected, and they had to be ready to raise the stakes as well.

 

Instead, the Iranian and Hezbollah leadership succumbed to the persuasions of Qatar, Turkey, etc., deciding that the US would be able to persuade Israel to agree to a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, etc., in the run-up to the US presidential elections to prevent the conflict from expanding.

 

As a result, the Resistance Axis completely lost the initiative in the last two months and Israel took it over.

 

2. I was somewhat surprised that the military and political leadership of Hezbollah turned out to be so concentrated in Beirut, where, in my opinion, all the known high-ranking commanders who died, including the Secretary General himself, died as a result of strikes on Hezbollah ground and underground facilities in the Dahiya area. At the same time, Hezbollah has a developed underground and other infrastructure in other parts of Lebanon. Again, it seems that the Hezbollah leadership and command believed in the previously existing "red lines" for too long and did not expect that Israel would dare to act in a mode of rapid increase in the escalation level

 

3. The armed wing of Hezbollah has received a number of very heavy blows, but still retains serious military potential and its units continue to shell northern Israel and elsewhere, and while they are able to do this, the Israeli leadership cannot achieve its stated goal, that is, to create conditions for the return of residents of the northern regions of Israel evacuated due to military action. In this regard, the likelihood of an Israeli ground operation in some limited area in southern Lebanon, in my opinion, is very high, and in the near future.

 

4. The main question is how flexible and adaptive is the Hezbollah command structure to cope with these challenges, although in terms of saturation with personnel and weapons, it can certainly count on the help of allies. Potentially, Hezbollah can be helped in this by both Iranian advisers and pro-Iranian Iraqi militia forces, who now regularly launch drones and cruise missiles at Israel in support of the Palestinians under the general name of "Islamic Resistance in Iraq."

 

Moreover, today's words of the Supreme Leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that "all Muslims are obliged by Sharia to stand with the people of Lebanon and proud Hezbollah with their capabilities and help them in the fight against the aggressive and vile oppressor regime," looks like a clear instruction to Iranian allies to use all their capabilities to support Hezbollah. The capabilities for this are there, but they must be used wisely.
t.me/ImpNavigator/8651

Sep 28 at 22:45

 

 

Another M577 Captured in Kursk

 In a third appearance on blog, another rare-ish M577 M113-based mobile command post vehicle is seen captured in Kursk.

 

 

 

Though she does appear a little bit worse for wear inside.

 

 

***

Previously in this column:

 

Another M113 based M577 command post carrier is seen destroyed in Kursk, and they do blow up good

Cf.

Blows real good

The drone strike seems to have activated the multiple smoke grenade launchers too for added effect and fireworks

Footage

 

 

***

Previously in this column

 In a first on blog, here is an M113 based M577 command post carrier destroyed in Kursk

 

***

Previously

In a first on blog, here is an M113 based M577 command post carrier destroyed in Kursk

The Fog of War & Ghanima Blog: M577 Destroyed in Kursk:  In a first on blog, here is an M113 based M577 command post carrier destroyed in Kursk The Fog of War & Ghanima Blog: Another M577 Destroyed in Kursk:  Another M113 based M577 command post carrier is seen destroyed in Kursk, and they do blow up good Cf. Blows real good The drone strike seem...

How British AS-90 Self Propelled Howitzers Propel to Perdition

The British regime has supplied another 16 of their AS-90 "Braveheart" howitzers and here is how it typically blows and burns as hundreds of these and their relative Polish Krab spgs, and thousands of Westerns spgs overall, have been destroyed to date, and still destruction continues...

However, wasn't Braveheart someone who fought against the British, like Rob the Bank Bruce?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Fog of War & Ghanima Blog: British Artillery System for 90s Destroyed Again: Here is another destroyed British artillery system, grandiloquently called “Artillery System for the 90s”, AS – 90 for short. The 1990s are ...

Early Unverified Reports Say More Ukrainian Operated F-16s Destroyed

Unverified reports proliferate claiming two Kinzhal double-tap strikes on Starokonstantinov resulted in destruction of more F-16s early today, some infer all of the remaining five, along with foreign instructors

Not much hard evidence right now

Something that purports to be a post from the irate wife of one dead instructor figuring out already the amount she's gonna sue the Zelensky government for.

 

>>>>>>

The Fog of War & Ghanima Blog: F-16 Fighting Falcon? “Fighting”? ... “Falcon”? Ho...: Last of the  Wunderwaffen  is the shortest lived: the F-16  is to  be found out in Ukraine Unreliable and accident-prone, the F-16 “Fighting...

F-16 Fighting Falcon? “Fighting”? ... “Falcon”? How About Diseased Crow?

Last of the Wunderwaffen is the shortest lived: the F-16 is to be found out in Ukraine

Unreliable and accident-prone, the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” jet fighter plane is more like a diseased crow on its last pair of wings - a flying tin-foil fuel tank wrapped around the fat US-made turd of a single thirsty jet engine nearly scraping the ground with the soft underbelly while sat on tarmac that flies worse than a MiG-29 and is less maneuverable and is otherwise nothing special and is a soft and flimsy jet plane with a huge unprotected canopy making the pilot especially vulnerable to all kinds of impact

 

In the summer of 2024, after some two years of training pilots to fly the same, the first six F-16 Fighting Falcons fighter jets were delivered to the Zelensky regime’s heavily depleted air force with much fanfare in a ceremony held at an undisclosed location accompanied with bloodcurdling threats mouthed by Zelensky’s officials, including himself, regarding their impending use against the Russians and the things that they could do to them – nothing short of winning the war single-handedly for the Zelensky regime, albeit rather belatedly.

As per usual much was made of their “superiority”, the advanced weapons that they supposedly carried or could be equipped with, their upgraded and improved “electronic warfare suites” and what not. 

However, only two or three weeks later, on August 26, 2024, one of the F-16s either went down, or never got up, on its maiden combat mission and took the pilot along with it for company to the beyond – and coincidentally did so on a day of a massive Russian air and missile strike on Zelensky’s war making capabilities.

This may be the first kill of an F-16 in the Ukraine war but it is far from the first combat loss of the F-16.

About thirty F-16 kills have been (very reluctantly and after years and years of lies and evasion) confirmed by their operators - F-16s have been lost to date mainly to Soviet-made weapons such as: at least seven F-16s falling to Iraqi-operated SA-6 (2K12 Kub), SA-3 (S-125 Neva), shoulder-launched SA-16 (9K38 Igla) SAMs as well as anti-aircraft gun and small arms fire during the 1991 Desert Storm; one F-16 to 2K12 Kub (SA-6) SAM over Bosnia in 1995, and another one over Serbia in 1999; one F-16 to S-200 over Syria as recently as in 2018, a further five or so were lost to air-to-air missiles reportedly fired by a Mirage, various MiGs, or even other F-16s as in the case of a Turkish F-16 shoot-down by a Greek F-16.

Eight or ten crashed whilst on combat missions under unclear circumstances, including low altitude maneuvers, and could have been hit by ground fire, for a combined total of maybe 30 confirmed F-16 combat losses. 

 

Many more kills are claimed by adversaries and some with good reason, especially by the Syrians over the IAF dating back to the early 1980s and, in the case of the Syrians, continuing up to the present time.

 

Over 800 F-16s have crashed since 1975 across all operator nations in various major accidents resulting in loss of aircraft, and frequently the pilot too, not thought to be related to combat.

While there is again a myth of superiority and invincibility that is quite intentionally spread by the manufacturers, the US military and other principal operators of the F-16 about the aircraft – likely in order to discourage attacks on the same and paint the aircraft as invincible and unassailable, the US-made fighter jet will likely go the way of the other Western Wunderwaffen in Ukraine, and, if it is deployed at all in significant numbers, is in for a mass cull by Russian air-to-air- and surface-to-air systems or even missile forces and unmanned one-way drones like what likely happened on Aug 26, 2024 where a collision of the F-16 with a Shahed 136 drone or a near explosion cannot be ruled out. 

Russia has many assets that can take down the F-16 Fighting Falcon, or any other existing or even future warplane for that matter, including near-autonomous self-aiming air-to-air missiles that have a range of over 300 km, nuclear tipped anti-aircraft missiles designed to take down entire flying formations and clearing the skies and the world’s best and most numerous air defense systems.

Also, the F-16 is not that hard to kill. Not at all. 

It doesn’t require cutting-edge- or particularly advanced weapons to knock it down. Most of the known shoot-downs were achieved by Soviet designed and built SAM systems that stem back to the late 1950s and the F-16 is yet to face modern Russian, or anybody else’s, anti-aircraft weapons as it has never operated in peer- or near-peer conflicts.

In low altitude passes it can even be brought down by concentrated small arms fire or stray bullets or shrapnel and debris that will puncture and likely ignite or de-fuel the fuel tanks or pierce the canopy and kill the pilot.

Once the cobweb of lies and propaganda is torn down, the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” is more like a diseased crow on its last pair of wings – a flying aluminum () foil fuel tank wrapped around the big thirsty turd of a single jet engine, nearly scraping the ground with the soft underbelly while taxiing on the tarmac – that flies worse than a MiG-29 and is less maneuverable and is otherwise nothing special and is an ageing accident-prone, soft armor-less jet plane with a huge unprotected canopy making the pilot especially vulnerable to all kinds of impact in the event of a shoot-down, of which there will be many in Ukraine, no doubt.

By I.

Moscow, August - September, 2024

***

Note from the editors and publishers of this resource. This is a submission that we received from an outside writer and were pleased to publish. It is asserted as being copyright © of the author and for licensing or republishing contact in the comments which are prescreened.

 

post originally published on September 22, 2024

>>>>>>>

The Fog of War & Ghanima Blog: Confirmed: Rumors First F-16 Destroyed: The F-16 "fighting falcon" is more like a diseased crow on its last pair of wings - a flying aluminum (1) tin-foil fuel tank wrap...

Killed in Kursk - Battle of Kursk' 24: Zelebot and NATO Freiwilligen Horse and Foot Losses, Very Incomplete Digest

Kursk op: Analysis and background

Starting on August  6 or 7 Zelensky regime and NATO militant manpower as well as multiple western origin armored vehicles continue to be destroyed inside Russia proper in the Kursk region and on the Ukrainian side of the border, including cougar 4 x 4 mraps, International MaxxPros, and Stryker ifv, British Challenger 2 tanks (at least 3), humvees, etc., into hundreds of units and thousands of manpower already, during the Zelensky regime’s latest failed offensive across the border into Russia, as Zelensky regime militants and their Western militant helpers break out of their pens and spill across the border into Russia and are dying there and on their own side of border in droves while some reports indicate that four of the Ukrainian most senior commanders and supreme commander’s deputies have been eliminated in a missile strike on a near rear command post.

***

Analysis by our military expert, General Sokolowski:

As at Aug 10 - Our military expert General Sokolowski ( retired ) says his sources indicate that the goal of Zelensky’s latest failed offensive this time into Russia proper was truly grandiose  - not to say insane - to have captured the Kursk nuclear plant on the first or second day at the latest and to use it for leverage and as a bargaining chip by threatening to unleash nuclear terrorism with prior knowledge and connivance of major Western entities, the North Atlantic axis, and even UN Secretary General Gutierrez herself - who must now leave office voluntarily or be made to.

But now three days later it is clear that the offensive has been broken, and was so on day one, the goal has not been achieved, mopping up operations have commenced although they may yet take some time. 

General Sokolowski says that the displayed idiocy clearly indicates that the offensive was planned and is masterminded by NATO generals, especially British and Yank top imbecile de-generals, and that the Ukrainian forces who had achieved a major numerical superiority were supposed to have operated according to so-called NATO standards of mobile maneuver warfare that supposedly they had been trained in and were maybe led by SAS operatives and other Western “special” forces who by now have been hopefully all killed, as the Russian military reports another missile strike eliminating at least 15 foreign militants earlier today in one location alone.

 

As at Sept 2 - General Sokolowski says that the Russian mopping-up is clearly taking longer than thought and maybe hoped initially; furthermore, Zelensky regime forces even continue their futile attacks at certain locations - mainly along roads and routes converging on that very same town, Kurchatov - home of the Kursk NPT, which was likely their goal all along and was supposed to have been captured on day 1 or 2 of the op at the latest, but, in the final analysis, what it boils down to is that more Zelensky military is going to be destroyed, much much more than if they had fled back across the border already. 

One thing that characterizes cokehead Zelensky (whose grandiosity and stubbornness are hallmarks of cocaine addition) himself as supreme commander, his government, his regime and his military is the extreme form of asinine obstinacy and hard-headiness and his military has never been able to execute competent large-scale retreats and withdrawal maneuvers (unlike what the Russians did in Kharkov 2022) ceding territory to buy time and strategic advantages elsewhere and just to "live another day" and is basically lies all buried where they made their "last stands" and their Kursk region op is looking to develop into another one of those and more of the same old. 

(In fact the Russian retreat from Kharkov in 2022 was a much better standard of maneuver warfare than what the Zelensky regime military and their NATO master-planners, commanding officers and advisers have been able to demonstrate which is next to nothing. 

At Kharkov in 2022 the Russians not only managed to disengage and retreat in the face of on an onslaught by a much numerically superior force but succeeded in inflicting heavy and far superior losses on them.)

They have caught the bear in Kursk but he doesn't let them go.

It's like Ronald Reagan once said:

Well, during the Second World War, Soviet General -- later Marshal -- Chuikov, a frontline commander, liked to tell the story of a soldier who said he had captured a bear. And he was asked to bring it along. "I can't,'' replied the soldier, "the bear won't let me.''

***

Analysis No. 2 from our other military expert General Sakalauskas (Ret) focusing more on political aspects who is somewhat less of a hawk than our esteemed regular military expert General Kazimir Sokolowski (Ret.) who is part of our editorial board and whose views should by now be familiar to the regular consumers of our analysis and reporting:

Zelensky's incursion into Russia's Kursk region has been a very bad idea and can be considered a strategic misstep for several reasons:

1. **Escalation of Conflict**: Incursions into Russian territory have escalated the conflict significantly. Moscow is set to respond with increased military action and has already responded so, in particular, with more frequent strikes on military installations and military bases deep inside Ukraine as well as on locations where foreign instructors and volunteers are known to congregate, potentially drawing Ukraine into a broader war. This could lead to severe consequences not only for the Zelensky regime but also for regional and global stability.

2. **International Implications**: Such actions have already strained Zelensky’s relations with Western allies. While many Western nations support the Zelensky regime, at least publicly, an outright attack on Russian territory has already complicated diplomatic efforts and led to calls for restraint, damaging the international coalition supporting Ukraine.

3. **Military Readiness and Resources**: Conducting operations deep into Russian territory requires significant military resources and readiness. Ukraine is at risk of overextending its forces, diverting attention from critical fronts and defenses.

4. **Propaganda and Morale**: For Russia, an incursion could serve as a propaganda tool, allowing the Kremlin to frame the conflict as an existential threat. This could bolster domestic support for the war and rally Russians around the government while possibly fostering anti-Ukrainian sentiment.

5. **Risk of Retaliation**: Russia has extensive military capabilities and could retaliate against Zelensky regime targets more severely now that its territory was breached. This retaliation could take many forms, including strikes on more military infrastructure assets or direct military responses against Ukrainian positions.

6. **Humanitarian Concerns**: Military operations can lead to civilian casualties and suffering. The incursion has already placed more civilians in both Ukraine and Russia at risk, leading to humanitarian crises that could further complicate the situation.

7. **Strategy vs. Tactics**: While tactical gains might have been achievable in the short term, they were not so achieved, and the broader strategic consequences should have been carefully considered. If the long-term goal is the restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty, any move that appears aggressive could hinder that objective.

In summary, the incursion into Russia's Kursk region has resulted in heightened tensions, unintended consequences for the Zelensky regime in the shape of more frequent ballistic strikes on the regime's facilities and military - resulting in huge losses, including those inflicted on foreign military members, and negative implications for Ukraine’s strategic objectives and international support. 

Careful consideration of these factors is crucial in navigating the complex landscape of the ongoing conflict.

Says, General Sakalauskas 

 

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

So in light of the above:

This is what Zelensky's "Success in Kursk" looks like -Live reporting of losses in horse and foot, aka materiel and personnel, in the Zelebot and various NATO and Western Freiwilligen:

Horse: 56

Foot: -  ∞

>>>>>>>>>

Sept 24 - a hapless humvee convoy busted, at least 3 hapless humvees and one technical, also small arms captured

 

Humvees in their element, predictable too

Only one has retained its shape more or less

Technical but not a Toyota

 

 

***

Sept 18 - Mass Swedish skit destruction now – at least two destroyed CV90 infantry fighting vehicles seen this video along with Marders as Zelensky military attempts to breach the border in other locations.

***

Sept 06 - a couple of Stryker vehicles destroyed in Kursk

One Stryker M1126 IFV - "Stry-Kursk('ed)"

Another Stry-Kursk ka-boomed

Kursk is turning to be a veritable Stry-kursk kull

 

 

 

***

Aug 30 - Kursk kaptures - saving Zelebots, at least 3

 

 

***

Aug 29 - Kursk Kills Kontinue:

MaxxPro with 2 dead Zelebots or whoever

Australian Bushmaster burned

Cougar H

MaxxPro from above with bodies cleared

Cougar H x2

 

 

 

***

Kaptured in Kursk: 8 zelebots

 

 

***

Another MaxxPro

 

 

****

Rare-ish M577 command carrier post on a M113 chassis destroyed at Korenevo, Kursk

 

 

 

***

Another Stryker w/ lwmr that was destroyed on day 1 of Zelebot attack on Kursk

 

 

 

***

August 27 - another Stryker w/ lwmr burns in Kursk, as Russian military units continue to decimate (at least) Europe's biggest military aided and abetted by a further 50 great and small Satans.

 

 

***

More Kursk kills from earlier as the Russian military continues to mop up Europe's largest military (Ukrainian) by far now in the Kursk region too

 

 

 

 

***

VOG-25 drop on Zelebots in Kursk

 

 

 

 

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French VAB 4x4 in Kursk region, keels over