Ukraine Tricks Russia into Wasting Ammunition | Hacker News Reader

Ukraine Tricks Russia into Wasting Ammunition

wsj.com

24 pointsgrzm10 comments

Obligatory: Slava Ukraini! / Слава Україні!

This has tactical precedent in WW2 for similar reasons. Good on them for making it costlier for the other side.

It also has been used effectively in strategic deception by organizing entirely false divisions away from the very front but visible with aerial and satellite reconnaissance. Coupled with intentionally-planted intelligence, such as Operation Mincemeat in WW2, this can misinform enemy war planners into making incorrect strategic allocations.

I'm curious if anyone knows what % of Russian tanks have FLIR because a functional tank (when occupied) and a decoy appear entirely different on thermal. The intel folks believe the fraction of Russia's advanced tanks sent to Ukraine were destroyed and replaced with refurbished, mothballed T-62 (c. 1970) (2500-3000 remaining in storage). With proper tactics and better tech, Leopard 2 and Abrams should be able to give T-62's complementary ventilation with their visit to Ukrainian land. NATO allies aren't necessarily sending the latest gen of all hardware, but it's serviceable for the purpose. The Russian army has already lost 4000+ tanks by all causes. My thinking is the Russian army is critically low on FLIR tank gear, with most of it reserved for defense of the homeland.

Good news for NATO, but does it matter when Russia has 7x the production capacity?

https://www.businessinsider.com/russia-ammunition-manufactur...

How does a country with so many sanctions have the ability to do this?

It helps to be the largest country on Earth (11 timezones), with a population > 140 million.

They have all the natural resources and manpower they need to make ammunition till the end of time, if that's what they want to focus on.

Yep. People like to focus on the most cutting edge tech like stealth fighters and AI drones because it's scary and sexy, but it's amazing how effective 100 year old tech of cheap mass produced rifle rounds and artillery shells can be at putting people in the ground, and will continue to do so for 100 more years.

Not with much more accurate ammo counter-battering them.

I also read that their guns are wearing out which limits their range, which means they have to move closer to the front, making them even more vulnerable.

Not sure if still above 140 millions. Pandemic, emigration associated with war, war losses, reduced immigration, reduced births numbers could have some significant effects.

From your article:

> Despite growing concern, Western officials said Russia's breakneck speed of actually using its military equipment is still outpacing its production levels: the country fired about 10 million rounds of artillery last year, but is on track to produce just two million rounds this year.

I've also heard that Russia has significant problems with guns, in addition to rounds. And shot-for-shot effectiveness of Russian artillery is several times less than the Ukrainian one. So I guess many factors are relevant here.

If you're suggesting Russia doesn't supply soldiers with match grade ammo you're correct. For the average infantryman I'm not sure how much it matters.

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