@thinkdefence Sorry, slightly off topic, but just thought; do drones do anything fundamental to our choosing to fight at night?
I'm supposing it does something at the budget end both sides of the coin.
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Captain Nemo
272 posts
If you were distilling the lessons from Ukraine (whilst being selective), how does an armoured or mechanised brigade ORBAT change?. Should we even use traditional square or triangular brigade structures?
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@GerietWendler @Stu_Lyle @JaysonGeroux And a Shepherds Leap will get you down again 🙂
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@GerietWendler @Stu_Lyle @JaysonGeroux Bamboo seems to unlock another level 😀
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Excellent video of the Cold War Bundeswere demonstrating urban assault tactics.
Note the pole climb technique to get the first soldier up a building. They can then drop lines for others to climb.
Grappling hooks and lines also demonstrated, but these are trickier to get right. Also harder to climb with current soldier loadouts.
I also like the demo of firing through doors before breaching. When in a deliberate assault, this can trigger a concealing enemy to reveal themselves or suppress them prior to breaching.
Cracking training area, too. Rubble, complex buildings, fire(!). Very impressive.
Thanks to @HGWellsHouse for tagging me in and @wartirnes for the original post.
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@thinkdefence I recently learned that the Polish Aero 4 is built on a Toyota Land Cruiser. Not that everything has to be a Toyota Land cruiser.
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Pictured:
UNAC Fardier Rider all terrain air portable vehicle. This is a well engineered and capable design from France
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@Stu_Lyle @wartirnes There's a very atmospheric scene where there's smoke drifting through the rafters of a broken roof, I wasn't sure if they'd escalated the building to 'on fire' and 'no longer playable' (so to speak); but probably just residual I think.
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@HGWellsHouse @wartirnes I do love me some rubble. Cheers.
I also very much liked the internal fire. If properly thought out it would make a good additional teaching moment for troops.
Doctrine does mention having fire fighting materials when conducting defence, but this is rare to see being practiced.
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How West Germany Prepared for Urban War (1977) 🇩🇪
Rare footage from the official Bundeswehr “Classix” series showing Fallschirmjägerbataillon 251 conducting intense urban warfare drills near Karlsruhe.
Armed with G3 rifles and MG3 machine guns, these elite paratroopers rehearse aggressive building assaults, room clearing, stairwell fighting, and combat inside ruined structures, preparing for the brutal reality of city fighting against Warsaw Pact forces.
Even in 1977, the German military understood that the next war could be decided in dense urban terrain.
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@TomSharpe134 Some sort of sweet spot to be found in allowing it to be 'dumb' enough to get the 300 days a year of a River but then offering utility for short ops as wingman.
Also with an eye to unit cost.
Weapons/Role being RoRo would help; already a direction of travel of course.
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Good pints from David here.
And this ‘very small crew’ option gaining traction , at least in the conversations I’m having. Historically it’s not something the Navy is good at so needs to be added to the ‘cultural reboot’ list, but makes sense for the sloops, I think.
David Blagden@blagden_david
Maybe. But if you build a USV that can do everything a crewed sloop might do, couldn’t it work even better with ~20 people onboard who could fix defects, make strategically prudent choices even if denied comms, and give foes pause before running it down with a ‘merchant’ ship?
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@Steveo11011 @Stu_Lyle @YouTube He also shot through an apc with a 6.5mm Glock recently. Small arms are such a rabbit hole, I'm glad we pay Mr Lyle to do it.
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@HGWellsHouse @Stu_Lyle Forgotten Weapons did a critique of the proposed 6.8 He made an assertion that you can probably get specialist ammo at 5.56 with much improved penetration if you needed it-very expensive, but less cost than a whole new rifle youtu.be/kqlKXrwmRMQ?si… via @YouTube
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A rare sighting of an SLR/FN FAL at 0:10. A clear escalation of force by the Coalition troops!
Full spectrum of infantry lethality on display, but still backed up by Bradley IFV with integral TOW missiles and cannon fire.
Archive Warfare@archivewarfare
Battle of Ramadi – U.S. Marines vs Insurgents | Iraq, May 20, 2006 Raw combat footage capturing intense street-to-street fighting in Ramadi during the Iraq War. On May 20, 2006, U.S. Marines came under heavy and sustained small-arms fire while moving through a neighborhood in one of the most dangerous cities at the time.
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@Stu_Lyle @Steveo11011 I saw a Ukrainian SF type demonstrating his FIBUA gear, he had 16 x 5.56 magazines; more magazine than man.
Be interesting to see whether the US rows back on it.
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So, there is an argument that 6.8 is good for defeating targets behind walls. It's certainly better than 5.56 at doing so (though 5.56 can still defeat walls better than some think).
The problem is that with fleeting targets at awkward angles and at close ranges, the characteristics you need for these are a lightweight rifle with low recoil (for quick follow-up shots) and high mag capacity. While you can shoot through a wall with 6.8, this is not always advantageous (i.e. can lead to friendly fire or civilian deaths). It is also not always certain where exactly behind the wall the bad guy is, so this is a more niche capability than some are arguing.
I'm still a fan of 5.56 for most troops, but am all for something bigger for a designated marksman.
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@Stu_Lyle @Steveo11011 Thanks, you just had me thinking on the calibre thing.
The 5.56 vs 6.8 argument that you're just mostly supressing until they're killed by something else.
I wondered how well it tracked.
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There tends to be a higher representation of small arms and a lower rep of indirect fire than other environments. Indirect fire is more constrained & buildings reduce their effectiveness.
Blast injuries (from arty, tanks, grenades, demo charges, etc.) still account for the majority, though.
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@Stu_Lyle @Steveo11011 What causes most casualties in Urban? I'm guessing its its own microclimate for the both the calibre and indirect fires conversations.
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The weird mix of camo (looks like Desert Choc Chip and M81 Woodland) used by those firing non-US weapons, makes me think Iraqi security forces. They're also wearing plain, tan helmet covers and dark helmet bands, not US camo ones.
Questions remain on the "proportionality" of unleashing an SLR, though.
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@thinkdefence
Idle thought on the 'UK unprotected!' of a short while ago.
I'm reading OSD for the six T45 as 2038. RN will embrace Mk41 VLS but Sylver will still be supported by other navies.
Is there a rare window of opportunity for an 'Aster Ashore' on the cheap?
Shit idea?
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@Zaphod2042 Via a 20Kt ground burst, could you imagine the improvement it would make within seconds
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New Labour never left office
The dearth of talent is lacking in Labour, they have to re-animate long rejected politicians.
Shocking state of affairs
Politics UK@PolitlcsUK
🚨 NEW: Keir Starmer has appointed Harriet Harman as the PM’s adviser on Women and Girls as part of No 10’s shakeup after the local elections
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@thinkdefence Ahhh, okay, thank you.
Also stops those brawls on the ground I guess.
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@HGWellsHouse Because they are free drop, lots of boxes are dangerous. So they have a small number of massive boxes that disintegrate on exit and individual rations that then fall to earth
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Some might say this is just a cardboard box, but there was a lot of thought that went into its development, especially for reducing risk to those on the ground when compared to conventional air despatch techniques. OK, its a cardboard box 😃
Think Defence@thinkdefence
This short clip illustrates the Tri-Wall Aerial Delivery TRIADS), used for low cost and low risk air delivery of Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDR)
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@thinkdefence I realise it's a different animal, but still.
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Gawain Towler@GHWTowler
Those Tory seats in Essex Kemi: Ref - 31% Con - 29% Priti: Ref - 37% Con - 27% Cleverly: Ref - 39% Con - 24%
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I say, Mr Farage does seem to be a rather polarising figure doesnt he?
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@thinkdefence Do you think there's a case for having a RC trailer as standard if a good price point can be found?
So a big general barrow bleeding into platoon RPV, but cheap enough to use and lose.
I know Ukr have a $35k RC UGV.
See also your UGV invitational.
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LMV seems to be moving forward, the runners and riders are stabilising, and requirements evolving to their final form. Hope we get some news soon
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