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Russia military is a pitiful shell of the former Soviet glory. Putin’s actions in Ukraine have effectively demilitarized them. They squandered their inheritance

Russia military is a pitiful shell of the former Soviet glory. Putin’s actions in Ukraine have effectively demilitarized them. They squandered their inheritance of Soviet equipment like an 18 year old in Vegas. Their nuclear force is a giant question mark. Their three legs of the nuclear triad are quite shaky. In the event of a MAD exchange; Their boomers won’t get a missile off due to the fast attacks that keep them targeted at all times. Their bombers and cruise missiles have been depleted and their facilities are so insecure Ukraine is able to hit them with drones from the 70s. Maybe their ICBMs work, but given their culture of graft and corruption even that is doubtful. They are a joke.

nradov 4y ago
You're mostly correct, but Russian SSBNs spend much of their time in their own territorial waters. NATO SSNs seldom venture in there as it's just too risky. The boomers can even launch SLBMs when tied up at the pier in Severomorsk if they have to. And they are conducting successful test launches again. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/new-russian-submarine-successfully-fires-ballistic-missile-defence-ministry-2022-11-03/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/new-russian-submarine-s... Even if only 10% of Russia's strategic nuclear weapons work correctly that can still make for a really bad day.
082349872349872 4y ago
Speaking of ICBM's, I'm sure they use more sophisticated targeting now, but in the early days they'd astrogate for any necessary mid-course corrections. (Cannot remember if I saw this procedure on a film narrated by von Braun himself, but I doubt it; I think I saw him in a Disney)
- nradov 4y ago
  ICBMs still use a mix of stellar and inertial navigation. They can't rely on satellite navigation because in a major conflict those may be destroyed or jammed. Some modern ICBMs might also have some limited terminal guidance capacity but there's not much public information on that subject.
  - LarryMullins 4y ago
    With SLBMs, GPS (and the predecessors to GPS e.g. NAVSAT) are/were used to determine where exactly they were being launched from. The ballistic missile submarine would determine its precise location before launch using these satellite geolocating systems and use that position to calculate the flight path which inertial guidance in the missile would follow. This was useful because inertial navigation in the submarines was imperfect, but having a precise location fix for the submarine was important if you wanted to shoot at things precisely. Of course with ICBMs launched from fixed silos, the origin point was precisely known from the onset.
    - 082349872349872 4y ago
      Believing a satnav constellation will still be up by launch time sounds awfully like an implicit first strike philosophy?
NaturalPhallacy 4y ago
>Russia military is a pitiful shell of the former Soviet glory. Putin’s actions in Ukraine have effectively demilitarized them. And yet the war is ~8 months long and counting. "The other guy's military is trash." propaganda happens in every war, and on both sides, if you've studied even a few. We just cleared the sale of 116 Abrams tanks to Poland: https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/12/07/us-state-dept-clears-sale-of-abrams-tanks-to-poland/ https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/12/07/us-state-dept-cl... From the article: >Polish defense officials have said the acquisition will enable the country’s military to counter Russia’s flagship T-14 Armata tank. The procurement will also allow Warsaw to replace its outdated Soviet-designed T-72 and PT-91 tanks with a new tracked vehicle platform. The people on the ground conducting the war don't seem to think they've been "effectively demilitarized".

nradov 4y ago

You're mostly correct, but Russian SSBNs spend much of their time in their own territorial waters. NATO SSNs seldom venture in there as it's just too risky. The boomers can even launch SLBMs when tied up at the pier in Severomorsk if they have to. And they are conducting successful test launches again. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/new-russian-submarine-successfully-fires-ballistic-missile-defence-ministry-2022-11-03/ https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/new-russian-submarine-s... Even if only 10% of Russia's strategic nuclear weapons work correctly that can still make for a really bad day.

082349872349872 4y ago

Speaking of ICBM's, I'm sure they use more sophisticated targeting now, but in the early days they'd astrogate for any necessary mid-course corrections. (Cannot remember if I saw this procedure on a film narrated by von Braun himself, but I doubt it; I think I saw him in a Disney)

nradov 4y ago
ICBMs still use a mix of stellar and inertial navigation. They can't rely on satellite navigation because in a major conflict those may be destroyed or jammed. Some modern ICBMs might also have some limited terminal guidance capacity but there's not much public information on that subject.
- LarryMullins 4y ago
  With SLBMs, GPS (and the predecessors to GPS e.g. NAVSAT) are/were used to determine where exactly they were being launched from. The ballistic missile submarine would determine its precise location before launch using these satellite geolocating systems and use that position to calculate the flight path which inertial guidance in the missile would follow. This was useful because inertial navigation in the submarines was imperfect, but having a precise location fix for the submarine was important if you wanted to shoot at things precisely. Of course with ICBMs launched from fixed silos, the origin point was precisely known from the onset.
  - 082349872349872 4y ago
    Believing a satnav constellation will still be up by launch time sounds awfully like an implicit first strike philosophy?

NaturalPhallacy 4y ago

>Russia military is a pitiful shell of the former Soviet glory. Putin’s actions in Ukraine have effectively demilitarized them. And yet the war is ~8 months long and counting. "The other guy's military is trash." propaganda happens in every war, and on both sides, if you've studied even a few. We just cleared the sale of 116 Abrams tanks to Poland: https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/12/07/us-state-dept-clears-sale-of-abrams-tanks-to-poland/ https://www.defensenews.com/land/2022/12/07/us-state-dept-cl... From the article: >Polish defense officials have said the acquisition will enable the country’s military to counter Russia’s flagship T-14 Armata tank. The procurement will also allow Warsaw to replace its outdated Soviet-designed T-72 and PT-91 tanks with a new tracked vehicle platform. The people on the ground conducting the war don't seem to think they've been "effectively demilitarized".