I'd say their planes are using certain transponders to identify them...these transponders have frequency changes so the Russians can't duplicate them.
Russia and Ukraine
- Thread starter Bumblebee
- Start date
Explain a bit more please. How does the average soldier on the ground in the middle of nowhere know whether or not the plane hes looking at and getting ready to fire on know who’s plane it is?
Radar signatures....anti-air radar will relay enemy aircraft to teams...
As far as the Stinger teams, they would either tap into radar systems to identify enemy aircraft or use visual recognition...either way, arming a Stinger, identifying, seeking and locking on a moving target isn't the easiest thing to do...but once the lock is made, the missile is a fire and forget unit mostly used against helicopters.
Anti-air missiles for fast air targets have their own radar and fire and forget missiles...
Neither of these systems have 100% kill rates and can be circumvented.
Very true. I grew up with F-4 Phantoms all around me and it was painful when they were retired. No matter what is new, the F4 will always be the baddest thing in the sky for me. It's amazing but the gull-winged Corsair is nearly as fast as an A10. Time marches on and once in a while, a weapon system becomes a myth. But even myths have to retire eventually. I am surprised no one has put the Gatling cannon in the internal weapons bay of an F-35 C........
I've read somewhere that there is a newer version of the A-10 coming out....
............and a replacement for the Apache as well but I haven't seen anything official.
Of course what the public sees and what is really out there are two different things.
michael parris heuberger
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Hi. Did you ever catch a flight in one? I did in 67.
RacingJake
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We had RF4C's at Zweibrucken AB in Germany and one was shot down over the Med by USN Jet during war games. Pilot didn't know he was hit until he looked in the rear view mirror then punched out. The Egress Shop got lot's of German beer that day. All we had were camera's and the Navy had missiles, not a fair fight.
The F4 is like riding in a Cadillac, a 50,000 lb one and faster than an F16. At Luke AFB we had 20mm gun pods for the F4's that look really cool, I can still smell the JP4 today like I was still on the ramp.
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We were at Tyndall years ago for some training and they were using the F4s as unmanned target drones for the F-15s to target.....they had red wings and tails for visibility...
It was kind of surreal to go through the training area and see the odd F4 on the ground-I guess a few of them had issues and just went down before they got hit.
RacingJake
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The only time I was at Tyndall was for NCO Academy school, nice area and love the site seeing !
I was talking to J79 Engine Mechanic and he said they were so top heavy you could do 20 years and retire as a SSgt, no room to advance even if you scored 100 on the PFE and AFSC test.
TallTom
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Desperate times make for desperate measures.
My dad joined the Army the day after Pearl Harbor was bombed. He dropped out of college to do that.
He was designated to become a fighter pilot. He had never flown an aircraft in his life.
He had 18 hours in flight time before being sent to Europe. None of which were in his designated plane, (the P47).
They teach on the job.
They needed all the bodies they could get.
Sounds like not much is different.
The ground troops in WW2 had longer training intervals as their mission is very much different (as you well know). Teaching on the job in a ground war gets people killed as they have to contend with everything from land-mines to artillery strikes.
These ill-trained people (I won't call them troops) will be nothing but targets for Ukraine.
If Putin is smart, and admittedly there is little reason to think he is at this point, they will use most of the conscripts for labor and support behind the front lines so the experienced troops can focus more on fighting. That will give conscripts a chance to adjust to the rigors of fighting a war, for what that's worth. Many of the conscripts do have some experience but are certainly not in battle shape.
However given the ramifications of the draft for Putin, I don't see how they would make a significant impact on the fighting - and justify the political impact drafting will have at home. It's possible the Russian losses are dramatically more than even western intelligence is reporting, but probably not. In a modern war, more unskilled people don't help matters - the kill rates now are well below the capability of Ukrainian weapons. So maybe the purpose of these conscripts is not to fight Ukrainians, it's to fight Russians.
The Russian army does domestic suppression and crowd control. It is very conceivable that Putin is concerned about the drain of the war on his protection forces at home.
However given the ramifications of the draft for Putin, I don't see how they would make a significant impact on the fighting - and justify the political impact drafting will have at home. It's possible the Russian losses are dramatically more than even western intelligence is reporting, but probably not. In a modern war, more unskilled people don't help matters - the kill rates now are well below the capability of Ukrainian weapons. So maybe the purpose of these conscripts is not to fight Ukrainians, it's to fight Russians.
The Russian army does domestic suppression and crowd control. It is very conceivable that Putin is concerned about the drain of the war on his protection forces at home.
Hard to say what is going through his mind at this point.
I personally think Russia is really in trouble at this point.....they screwed up the invasion of Ukraine from the onset and it will never recover.
RacingJake
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Putin losing Troops and future Troops like water flowing under a bridge and when he has to bring in the Russian Girl Scouts you know the only thing left is Nukes.
Its WWII tactics all over again. Sending untrained conscripts into the meat grinder is nothing new for them. Nor do they care.
I'm 45 and live in rural Va.
I've been fortunate to actually see several of these expiramental aircrafts/flying triangles, Hav Blue, and other declassified projects from the 70's and up, and throughout my life, this is just a hot spot.
I moved 8 months ago, to a nice quiet spot in the sticks, which is 5 miles down the road from where I originally grew up.
In the 80's...fighter pilots would wave at us on our bikes(yes seriously), as they flew a little under radar, lol.
We got regular shows, as waves quickly turned to folding wings and afterburners.
Fast forward to today, and not much has changed. Ospreys, C130s, and multiple fighters buzz my house weekly(I love it), and by buzz...I mean I can see the pilot(s).
I'm 20ish miles(as the crow flies) from a Dam on a big lake, and it's been a training bomb target since it was built in the late 60's.
But, after dark(I'm a sky watcher, and there is almost no light to brighten the sky anywhere close by), you never know what you'll see.
I watched a fighter hook up and refuel recently(I have a huge view of the sky, watched it for over a minute) and a few times a year, I catch quick glimpses to full views of all kinds of strange crafts, from normal to incredible speeds.
I got to watch 2 fighters escort a black triangle earlier this summer.
I've seen the Airforce one and two helicopters flying together twice too, I assume Bush jr on board as both helicopters were there(so you don't know which one the pres is in), and fighters flew over about a minute before.
I love watching these guys fly over...I'm just waiting for an Osprey to top the trees in my yard, lmao, those pilots are nuts.
I'll have to keep an eye out for anything shaped like that new Warthog(I havn't seen an old one of those in years).
Sorry to ramble off subject, but I love this stuff.
While on missions, there is lots going on but would often miss it as we were focused on our task but there are times when in a covert observation stance and we would be able to oversee a ground battle and it's fast and slow air support....it's quite a spectacle to see in person.
Watching the A-10s doing their runs or seeing an Apache Cross bow cresting and setting up an attack or seeing the fast air come streaking across the battlefield delivering ordnance is quite something...
Watching Specter deliver an attack at night is something to see as well...
Then there's the sounds of battle....after a while you can depict what is shooting by the sound.
Wonder if they'll deploy the death squads to shoot retreating Russian troops too...?
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