War in Ukraine, technical and military aspects only

[bojan]

Yes, trying to shoehorn equipment into doctrine can be real PITA. That is less noticeable with tanks because ultimately "tank is tank" (as long as they are even broadly comparable in capabilities) is true on large scale, but there is specific equipment that has to be developed specifically for each country. Like AD communication/command networks.

17 hours ago, Stefan Kotsch said:

... Sometimes orders are placed, but often not.

Yes, and for every wheeled SPG (that are all rage and that came from mostly commercial interests*) we have pages upon pages in old Janes of the failed projects that none bought because while they looked cool none actually asked for them. 

*Not totally true since YPA (and probably others) considered commercial trucks based 122mm and 152mm guns already in early 1980s. And there was also Czech DANA, through it was not same thing technically as other wheeled SPGs having much more complicated dedicated chassis.

 

[seahawk]

Actually there was always a desire to replace towed guns with self driving and more mobile solutions since at least the 1970ies. Truck solutions were cheaper than tank based solutions and cost was a huge topic for potential customers. Many of those customers however decided that the towed guns are good enough or that artillery as such is no longer needed and therefore bought nothing. 

[TrustMe]

5 hours ago, seahawk said:

Actually there was always a desire to replace towed guns with self driving and more mobile solutions since at least the 1970ies. Truck solutions were cheaper than tank based solutions and cost was a huge topic for potential customers. Many of those customers however decided that the towed guns are good enough or that artillery as such is no longer needed and therefore bought nothing. 

 

You can fight a war without artillery, but you'd win a war quicker if you had it.

[urbanoid]

Towed guns have been maybe not an extinct, but definitely an endangered species in Western militaries in recent decades.

[alejandro_]

On 12/6/2025 at 6:26 PM, Roman Alymov said:

 As for me, BMP-3 in its current form is waste of resources. We need cheaper vehicle with roomy steel hull, less armament (may be, no armament at all). better protection (especially from directions traditionally considered not important like roof etc.) and big rear door(s).

Thank you Roman. Regarding BMP-3, I agree as lack of ramp and vulnerability to catastrophic detonation makes it vulnerable. A few years ago Kurganets presented new variants, which could have been produced with modest retooling, but no interests from Russian MoD followed.

https://topwar.ru/82286-pervyy-pokaz-modernizirovannoy-bmp-3m-dragun.html

[seahawk]

53 minutes ago, TrustMe said:

 

You can fight a war without artillery, but you'd win a war quicker if you had it.

But we reached the end of history and wars were only expeditionary at best. 

[bojan]

7 hours ago, seahawk said:

Actually there was always a desire to replace towed guns with self driving and more mobile solutions since at least the 1970ies...

AFAIK all proposed ones from the '70s used specialized chassis, not commercially available ones, hence were more similar to DANA/G6 than to the current crop of wheeled SPGs (except that RCH abomination).

Technically, idea goes all the way back to pre-WW1, but revival of idea started happening in 1980s, then got postponed due the end of CW, then revived again in 2000s.

 

[Roman Alymov]

Rare view into almost intact pro-Ukr "long-range drone" (ultralight E-300 «SkyRanger» plane converted into drone). Note one set of controls and one seat left, probably for test flights or pilot who is later leaving the plane with parachute)

https://t.me/infomil_live/24908

[Roman Alymov]

18 hours ago, Roman Alymov said:

Rare view into almost intact pro-Ukr "long-range drone" (ultralight E-300 «SkyRanger» plane converted into drone). Note one set of controls and one seat left, probably for test flights or pilot who is later leaving the plane with parachute)

https://t.me/infomil_live/24908

Also, video of the same type of drone shot down on very low altitude when approaching Grozny. Note how vulnarable this drones are eben to modest AA groups with rifles and light MGs when they fly low to avoid radars and such group happens to be on the way..... https://t.me/RKadyrov_95/6211

[alejandro_]

On Monday, December 8, the pilot of the Su-27, Lieutenant Colonel Yevheniy Ivanov, who was performing a combat mission, died, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported on Facebook.

The Air Force clarified that the tragedy occurred in the eastern direction. The circumstances of the disaster are being investigated.

Yevgeny Ivanov was the senior navigator of the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade.

https://nv.ua/ukr/ukraine/events/pid-chas-vikonannya-boyovogo-zavdannya-na-su-27-zaginuv-pidpolkovnik-yevgeniy-ivanov-50566833.html

In Russia an An-22 crashed today at Ivanovo, 7 dead. This aircraft was retired in 2024 but there were plans to take one to a museum.

[Roman Alymov]

On 12/8/2025 at 7:57 PM, Roman Alymov said:

Rare view into almost intact pro-Ukr "long-range drone" (ultralight E-300 «SkyRanger» plane converted into drone). Note one set of controls and one seat left, probably for test flights or pilot who is later leaving the plane with parachute)

https://t.me/infomil_live/24908

And Mad Max: this aircraft/drone transported out of combat zone https://t.me/infomil_live/24941

[Roman Alymov]

10 hours ago, alejandro_ said:

In Russia an An-22 crashed today at Ivanovo, 7 dead. This aircraft was retired in 2024 but there were plans to take one to a museum.

That is in fact very strange story. This An-22 was for very long time the last flying aircraft of that type in Tramsport Aviation (Kept flying for rare occasions when there was a need to transport something wider then An-124 could handle), but it was finally written off and was sitting on ground (!) airfield near Ekaterinburg undergoing decomissioning as it was to go to UGMK Museum in Pushma off Ekaterinburg.

    Here is the article about this plane with photos Последний летавший Ан-22 - в ожидании второй жизни в техническом музее - ТЕХНОСФЕРА Россия https://tehnoomsk.ru/archives/18388?ysclid=miz4v7e02n494136785

   Actually, it is not clear if it was this plane or some of stored airframes was activated  https://tehnoomsk.ru/archives/22623?ysclid=miz4plnbio834200343

The AN-22 was officially decommissioned by the Russian Aerospace Forces in 2024, but in 2025 it appeared in the sky
on 12/9/2025.

A rather detective story took place on December 9, 2025 in the Ivanovo region, where the AN-22A Antey heavy military transport aircraft crashed. The fact is that the official operation of this type of aircraft in our country was discontinued in 2024. Why was the An-22 lifted into the sky at the end of 2025, and even "after repair" (according to Russian media)?

Indeed, the mysterious case of the resumption of operation of an already decommissioned aircraft raises many questions. But first, let's remember why the An-22A was decided to stop being used in our military transport aviation. 

This military transport aircraft was produced in the USSR in 1965-1975 and is known as the world's largest serial turboprop-powered transport aircraft. The AN-22 is an original and very impressive machine. Since its appearance, this aircraft has always aroused great interest in its appearance, even among people far from aviation. The Antey used the same NK-12 engines as the Tu-95 strategic bomber, characterized by high reliability, enormous power (15,000 hp) and ... very loud. With a length of just over 57 meters and a wingspan of about 64 meters, the aircraft has a normal takeoff weight of 205 tons and can carry up to 80 tons of cargo. The crew consists of 5-7 people. The range of the machine depends on the load. On average, it is about 5,000 km. The AN-22 has a maximum speed of 650 km/h, cruising speed is at 560 km/h. In the Soviet and Russian armies, the AN-22 was used to transport various goods, including outside the country. A total of 68 such large machines were built, 9 were lost during operation (including the airframe lost on December 9, 2025).

By 2024, the Russian Air Force still had 4 An-22s in flight condition and 2 in preservation — all were based in the Tver region and belonged to the last batch of Anteev (a modification of the An-22A), produced in 1975. In fact, the machines had been operating for about 50 years, and maintaining their airworthiness due to actual wear and tear raised many questions.

In September 2024, one of the remaining aircraft (RF-09309) performed its last flight and landed on a dirt runway in Aramil (Sverdlovsk Region), after which it was stored at the UZGA Test Base. At the same time, it was reported that this was actually the last An-22A to be preserved for history and displayed in Russia's largest technical museum in the suburbs of Yekaterinburg.:

Information published many times during 2024 indicated that the remaining aircraft based in Tver (the 8th Military Transport Aviation Regiment of the BTA of the Russian Air Force) were to be disposed of. Which was confirmed by the military.

However, single An-22 flights were recorded in 2025. Here, for example, is a photo from a Russian Internet resource Russianplanes.net , dated January 12, 2025 and taken in Nizhny Novgorod, where the An-22A RF-08832 "Vasily Semenenko" flew:

AN-22A RF-08832 "Vasily Semenenko" in Nizhny Novgorod, 12.01.2025. Photo source: https://russianplanes.net/id348833
The tail number of the plane lost  on December 9, 2025 has not been published anywhere yet. However, as mentioned above, her crew conducted a flight overboard after repairs. And they don't do repairs on planes that are being prepared for recycling. Thus, the single "Anthey" obviously still wanted to be used for some time. It is unclear why it was announced a year earlier about the complete cessation of the aircraft type.

 

[Roman Alymov]

FiberFPVs vs. Sweedish CV-90 IFV covered in hangar, Sumy region. Seems like NATO armor is back to frontline from rear area reserve areas

https://t.me/boris_rozhin/190084

[RETAC21]

Has Russian Electronic Warfare Underperformed in the Ukrainian Conflict?

Interesting read

https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2369&context=jss

[Stuart Galbraith]

On 12/8/2025 at 11:30 AM, urbanoid said:

Towed guns have been maybe not an extinct, but definitely an endangered species in Western militaries in recent decades.

In the British Army they are all we have right now.

 

[Stuart Galbraith]

26 minutes ago, RETAC21 said:

Has Russian Electronic Warfare Underperformed in the Ukrainian Conflict?

Interesting read

https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2369&context=jss

Wouldnt be surprising if it had, considering an apparently operational jammer unit ended up in the hands of the Ukrainians in the early weeks of the war.

[Roman Alymov]

41 minutes ago, Stuart Galbraith said:

Wouldnt be surprising if it had, considering an apparently operational jammer unit ended up in the hands of the Ukrainians in the early weeks of the war.

  There is nothing especially eye-opening in EW equipment. The main problem of Soviet (and, later, Russian) concept of EW was it was based on big and powerful stations (truck-size or even several trucks) while practice of war showed they are too vulnarable when operated close to frontline (where they are needed most). Result is, now this big stations are doing their job in rear areas (jamming enemy drones but, also, often jamming own radio networks) while frontline is more or less covered with relatively small (sometimes even hand-held) cheap stations made of Chineese commercial components. This type of EW was completely missing in Soviet concept (as well as in Western one, as far as i understand).

[JWB]

The Wizard War:

 

[JWB]

How it works:

 

[JWB]

Psyops:

 

[JWB]

The Ukrainian company ARes has developed an acoustic detection system that provides precise location data for FPVs and UAVs.
A phased-array system of microphones uses bimodal beamforming to scan the sky for millions of sound “beams” to locate sources of noise.

https://x.com/GrandpaRoy2/status/1997052104544837858

 

[JWB]

The Ukrainian company AirNet has developed a net launcher with an integrated radar system for targeting enemy UAVs.
The net system weighs just 780 g, allowing mounting on any quadcopter including Mavic 3.
The operator brings the hunter drone within 6 m of the target.

 

[JWB]

Road is closed until further notice:

https://t.me/kyriienko_press/554

[Josh]

It seems odd that a vehicle assault would be attempted when the Russians were already in possession of most of the city. Perhaps there was fog/rain predicted that failed to sufficiently cover the attack?

[alejandro_]

Footage has been published of a Ukrainian An-196 heavy UAV being shot down by a Russian Verba MANPADS, possibly an Igla MANPADS. The video is archival and was presumably filmed in early autumn. Technical information on both MANPADS is available in the link to the video in the comments.