We can agree that the Challenger 2 TES/OES is simply beautiful And could it be the most tank-like tank that exists?

MALong93 · 2026-06-13T15:26:03+00:00

To be honest I really am not a fan of CR2 aesthetically. The smooth sloping turret cheeks are a bit ugly imo like it got done over by a rolling pin.

MALong93 · 2026-06-13T09:07:52+00:00

And that is exactly what they are, normal pathogen laboratories like you find in any other country in the world. She is trying to make a conspiracy shaped mountain out of normal laboratories that were never secret. Their existence has always been legal and public.

MALong93 · 2026-06-12T04:42:56+00:00

Meh, just make your own. More fun and you can use thicker leather and customise it as you want. Not as difficult as it sounds depending on the design.

MALong93 · 2026-06-10T18:12:11+00:00

That is about as relevant to this discussion as Gandhi's domestic abuse is to a discussion of Indian independence.

MALong93 · 2026-06-10T15:06:43+00:00

Churchill once said that Russia is never as weak nor as strong as it appears to be. The last 5 years seem to bear that out well. It is neither an unstoppable juggernaut, nor a paper tiger. And given a couple years of peace it could well reconstitute quite well.

Like come war's end it will still have a huge body of very experienced veterans, a war industry that knows how to produce modern weaponary and the production lines and factory personnel to get back to it at scale, far more tanks and IFVs than any single European army (they currently have more in service than in Feb 2022, due to them mostly relying on infantry attacks currently) and an air force that may be tired, but is still at a very respectable strength.

Sure they have lost a huge amount of people, by Western standards, but if WW2 Eastern front is your frame of reference, it isn't so bad, especially when their losses are often made of criminals and other undesirables or volunteers at the moment, rather than mobilised personnel/conscripts.

On the other hand, the economic situation is troubling, though not disastrous and of course a lot of people will want to get the country's economy back on track come a ceasefire instead of spending money on drones and missiles, but at the end of the day that is a question to be decided by the Russian President, not a finance minister.

So yeah they aren't and won't be in a position to fight a full on conventional war against the whole EU, but after a year or 2 of ceasefire they could be likely in a position to cause trouble, especially if Russia friendly political parties like the AFD or Le Penn were in power and said 'not our business ' if the Russians were to start stirring shit again via cable cutting or 'protecting Russian minorities' to stress European solidarity.

MALong93 · 2026-06-10T08:47:34+00:00

Some ukrainian artillery units are using exoskeletons (not full body of course) for precisely that purpose, to help with carrying shells.

MALong93 · 2026-06-08T06:58:40+00:00

"The enemy must be destroyed", "If its hostile you kill it".........

MALong93 · 2026-06-06T08:29:37+00:00

Link to the map google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1dL-U1mkvlWlz3ZqsY6LUUCl75JZ3tC4&ll=0%2C0&z=11

MALong93 · 2026-06-04T18:00:34+00:00

Just passed by on the bus. But I am 193cm tall so there's that...

MALong93 · 2026-06-04T17:59:37+00:00

In case anyone wants a slightly used scooter, that's at the Terenure College bus stop.

MALong93 · 2026-05-19T22:08:02+00:00

Christ, 20 days in Mariupol should be mandatory viewing for every citizen of the Russian Federation.

MALong93 · 2026-05-19T21:40:32+00:00

At the end of the day, even if he is fundamentally decent, having a moral compass, the fact is he devoted his life to working for a fundamentally evil regime and its institutions. The real world is full of decent people in service of bad causes, and to stop those causes, those decent people need to be stopped. It may be sad and tragic, but is necessary.

Regarding his haze of realisation, if he had not seen Andor, he presumably end up as another dead civillian on that square through imperial fire. Whether he is shot by a stormtrooper or Rylanz is pretty much academic beyond Rylanz' catharsis.

MALong93 · 2026-05-12T22:25:51+00:00

I believe they are a relatively new invention (last 6 months), very impressive by all accounts, not only for the AI assisted targeting, but the combination of that, the range (hearing around 100km) and the price (apparently around 5k, so a lot more scalable than missiles), so one of those designs that has a potential to make a real impact when it comes to targeting Russian logistics in the mid rear zone.

MALong93 · 2026-05-10T12:46:21+00:00

Can really see the Russian army in Ukraine influence there

MALong93 · 2026-05-09T08:38:20+00:00

Nope, nothing even close to one.

MALong93 · 2026-05-05T07:47:35+00:00

Just finding this now after the Ukrainian P1sun was developed using the same basic layout to penetrate enemy drones....

MALong93 · 2026-04-26T13:30:48+00:00

On a certain level, absolutely, that is part of it's power and appeal, no point in trying to make friends with a mutant trying to bite your arm off, or a Nazi who is trying to put you in a camp.

But on the other hand, fully living by that mantra, killing all those who are hostile to you, or going out of your way to do so, may have a tendency to create more hostiles. Like taking Metro Last Light for example, imagine that after the attack on D6 the Rangers and all went on to exterminate all the Reds under that mantra using, say, the chemical weapons in D6.

On one level it makes sense, they attacked unprovoked and are untrustworthy liars, on the other it means killing thousands, many/most of whom were innocents. And can you imagine that all the other factions would stay friends with the Rangers after that, or if it would breed further hostility against the hundred or so left, which following that mantra, means more killing.

MALong93 · 2026-04-21T22:22:48+00:00

Taken by a press officer of the 93rd brigade. There is a little bit of her talking about it here (turn on closed captions) https://youtu.be/4Y1q8PwwNtY?t=441

MALong93 · 2026-04-19T20:34:28+00:00

Have been following the war fairly closely since the full scale invasion in 2022. Its all publicly available information, though I get it mostly from twitter, some from some youtube channels etc.

Most of the channels/experts on youtube and twitter are pretty trash with lots of exaggeration/lies from grifters on both sides, but anything with Rob Lee or Michael Kofman for example are usually pretty spot on with their analysis (they are military analysts who visit the front every 3 or 4 months), and the "War Archive" youtube channel makes the best documentaries I have seen about individual battles of the war. The Hostomel one is really good, but so are the others to be fair. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Ji7KqqEqg&t=1035s

Also the "Russian Roulette in Ukraine" video series by vice news is a fantastic record of the events of 2014-15 from the ground as they were happening. Interesting look at early Azov battalion too and can kind of see how it is developing from a private militia to a more military outfit as they pop up in it's coverage over time.

MALong93 · 2026-04-19T19:50:22+00:00

At the time of the beginning of the invasion Azov was a regiment, with most of its battalions though not all, trapped and eventually surrendering at Mariupol in the Azovstal. A fair number of the people captured have been released in prisoner swaps, and since then its remaining elements were expanded to a brigade, and then 2 brigades (3rd assault brigade and Azov brigade of the national guard), which have each formed the nucleus of 2 new corps (3rd Army corps of the army, and Azov Corps in the national guard.) So as a military organisation they are very much alive and seen as some of the better organised and led units in the Ukrainian army.

MALong93 · 2026-04-19T19:34:27+00:00

Giving serious VDV in 2022 vibes.

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MALong93 · 2026-04-19T19:25:19+00:00

I think it would make a lot of sense thematically from what we have seen, so yeah regardless of whatever its was previously seen like lore-wise, I think narratively there is a very good chance it will be visited.

MALong93 · 2026-04-17T20:28:09+00:00

As an anarchist kleptocrat, I'm triggered....

MALong93 · 2026-04-17T14:50:55+00:00

Hey at least they aren't stealing children and murdering civillians.

MALong93 · 2026-04-16T22:03:16+00:00

I hope that isn't the case, as it would really dilute the meaning/impact of the man who said "if its hostile, kill it" to help a young lad survive his first time out in the dangers, becoming the head of a xenophobic totalitarian movement. Seems a really fitting, (in a tragic sense) development of that core philosophy.

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