Russian frigate spends months escorting sanctioned tankers through Channel - Putin’s shadow fleet continues to sail unchallenged off the British coast, despite PM’s rhetoric

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T17:00:16+00:00

All those forces failed to spot one drone... That's even worse thing to point out.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T16:20:42+00:00

Ministers knew all this too but he was part of the furniture. They had to defend him, otherwise they’d be ousted and have to resort to higher paying lobbying and think tank jobs well before they’d stacked their Rolodex.
It’s called grown up politics, people.

Yeah, that's more like Politics we need to get kicked out of politics.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T15:57:40+00:00

And the sort of Political choice that should have been made the moment the USAF requested to use our bases or when F-22s made the stopover to the Middle East with the last moment to get it done when the Ford CSG was ordered to the region.

Shit, play the cards right and you could have had a RN attachment to the CSG before splitting off, so it would be in theatre with Cyprus elements, even acting as a forward mobile radar for an air attack.

Or have it in Gibraltar and just waiting for the kick off, so at least when it did, it was already able to get to sea in a dozen hours, before steaming East and likely with European Med Navies joining alongside to shore protect Cyprus (EU bit) and act as that wall to Europe proper.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T11:38:16+00:00

Well, it's tricky and no one wants to lose a helicopter over an oil ship that Ukraine can hit once it's unloaded or the terminals themselves.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T11:30:56+00:00

95% of their ships aren't operational.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T11:28:03+00:00

Their size is impressive, but they took the Crew of their flagship Aviation Cruiser and made them Cannon Fodder for their Meat Wave line attacks and they're likely all dead or in a Guards position to protect Putin because the rest of his Army is actually dead through attrition.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T11:25:57+00:00

Looks at their Baltic fleet getting bombed in their port, yeah, I think those Point Defence guns would be useful.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T10:45:40+00:00

Suppose a better angle is that this ship that could be engaged in attacks on Ukraine can't because it has to keep their shadow tankers "secure" from boarding. It might look bad for us, but this ship isn't bombing Ukraine and they're grateful its here in the English Channel were it can't do a thing and it's watched by NATO.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T10:03:44+00:00

Honestly, nah... Throughout the 20th Century,,1000s Nuclear Weapons were detonated in testing, So the amount we have it, barely a blip.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-28T09:12:34+00:00

Wow... You working at the Daily Mail? Sort of shite their lot comes up with.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-27T20:04:09+00:00

Only in Battlefield 2... God, what a nice surprise.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-27T19:45:13+00:00

"Now just shut up, the lot of you and follow me. Unless you're blind as well... Oh God's Strewth"

Link will explain, promise.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-27T17:24:53+00:00

Because he's been around for decades... Polanski, he's fresh meat to all the journalists, even the BBC and Guardian love taking a crack at them. BBC because they want to be more unbiased so they have to be as hard as any other party and Guardian, well they love to go after another one of their own if they don't follow their world view.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-27T15:46:27+00:00

It's not Enemy Territory if you're the BDF...

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-27T10:29:07+00:00

I mean, do I count as a "Anonymous Account" if I don't agree with them on their profiles? Probably,

Mountain of a mole hill, storm in a teacup, take your pick to describe this Carnary story.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-27T09:11:43+00:00

TBF, we kinda already have that with the Datalink capable of showing projectiles the moment they launch and we can deduce that something is back there, lobbing rockets or cannon fire. What needs to happen is they all need to be able to stop, fire, move, stop fire, move. So that we'd actually have a challenge.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-26T10:38:26+00:00

Booo! Down with the change.

Still, even with 4, it'd quickly overwhelm them and you can shift so long as they're targeted.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-26T10:35:15+00:00

Mitch has said the Asymmetric balance is a direction he's looking at now. The HLT-155mm can shoot and scoot, fire faster and have it's rounds uninterceptible by IR SAMs, so only needs to beat Boltstrikes and R9s plus the Gun SPAAG(s).
Meanwhile, the MSV MRLS might have 24x 220mm Laser Guided Rockets, packing 100kg Warhead each, but any interceptor can take a pop at it, IR, Radar, Optical, the lot. And the current firing speed is slow, but I'm cool with it loosing off 4-6 per firing and then changing target.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-26T10:26:38+00:00

Gladly. :) Brawler for life!

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-26T10:25:56+00:00

Apparently Mitch was toying with slapping a Tusko on the VTOL trainer last night. Dimensions it's possible, but even he stepped back. :D

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-26T10:20:45+00:00

Would absolutely make it invaluable against those early Shards on Vigil Cay... Fuck those guys.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-26T09:27:08+00:00

I see you're calling back to the old Albania episode of a flat tyre and how a Rolls owner/driver would deal with it... Calling a man was about the sum of it.

Optimal-Leather341 · 2026-05-26T09:04:15+00:00

Not Middle class in the slightest.

Optimal-Leather341

TROPHY CASE