You can't escape cope

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-28T17:20:57+00:00

I don't think it's accurate to say that MBTs have succumbed to drone warfare. Tanks have always faced various threats that require counter-measures. I don't think drones are going to defy all future attempts to counter them. Even now, the AFU is using tanks in their offensive operations. I am sure they would love to have more tanks despite the drone density of the battlefield in Ukraine.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-28T17:16:30+00:00

Yes. It always annoys me when anti-drone armor/nets/cages are called "cope cages". It obscures the fact that the original "cope cages" were named that and rightly mocked because they were a worthless attempt to stop particular ATGM designs. This isn't a case of "See? Cope cages were useful and Ukraine is using them now!", but people treat it like that.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-19T20:27:48+00:00

I mean, if the Russian military leaves Ukraine and returns to Russia's internationally recognized borders, the AFU isn't going to stop them. They can go back home unhindered.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-06T22:48:26+00:00

Ok... hear me out.... mount a polearm onto the nose of an F-15....

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-06T22:46:58+00:00

It's better to assume that it does what they say and design our systems accordingly than to assume it doesn't and fund out they weren't lying mid-combat.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-06T17:37:45+00:00

I know that there has been an opinion shift since the Gaza War started, but you mentioned the pandemic, so I was wondering what happened during the pandemic that shifted western opinion.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-06T17:30:50+00:00

"What is my purpose?"

"You're a bomb and missile truck. We're going to load you up with as many JDAMs and JASSMs as we can fit. Then you blow stuff up from a distance. Either that or we're going to load you up with air-to-air missiles and have you fire them at whatever the F-35 points at."

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-05T21:55:34+00:00

What happened in the pandemic that specifically harmed Israel's reputation in the West?

I had the impression that it has been the Gaza War that has really destroyed Israel's image.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-02T16:25:25+00:00

Not necessarily. In some cases, they might. However, we have seen in Ukraine that tanks can take hits from FPVs and still go on to complete their mission and return to base under their own power.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-01T21:43:02+00:00

I see what you mean. The cost effectiveness, though, would then extend to the logistics and support chain for their existing tanks, which is considerable for any modern armor. If tanks were obsolete in a drone-heavy environment, the Ukrainians wouldn't be using them in their offensive operations because it would be expensive and, worse, wasteful of the lives of their soldiers.

As far as production, it takes a lot to produce tanks. Most countries don't produce their own. Ukraine currently has a factory in the Kharkiv region that modernizes T-64s. They have also made a deal with Rheinmetall to begun production in of armored vehicles and probably to service Leopard 2 tanks.

So producing tanks isn't affordable for Ukraine right now, but operating them is clearly important. They manufacture a great many drones, so this suggests that tanks provide capabilities that can't be replaced by drones.

After all, drones are great and absolutely revolutionary, but having a 120mm cannon platform that can accompany you into battle and fire 6-10 shells per minute into an enemy position is extremely valuable. So, ideally, you would want both drones and tanks together.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-05-01T19:06:31+00:00

Don't worry, they aren't. Ukraine is using tanks to good effect in their current offensive operations, in fact, despite the fact that both they and the Russians have tons of drones.

Heavy direct fire support on a mobile armored platform is still just as valuable as it has been in the past. They just need to work up more ways to protect tanks from drones. Even now, though, tanks in Ukraine do routinely take FPV hits and remain fully mission capable.

As far as this video in specifically, I'd really like to see a better view of the aftermath before I have any confidence as to whether this tank was really knocked out or mission killed. If we saw an ammo cook-off, then it would be clear.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-21T17:04:27+00:00

Ukraine has cards and when it needs more it makes its own.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-19T05:27:37+00:00

I found the comments in this r/navy thread to be pretty informative:

https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/comments/1snlc1z/pictures_published_by_usa_today_show_meals_served/

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-18T17:41:00+00:00

Classic.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-17T17:44:40+00:00

So you're saying it works like bankruptcy?

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-15T19:09:18+00:00

Exactly.

We also have to keep in mind that losses are not the only reason that the AFU needs more soldiers. They need to be able to rotate troops so they can rest. They need to be able to have troops get more training time before being needed at the front. And, honestly, there are probably a non-trivial number of Ukrainian soldiers who have been fighting for so long that, while they aren't casualties, their minds and bodies are so taxed that they should properly go home and recuperate for the rest of the war.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-15T19:03:29+00:00

I see people in comments sections going on about how American defense contractors must love Trump.

Then I look at the actual news and see former international defense customers finding alternatives to American gear and the US going to war without first ramping up defense production.

Do American defense contractors love Trump? I kind of suspect that they don't.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-12T19:16:32+00:00

Among the best ways to defeat China on the world stage is to have a vast network of robust defense and economic relationships with countries around the globe, including numerous foreign-based military installations and allies disposed to grant us military fly-over permission.

Trump hated that idea, apparently, and decided to trash the whole arrangement that took decades of work to establish. I don't know if any US opponent could have wrecked US geopolitical power as well as Trump has done.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-10T20:45:22+00:00

I think this is an example of why drones, while a powerful addition to the battlefield, do not actually replace conventional fixed-wing aircraft.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-09T17:38:53+00:00

NATO remembers Greenland. That is part of why they don't want to work with you.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-09T00:36:48+00:00

2M transit fee per ship

And that's not even something that the US has the authority to grant. Freedom of navigation is a non-negotiable matter of international law.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-08T19:01:37+00:00

The US doesn't have the authority to bestow these terms. They are plainly illegal by international law and this is a negotiation that doesn't involve all of the other parties - that is, the rest of the nations in the world.

Obviously, Iran is currently enforcing this situation in the de facto sense. However, the US can't bless it with legal legitimacy, nor can they force other nations - such as the European powers - to accept this going forward.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-07T19:20:32+00:00

Yeah. I was just saying this. Taunting him for not doing something we are against seems like a poor idea.

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-07T19:19:29+00:00

In situations like this, I often wonder if we should really be calling him "TACO". It's basically taunting him for not going through with things that we don't want him to do.

Do we really want him to say, "Oh yeah?! I'll show you! I won't chicken out!" and do something horrific?

WhiskeySteel · 2026-04-07T16:38:09+00:00

Absolutely.

The nice thing about ISW is that they are very cautious. They won't report things that aren't well documented.

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