Amercian Nukes in the UK.

[Raven]

How do you feel about the Yanks leaving their Nukes here? I have enough worries about the Subs being up on Scotlands West Coast without this happening.   
I know the article is not new but I've only just come across it. So it's new to me.

https://www.nuclearinfo.org/article/preparations-for-us-nuclear-weapons-storage-in-uk/

[klondike]

The government probably thinks it's cheaper to keep in with the Yanks than to properly fund our our own armed forces. We are presumably already a target so I don't really see this making us any more of one.

[Alex]

None of this would have happened under Trump  !  Our new Defence leader will sort things out, have no fear 

[klondike]

[Diasi]

The government probably thinks it's cheaper to keep in with the Yanks than to properly fund our our own armed forces. We are presumably already a target so I don't really see this making us any more of one.

Speaking from a neutral viewpoint, the UK is a gift for Russia as the UK could be wiped out with one Russian nuclear strike & used as a warning to the rest of the world.

[Scrumpy]

Scary.. But there would be catastrophic response from other nations..
They would have to react for fear of being (afraid) of Russia..
  

[klondike]

Considering nukes require maintenance and given the maintenance most of the Russian army kit seems to have received plus the recent embarrassing failure of their lunar lander I'm wondering just what percentage of their nukes would work. True it would only take a small percentage but I doubt they are capable of a successful preemptive strike.

Putin doesn't have a little red button that that lights all the blue touch papers there will be a chain of command and every man along that line must know that their actions could easily lead to the  destruction of Russia as well as the target. Would they do it?

[JBR]

In reality, Putin's only real strength is his threat of nuclear retaliation against any attack on his country.

His conventional forces appear to be becoming less effective in Ukraine, especially now that the Ukrainians have pretty much up to date western weapons.

It is anybody's guess what will happen next.  It is possible that Putin will be convinced by his military staff to stop attempting to expand further into Ukraine or even to pull back whilst retaining the Crimean peninsula.

On the other hand, things may escalate and even more resources poured into the Russian forces in Ukraine.
If so, I have the feeling that the Ukrainian soldiers, having proved so determined up to now, and assuming that they will continue to be supplied with western weapons, will never give up.
If so, this war could continue for years.

It is even possible that Putin, apparently being rather mad, might initiate a nuclear strike either on Ukraine or even on a NATO member, and we all know what that might lead to.

[klondike]

His conventional forces appear to be becoming less effective in Ukraine, especially now that the Ukrainians have pretty much up to date western weapons.

I don't think that cutting edge western weapons have been given. They have mostly been given weapons that have been replaced, are in the process of being replaced or older models of still in use equipment. Plus lots of ammunition dumb and smart.

Militarily the Russian military has been exposed as a paper tiger. Unfortunately one with access to nukes. There are repeated threats that they will be used. I don't think they will be but if they are it will be the end of Russia. The west cannot afford to have a country armed with nukes that uses even one. Far too dangerous.

[JBR]

I don't think that cutting edge western weapons have been given. They have mostly been given weapons that have been replaced, are in the process of being replaced or older models of still in use equipment. Plus lots of ammunition dumb and smart.

Yes of course, not cutting edge weapons.  That would risk giving the Russians, if they should capture them, the information they would need to produce their own weapons of equal ability.
On the other hand, the west is fortunate to possess weapons of more advanced design and capability than what are possessed by the Russians.

The F-16s which America is now considering supplying to Ukraine (admittedly via Poland and others) is, although a very capable platform, not as advanced as (for example) the F-35.  Additionally, I suspect that those F-16s which Ukraine will obtain may not contain all the latest ECMs and other electronics.

September 02, 2023, 04:44:06 PM

Militarily the Russian military has been exposed as a paper tiger. Unfortunately one with access to nukes. There are repeated threats that they will be used. I don't think they will be but if they are it will be the end of Russia. The west cannot afford to have a country armed with nukes that uses even one. Far too dangerous.

Yes indeed.  His nuclear weapons, especially those on ballistic missiles, are Putin's strong hand though he is likely to be afraid of using them for obvious reasons.

His other options are less than comparable to what the west has, and I suspect that he is beginning to realise that now that the Ukrainians are showing him up.  In addition, I feel that Putin's own men are less than enthusiastic in this war.

[klondike]

I looked up the F16. The airframe came into service in the late 70s. The avionics and weapon systems will have been constantly upgraded though.

The big advances have been in smart weapons. Artillery these days can fire off self guided smart munitions costing tens of thousands of pounds as well as dumb 155mm shells which cost far less each but are hopelessly inaccurate in comparison.

The Russians relied on imported electronics for its weapon systems and with sanctions they are a lot harder for them to get and repair. I've seen pictures of smart phones gaffer taped into Russian cockpits because their GPS systems have broken and can't be repaired.

They were relying on mobile phones for coms and using them to call home which gave the Ukrainians plenty of intelligence on where new troops had arrived from which cells they were connected to allowing them to give the new guys a warm welcome using American Himars shells.