{"id":267358,"date":"2023-04-08T05:36:40","date_gmt":"2023-04-08T05:36:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=267358"},"modified":"2023-04-09T07:56:09","modified_gmt":"2023-04-09T07:56:09","slug":"the-holy-trinity-behind-russian-military-dominance-in-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/?p=267358","title":{"rendered":"The \u2018Holy Trinity\u2019 behind Russian military dominance in Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Drago Bosnic \u2013 Aletho News April 7, 2023<\/strong><\/h1>\n

If we were to believe a single word uttered by the mainstream propaganda machine about the performance of the Russian military, we\u2019d be convinced that Moscow is using WWII-era equipment begrudgingly manned by\u00a0conscripts armed with shovels<\/a>. Not to mention that, according to CNN\u2019s \u201cwell-informed\u201d (and yet, anonymous) sources, the morale of the Russian military is supposedly\u00a0plummeting due to heavy casualties inflicted by the victorious AFU<\/a>. On the other hand, those interested in Russia\u2019s top-of-the-line weapons will often (over)focus on its truly\u00a0world-class hypersonic missiles<\/a>,\u00a0directed-energy systems<\/a>, superfast\u00a0high-flying interceptors<\/a>,\u00a0next-generation fighter jets<\/a>, etc.<\/p>\n

However, what both ends of these two extremes ignore either completely (in the first case) or overlook for the most part (in the second case) are Russia\u2019s bread-and-butter weapons that are inflicting the vast majority of casualties suffered by the embattled Kiev regime forces. Distinguished Serbian defense expert Slobodan Djukic recently identified three such weapons \u2013 Krasnopol\/Krasnopol-M precision-guided artillery shells, MPK kits for turning freefall gravity bombs into high-precision glide bombs and Lancet kamikaze drones. All three are being used by the Russian military, to devastating effect on hostile troops, while significantly reducing Russian casualties.<\/p>\n

Krasnopol\/Krasnopol-M precision-guided artillery shells<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Owing to its stellar performance during ground operations against foreign-backed terrorist forces in Syria, the Krasnopol series of high-precision artillery munitions was mass-produced and more widely adopted by the Russian military in recent years. Krasnopol was developed by the Tula-based KBP. There are several basic and improved variants used by 152 mm howitzers such as the towed D-20 or 2A65 Msta-B and self-propelled 2S3 Akatsiya or 2S19 Msta-S. It uses inertial guidance at mid-course and semi-active laser homing at the terminal phase. The target is illuminated by an external laser designator and once the laser signal is detected, the onboard guidance system will maneuver the shell to the target. This allows frontline troops to call in fire missions on specific high-priority targets for almost immediate destruction by a single shell.<\/p>\n

The baseline version\u2019s hit probability of 70-80% was improved to over 90% in newer variants. Such advanced munitions have\u00a0a devastating effect on Kiev regime forces<\/a>, while drastically reducing the probability of damage to friendly forces and civilian infrastructure. Krasnopol is effective in destroying weapons and ammunition depots, entrenched enemy positions, dug-in artillery pieces, etc. Thanks to its enhanced accuracy, it can be used even against moving targets such as tanks and armored vehicles. Most importantly, it\u2019s getting incremental upgrades as the designers are working closely with the Russian military on improving its performance, even extending the maximum firing range up to 25 km. The estimated price for a single Krasnopol-M is $35,000, less than half the price of NATO\u2019s M982 Excalibur.<\/p>\n

MPK smart bomb kits, aka \u201cRussian JDAM\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Ukraine inherited approximately 30% of the enormous Soviet military, including its massive integrated air defense network with thousands of launchers, radars and missiles of all ranges. Although much of this was severely worn out and suffered due to virtually nonexistent funding, the systems\u2019 functionality was largely restored with endless subsidies from the political West. This made it significantly more challenging for the Russian Aerospace Forces (VKS), as it initially had a relatively limited amount of high-precision air-to-ground weapons, particularly smart bombs. The Russian military has a plethora of high-precision munitions, especially air-launched cruise missiles and new glide bombs. However, these are prohibitively expensive for use on the scale needed in Ukraine, limiting strikes to high-profile targets only.<\/p>\n

The issue was resolved through a relatively inexpensive modification that turned Russia\u2019s enormous stockpile of freefall gravity bombs into smart munitions. This enabled tactical strike aircraft to use the bombs beyond the range of Kiev regime air defenses. Folding wings are mounted on the body of the bomb via a steel rail, expanding after release and effectively turning the previously unguided weapon into a glide bomb capable of hitting targets at relatively long ranges. The MPK, short for Russian \u201c\u043c\u043e\u0434\u0443\u043b \u043f\u043b\u0430\u043d\u0438\u0440\u043e\u0432\u0430\u043d\u0438\u044f \u0438 \u043a\u043e\u0440\u0435\u043a\u0440\u0435\u0446\u0438\u0438\u201d, literally \u201cplanning and correction module\u201d, although perhaps better described as \u201cgliding and correction module\u201d, was developed by NPO Bazalt. It\u2019s an upgrade kit for converting so-called \u201cdumb\u201d freefall bombs (in particular, FAB-500 M-62) into extended-range high-precision glide bombs.<\/p>\n

The concept was inspired by a similar US program called Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM \u2013 hence the unofficial nickname for MPK being \u201cRussian JDAM\u201d) which NATO also recently transferred to Kiev. MPK\u2019s effective range depends on the altitude from which the bomb is released, so estimates vary, but it\u2019s generally expected that a bomb dropped from an altitude of 12-13 km can hit targets at distances of up to 50 km. Guidance is provided by Russian GLONASS. The Russian military has already upgraded a large portion of its massive Soviet-era stocks to MPK standard and is rapidly converting the rest of it, resulting in a\u00a0virtually new weapon of extraordinary capabilities<\/a>, all for a fraction of the cost needed to produce completely new bombs.<\/p>\n

Lancet kamikaze drones\/loitering munitions<\/strong><\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>

A Lancet attack drone developed by Kalashnikov. Click to enlarge<\/p><\/div>\n

Last but certainly not least \u2013 drones. These pesky little things have proven so deadly and effective that it would be ludicrous not to use them en masse. And this is precisely what the Russian military is doing, making it one of the first militaries around the globe to use loitering munitions on such a grand scale. Needless to say, to an absolutely devastating effect on the Kiev regime forces. There are several types of such drones, with perhaps the most (in)famous being the ZALA Lancet. Intended for the destruction of a wide range of ground targets, including APCs (armored personnel carriers), SAM (surface-to-air missile) systems, artillery weapons (towed\/self-propelled), etc. its effectiveness is wholly undeniable,\u00a0as evidenced by hundreds of hours of battlefield footage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Deployed in several variants, Lancet possesses a highly advanced seeker and a stable video link up until the moment it hits the target. This is primarily thanks to its state-of-the-art comms channel that has proven to be highly resistant to jamming and other forms of electronic warfare. Usually paired with the Fortuna tactical ISR (intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance) drones, Lancet can effectively identify even heavily camouflaged targets, including small groups of infantry from high altitude. Kiev regime forces are doing everything they can to hide or at least minimize the Lancet\u2019s devastating effect by establishing additional firing positions, enclosing them with wire barriers and extra camouflage nets. And yet,\u00a0even these countermeasures have had a limited effect<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All of the aforementioned weapons might not seem as important as Russia\u2019s hypersonic missiles or its\u00a0doomsday strategic arsenal<\/a>, but they are no less valuable on a tactical level. Thousands of towed\/self-propelled howitzers, MLRS, tanks, air defense systems, command posts, weapons production facilities, ammunition, etc. have been destroyed by these extremely cost-effective weapons. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu pointed out that one of the main goals is destroying enemy military-industrial capacity, while increasing pressure on logistics and supply lines. According to Shoigu, by the end of March this year, 14 HIMARS systems, 59 M777, 12 Paladin and over 30 other howitzers of various types delivered by the US, UK, Poland, Germany, France and Czechia were destroyed. These weapons were all neutralized by Russian systems priced at less than 1% of the combined cost of the aforementioned Western systems.<\/p>\n

Drago Bosnic is an independent geopolitical and military analyst.<\/em><\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Three relatively inexpensive weapons and weapons modifications that have given Russia a clear tactical advantage in Ukraine; minimizing Russian casualties <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39262,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[91,116],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-267358","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-russia","category-ukraine"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267358","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/39262"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=267358"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267358\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":267400,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/267358\/revisions\/267400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=267358"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=267358"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thetruthseeker.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=267358"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}