Yes, but not as beneficial as having a huge border that can cut train supply routes to the Kola Peninsula, put us within 350km of St Petersburg, and trapping the baltic fleet between Finland and Estonia, a 200 nautical mile gap. NATO could easily hold the FE gap.

There's no way Ukraine is able to get rid of Russian AA systems. Nato doctrine annihilates those with a torrent of cruise missiles to ensure air superiority. Otherwise you're just throwing planes away to much cheaper AA missiles.

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>Indeed! Any participation of Russia in competitions has been used by Putin to push their propaganda further.

I'd say any non participation of Russia in competition has much more positive effect for Putin. It enrages general public and unites against the west. Even though I don't care for sports I have a feeling of being slightly annoyed by this. I can imagine how general sports fan sees this.

To be clear, the UK does not use F-16 fighters. Never has. It's just an incomplete headline, and should have referenced whatever UK fighter the UK is unwilling to provide to Ukraine. (Probably the Eurofighter Typhoon or its replacement, the F-35B.)

> I have no issues with south/Latin American countries in the slightest. They just need to be realistic and realize that the United States just isn’t going to put up with Russia or China trying to establish a military stronghold down there.

Would you say the same to Ukraine then?

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No, just that it’s part of the game and that Brazil doesn’t have the capability to defend against a cornered Pentagon.

It’s just a matter of fuck around and find out.

I have no issues with south/Latin American countries in the slightest. They just need to be realistic and realize that the United States just isn’t going to put up with Russia or China trying to establish a military stronghold down there.

It’s a million times more productive to just be happy trade partners.

That being said, putting Nuclear capable ICBMs 90 miles off the coast of a country is far different than the purported 1300 mile difference between Turkey and Russia (Moscow) or the 750 miles to the Soviet Ukrainian border from Turkey by air.

Thing is tanks hunt in packs so taking a shot at one means the others know where you are (plus the supporting artillery to “dust” the area if their own infantry gets pulled back).

I remember in basic shooting the LAW (light anti tank weapon) and everyone was excited.. until the drill sergeant with the infantry badge relayed the actual info about tank units (another Rambo fantasy died hard). Trained troops know this but most Russians are being increasingly used as barely trained fodder in human wave attacks ..

I'm Russian and I can tell it IS used as a propaganda tool, but it seems for me it's more because Russian Athletes are being denied. I don't care about sports much at all but now all I hear is how evil west is denying Russian Athletes and barring them from competition. I can't imagine how can this measure help except to alienate Russian public from the west more and help Russian propaganda. I'm strongly against collective responsibility. I mean it's fine if you deny war participants or famous politicians, forbid political statements during competitions, but just for being Russian? I don't understand that.

Jesus! Must be an American thing to not care.

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So then why are they still a problem?

Hey, it's really hard if you can't use the word "slam".

No, not really. It's actually a common fallacy - "You're posting this from an iPhone, therefore you can't possibly oppose anything Apple does".

That's just not how it works. Sometimes boycotts work, sometimes they don't. Sometimes they do harm. But I specifically brought up China because, while Apple is relatively popular on Reddit, China is less so. And yet it would be ridiculous to argue that every person with an iPhone supports everything the Chinese government does.

Yeah the big difference is the US and Europe have thousands of combat aircraft including hundreds of stealth aircraft capable of deep penetration through layered air defenses, something neither Russia or Ukraine have. It’s got to the point where conventional cruise missiles can be taken out by some dude with a stinger if they know they are coming too. Stealth is a necessity now.

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Not really true. I say this as someone who generally despises religion including Islam.

PIss on the I.O.C.

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participation does not preclude criticism

It's more complex than that. Russia has no credible ability to perform SEAD/DEAD. Their main anti-rad missile is the KH-31, which has 3 single frequency seekers. If a radar uses frequency hopping like any semi modern radar does, the KH-31 will lose the target completely. Worse yet, only way to swap out which frequency seeker is installed, is to send the missile to the factory for replacement.

There's a newer variant that has a multifrequency seeker, but there's not believed to be many at all, given Russia's historical disinterest in SEAD/DEAD

The west has historically had very little in terms of air defenses, because their fighter fleets serve as their air defenses. As such, Russia just never prioritized SEAD/DEAD, and it shows.