(Image by NEIVANMADE)
Brief housekeeping note: 1) Everything brought inside as part of the hurricane prep, which was everything outside that was not rooted to the ground, is now back outside where it belongs. 2) There will be no rant tonight.
The Ukrainian MOD would like to remind everyone not Ukrainian that the Ukrainians actually do know what they’re doing:
Everyone is now an expert on how we should fight. A gentle reminder that no one understands this war better than we do. pic.twitter.com/TIwssQjiFh
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) August 31, 2023
We’ve got to addresses from President Zelenskyy today. Here is his usual address from earlier today. Video below, English transcript after the jump. The second will be after the jump.
An agreement has been reached on the supply of a large batch of armored medevac vehicles to Ukraine – address by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy
31 August 2023 – 21:48
Good health to you, fellow Ukrainians!
Today was an eventful day.
A conference call with military and government officials. The frontline. Our offensive actions. The result of our weapons, new Ukrainian weapons, is 700 kilometers. The task is farther.
The important news for the frontline is that we have agreed on the supply of armored medevac vehicles to Ukraine, a large batch. This is what the warriors told me about when we visited combat brigades. The Ministry of Defense has reported on this today.
As always on the conference calls, there were intelligence reports from the Main Intelligence Directorate and the Foreign Intelligence Service on the plans of the occupiers. Their plans are hopeless.
I held a meeting about next week’s international events. There will be significant things. Important negotiations for Ukraine.
Another meeting concerned tomorrow. It will be September 1, the beginning of the new school year. Deputy Prime Minister Fedorov and Minister Lisovyi, together with their teams, are preparing a very positive innovation for our schoolchildren, parents, and teachers. Something that will really help. Tomorrow we will present the first details.
Today I congratulated Kyiv Polytechnic on the 125th anniversary of the university. It was extremely pleasant and useful to communicate with students and lecturers. Education will always remain the element that gives strength to people and the state, that enables us to develop and become stronger no matter what. And I would like to thank today our students and lecturers, our educators who not only receive or help receive education, but also make the educational process as practical as it is needed right now, when the bright minds of our people help the Ukrainian defense, in particular. Our students have good projects, powerful projects. The Ministry of Strategic Industry has something to implement.
And one more thing.
I had a meeting with representatives of BAE Systems. The world knows this company very well. And our warriors are already very familiar with the weapons produced by this company. In particular, artillery – L119 and M777, armored vehicles – CV90, which are very powerful. The company is starting to work in Ukraine. Our goal is to have all the most useful weapons for defense produced in Ukraine. And it will happen. We already produce certain items, and we will produce all the necessary ones. I thank everyone in the world who helps!
I thank everyone who fights and works for Ukraine! I would especially like to mention the 47th separate mechanized brigade – thank you guys for your advancement; the warriors of our 44th artillery brigade – thank you for your accuracy!
Glory to Ukraine!
In addition to his regular daily address, President Zelenskyy also spoke to the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute on the 125th anniversary of its founding. Video below, followed by the English transcript.
Every result of Ukraine is the education of a particular Ukrainian – Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s speech on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
31 August 2023 – 20:06
Glory to Ukraine!
Well, these are Ukrainians.
I am really glad to be here today. First, a few words – they are probably more formal, but with the relevant content that I would like to convey. And then we will talk in this format – your format.
I am glad to see you and congratulate you on a very important day in my opinion – the 125th anniversary of Kyiv Polytechnic.
125 years is a young age for a university. But even though your university is young, the National Technical University is well known in the world and is famous in different countries whose people have studied here, and most importantly, the university has gained what is so important for all Ukrainians now – trust. The university has gained trust. And it is a well-deserved trust. Because the university is really strong. I thank you for maintaining the strength and glory of Kyiv Polytechnic!
The university went through different times. As well as Ukraine in general did. Now – in the time of such a war – it is especially difficult. But no matter how difficult it is and no matter what the times are, the fact that education matters remains unchanged. Knowledge, education, real competence of a person – in good times it is almost impossible to win in competition with others without it, and in difficult times there are no victories without it.
I’ll give you a couple of examples.
Every day there is news about another “cotton” somewhere on the aggressor’s territory. There are different cases. Sometimes they are very loud, sometimes less loud. But they all give a little more sense of justice. Because the war with its consequences comes back to the aggressor. Our people appreciate the sense of justice. They appreciate that the aggressor does not go unpunished. And when cotton branches stand here in Kyiv, in Crimean Tatar cafes, it symbolizes just such a satisfying sense of justice.
But what is the basis for this?
For justice to be served, someone’s knowledge, knowledge itself, must work. And the knowledge must work for the result. The Moskva cruiser went down because the competencies of thousands of Ukrainians, from designers and manufacturers of the relevant weapons and missiles to the specific soldiers who carried out this operation, worked. Each combat use of our naval drones is a fact that the education of many people who created the drones, the people who control them, who ensure the existence of this modern new force of ours, worked. We now have artillery production, which we did not have before in the country. The production of the necessary shells.
Each such result of Ukraine is the education of a particular Ukrainian. And, by the way, many of them were educated here, at Kyiv Polytechnic, and in other Ukrainian technical universities.
Here is another example. It may seem completely different, but it is also about education.
Putin used to love foreign visits. Now he is afraid to go anywhere further than Gelendzhik. And he’s really afraid to go even to places where they are still willing to host him. Unfortunately, there are still such countries, but nonetheless. Why is he afraid, what is the reason?
Among other things, the reason is an arrest warrant for him from the International Criminal Court. Which can be implemented at different times, quite rightly, in different countries… What is the basis of this warrant? This is the integrity of the International Criminal Court team. This is also the work of many people in Ukraine, in the ICC, and in partner countries – all those who record Russian war crimes, who have been engaged in legal and communication elements so that the world recognizes the Russian deportation of Ukrainian children as a crime.
Without proper professional education, there would be neither such institutions working to protect against Russian evil, nor such principled approach as this warrant, nor such clear work to record what Russia has done. And this is a fact.
A third example.
We are now defending ourselves in a fundamentally new war. It is the Ukrainian defense and the Ukrainian victory in the war that will be a lesson for other nations on how to defend themselves and how to save lives. This also applies to the drone war – everyone in the world is already drawing conclusions. Tactics on the battlefield. Cyber defense. Hybrid warfare – information warfare. The world sees what equipment works. What solutions help. What really strengthens the defense. And the way the world hears Ukraine, perceives the truth about this war, supports us… These are many thousands of technical, managerial, technological, and other solutions that have worked for Ukraine.
If Ukrainians were not an educated nation, if the social competence of our people was not so high, if we, you, were not committed to innovation and open to the most open dialogue with the world for the sake of our country, for the sake of defense, Ukraine’s fate could be similar to what other nations are experiencing whose independence has been lost. It is very difficult to regain independence, there are many historical examples. It is almost impossible.
And Ukraine withstood. And Ukraine continues to live. Ukraine is defending itself. Ukraine is regaining what belongs to it. Thanks to this modern knowledge. Thanks to courage. Thanks to unity. Thanks to weapons. This is a fact. Thanks to the support of the world. But also because each of these elements works on the basis of education. And let Ukraine become stronger together with our Ukrainian education. With your Polytechnic, with all the universities, I wish you all this, with the ideas and competencies.
Education matters a lot. And when it matters to us, Ukraine will matter a lot. To everyone in the world.
I wish the new academic year to be very fruitful and victorious for all of us!
I would contrast President Zelenskyy’s description of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute with what we know is going on at at the Alabuga Polytechnic Institute in Tatarstan, Russia. From Chris Owens’ Thread Reader App page:
1/ Parents of teenagers at Alabuga Polytechnic in Tatarstan say their children are being exploited to work long hours building Shahed kamikaze drones in dangerous conditions. Some parents are rescuing their children from the facility, despite facing large fines for doing so. ⬇️2/ As described in the thread below, Alabuga Polytechnic is a STEM college that has been repurposed as a military drone factory. As well as recruiting Russian children, it’s reportedly catfished African girls via dating apps to perform menial work.
3/ Hundreds of children aged 15-17 are reported to be assembling Shahed drones from parts provided by Iran. Ostensibly, they are undertaking a “dual programme” of study and work with a 70,000 ruble monthly salary ($719). In reality, their studies have reportedly been abandoned.4/ Recent adverts published by Alabuga offer a 90,000 ruble salary to 16-21 year-olds for “mass assembly work”. This is consistent with Alabuga’s reported plans to greatly increase production of Shaheds and double the size of the facility.
5/ Parents of students at Alabuga describe the conditions as akin to “bondage” and say their children have begged to be rescued. Idel.Realii (part of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty) has spoken to some of the parents.6/ One parent, Zhanna, says that her son begged to be brought home only two and a half months after going to Alabuga. “Take me away or I’ll die,” he told her. She considers Alabuga’s adverts to be just “attractive bait” and says that students there “fall into bondage”.7/ Other parents have been unable to afford to remove their children and have had to leave them to endure the conditions at Alabuga. Marina, one of the parents, says that children endure humiliation and do not inform their parents about it because they are from poor families.8/ Zhanna says that she considers it to be “100 per cent [exploitation]. Two hundred, a thousand [per cent]. I have an acquaintance from Nizhny Novgorod who took her child in June – she also has no patience and strength, the child just can’t do it anymore.9/ “Two hundred thousand [rubles] were charged [for the cancellation of the training contract]. She is now suing, because it is a blatant violation of everything.10/ “When she came to pick up her child, the [other] children looked at her with such eyes, because, apparently, they do not have the opportunity to pay such money to pick them up – and they can only endure. The children’s psyche is so broken there, it’s quite something.”11/ Children are supposed to only do eight hours’ work a week, as stipulated in their contracts. In reality, they are doing far more. Another parent, Marina, says: “My child was silent for a very long time.”12/ “When I asked her in June why you kept silent for so long, she just didn’t want to be weak, so to speak. In fact, it turned out that the children worked five days a week. My daughter came to work at 7:45 and I think they were released at 15:00.”13/ The children were put under psychological pressure, including being called at 22:00 for a “meeting”. Non-attendance would result in collective punishment: “if you don’t come, then everyone will sit all night and wait.” Some had to work past midnight to meet production goals.14/ The goals, and the salaries, are reportedly handled rather arbitrarily. A parent called Zhanna says the targets were only given two days before the end of the month “to avoid paying money”.15/ She recalls: “I saw that my child was online at two in the morning. I write to him, asking why he’s online. He says he has goals to hand in. I ask him why he has to do it on the last night. He says, “We just got them the night before yesterday.”16/ “The kid doesn’t make it, then he achieves 65% of his goals, they owe him some pennies, but since the last month they started randomly distributing bonuses – apparently, they’ve allocated their favourites, and my son has been on zero randomly for two months.”17/ The cost of dormitory accommodation is deducted from the children’s salaries. Zhanna says that the contract initially specified a cost of 500 rubles ($5.14) per month for accommodation, but it was tripled in practice.18/ “All this was deducted from the salary of 3,500 ($36). Only a few people are lucky there. Out of 600 people, maybe 100 will get somewhere, the rest are just [left out].19/ “It’s as if they recruit them, use them for their own purposes, and then create such conditions that the children drop out and pay penalties.”20/ The parents say that the children have been divided into different groups, each with their own roles. Composite assembly seems to be a particularly unpleasant task used as a punishment for those labelled as “delinquents.”21/ Marina says that her daughter was given the task “to glue composites for drones … Well, in general, in a chemical production where underage children work in respirators for 15 hours a day.”22/ She says “the children are exhausted there. It is a dangerous production, they glue something with chemicals, which are also dangerous, not every adult will go to work there. They forbid children to tell their parents everything.23/ “It’s just such a taboo, I don’t know how parents find out information, but if someone finds out and writes in the chat room, parents are just shocked.”24/ The parents say that the children are put under psychological pressure to get them to work on drone production, including depriving them of rest and accusing them of a lack of patriotism. They are also subjected to ‘patriotic education’.25/ Alabuga’s general director Timur Shagivaleev was recorded speaking to them on 16 June 2023. In the speech, Shagivaleev says: “Alabuga has the best technology in the world. We are creating the most modern production facilities in the world.26/ “And more than ever, the future fate of our country and our people depends on very few people: people like you, people like us. This is the moment when we can all contribute to the further development of our country and the development of our people.27/ “This summer, it will be possible to help our country and Alabuga. The work is tough – as operators at a chemical composite manufacturing facility. Work in respirators, gloves, shifts of 12 hours, two days you work, two days you rest.”28/ He urges them to give up their holidays, “even if it’s mum’s birthday”. At the end, he says: “Long live our great country!” The children respond with three shouts of “Hurrah!”29/ Following earlier exposés, Alabuga has published videos of students taking about “how they voluntarily work 12 hours for the good of the Motherland.” Its Telegram channel now advertises it as “Russia’s largest centre for training specialists in the production of drones.”30/ A recent advertisement offers opportunities in “air navigation and UAV programming”. It claims to provide “Autel Dragonfish [UAV] assembly training” but shows a student in front of a partly assembled Shahed drone, viewed from the rear. It does not mention Shaheds.
31/ Idel.Realii reports that the local prosecutor’s office has found violations of labour law requirements, “expressed in the absence of “information about the working hours and rest regime of the employee” in the concluded employment contract” with one of the Alabuga students.32/ It also reportedly found violations of sanitary and epidemiological legislation, education and licensing legislation, as well as violations of the rights of students, and has opened two cases against Alabuga in relation to these violations.33/ It remains to be seen whether any action will be taken in practice. Given the importance of the Shahed programme to the Russian military, it’s more likely that the drone production will be given a higher priority than the children’s welfare. /endSources:
🔹
🔹 https://t.co/eSmOx7gHhy
🔹 https://t.co/afs8W6SPtLidelreal.org/a/32540464.html
t.me/alabugapolytec…
Nothing like a little forced labor on behalf of the motherland.
Pskov Airfield, Russia:
Pskov airbase Vol. 2 out live now 😳
— Illia Ponomarenko 🇺🇦 (@IAPonomarenko) August 31, 2023
I haven’t found anyone posting video yet, so I’ll follow up on this one tomorrow.
Bryansk, Russia:
Drones in Russian air space again. According to Russian TG channels around 5 of those are in the skies above Bryansk. The drones look like UJ-22 from company “Ukrjet”. (the guy in the video speaks of 3)
Source: https://t.co/TwyXE7lafV#Ukraine #Russia #Bryansk pic.twitter.com/V0deCdSSnT
— (((Tendar))) (@Tendar) August 31, 2023
Zaporizhzhia:
Ukrainian sappers who accompanied the @iaeaorg mission on its way to another rotation at Zaporizhzhia NPP, found Russian mines along the confirmed corridor for the delegation.
No mines were found on the Russian-controlled part of the corridor, confirming that Ukraine adheres to… pic.twitter.com/NkMGGYh065
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 31, 2023
Orkhiv:
ORKHIV AXIS /1640 UTC 31 AUG/ UKR forces continue to press south on T-04-08 HWY axis. RU attack broken up at Verbove. RU units retreat to southern end of village. Heavy fighting continues. pic.twitter.com/mXqzjXSAE1
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) August 31, 2023
Bakhmut:
BAKHMUT /2100 UTC 31 AUG? U KR reports intense fighting north of Bakhmut at Yahidne. At Andriivka & Klischiivka, Ukrainian forces are attempting to force their way through the Russian defensive line. RU claims [Unconfirmed] to have pushed UKR back at north of Kurdiumivka. pic.twitter.com/lthhpzMBMP
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) August 31, 2023
Velyka Novosilka:
VELYKA NOVOSILKA /2040 UTC 3 AUG/ Ukrainian forces remain in contact south of Urozhaine. RU conducts multiple air and artillery strikes against T-05-18 HWY / Mokri Valley axis. pic.twitter.com/56XUJGiMqI
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) August 31, 2023
Kreminna:
KREMINNA AXIS /1915 UTX 31 AUG/ UKR holds defensive lines east of Torske. Ukrainian forces break up Russian attacks at Serebryansk Forestry and Bilohorvika. pic.twitter.com/KUSlP126dQ
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) August 31, 2023
For you cardboard drone afficionados:
ON TARGET: PStyleOne1 @PStyle0ne1 posts this impressive footage of the SBU conducting test flights of the cardboard drones that attacked the Kursk airfield. Invisible to radar, the drones can be maneuvered over target to achieve variable blast patterns. https://t.co/PDSu3cg1lA pic.twitter.com/bsZ9RC1Pcv
— Chuck Pfarrer | Indications & Warnings | (@ChuckPfarrer) August 31, 2023
For some reason the original tweet with the video, found at this link, will NOT embed in WP. It doesn’t even show up in Pfarrer’s quote tweet above. Not sure what the problem is.
And for you missile enthusiasts:
Ракетна програма Президента України в дії. Випробування успішні, застосування ефективне.
«Ждёт Севастополь, ждёт Камчатка, ждёт Кронштадт…».P. S. Тиха і співоча українська ніч… pic.twitter.com/DzpK4IezCv
— Oleksiy Danilov (@OleksiyDanilov) August 31, 2023
Oleksiy Danilov is the Secretary of the National Security Council and Defense Council of Ukraine. Here’s the machine translation of his tweet:
The missile program of the President of Ukraine in action. The tests are successful, the application is effective.
“Sevastopol is waiting, Kamchatka is waiting, Kronstadt is waiting…”.PS A quiet and singing Ukrainian night…
Here’s more on the Ukrainian made long range missiles:
Zelensky has officially confirmed successful deployment of Ukrainian made long-range weaponry: hitting a target 700 kilometers (434 miles) away. Russia, it's time to feel alarmed.
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) August 31, 2023
This is what the launch of a Ukrainian-made missile looks like. pic.twitter.com/7mH2kLvWRm
— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) August 31, 2023
That’s enough for tonight.
Your daily Patron!
A new video from Patron’s official TikTok:
@patron__dsns Зізнавайтесь, хто теж не хоче, щоб літо закінчувалось?🥺
The caption machine translates as:
Admit it, who doesn’t want summer to end either? 🥺
Open thread!
Freemark
Thank you again Adam for all you do!
Adam L Silverman
@Freemark: You are most welcome.
Alison Rose
Damn it, I was promised a recession AND a rant. Well, fine then.
The building housing that Institute is absolutely stunning. And the divergence between that school and the russian one does not surprise me one iota. Things are very different when you live under a government that does not give a single shit about anyone in the country other than a few rich people.
Re: Pskov…this made me chuckle.
Thank you as always, Adam.
Jay
https://nitter.net/GlasnostGone/status/1697320062028235080#m
SiubhanDuinne
I comment on the Ukraine threads
rarelyalmost never, but I would also like to associate myself with the expressions of gratitude for all you do here. Thank you, Adam!Adam L Silverman
@SiubhanDuinne: Thank you for the kind words. You are most welcome.
Villago Delenda Est
The Russians are behaving badly. So shocking.
On a positive note, thanks for these daily updates, once again, Adam!
Adam L Silverman
@Villago Delenda Est: You are most welcome as well.
Anonymous At Work
I sent the stuff about the cardboard drones to some Army vets I know and they…reacted…by asking, “It’s 2023, so I have to ask if this is real or not?” Most amusing.
As far as that Akbar of a STEM College goes, I wonder how long until moody teenagers trapped against their will and forced to use chemicals and industrial fabrication equipment starting putting 2 and 2 together. “None at all and then everything at once”?
japa21
Boy, Adam, you are in a welcoming mood. Must because of the good sleep you are getting.
Love the tweet from the Ministry of Defense basically telling all the armchair quarterbacks to go sit in the corner and STFU.
I know hope is not a strategy, but based on things I am reading here and GOS, I have a feeling we are in a stage where things are slowing building up and all of sudden, bang, some big and great news is gonna happen. Could be a while yet, but in all the counteroffensive, there has been very little reporting of any Ukrainian setbacks.
Adam L Silverman
@japa21: I just saw this. As we’ve been discussing, what Ukraine is doing is going to look slow or stalled until all of a sudden it doesn’t.
Adam L Silverman
@japa21: I am very pleased with the new mattress.
Torrey
It appears that Ukraine is, as usual, on top of their public relations game. I enjoyed the tagline in the MOD video: “We need ammunition, not advice.” Relatedly, here’s a United24 interview with an American Marine and a Navy veteran who are currently fighting in Ukraine on the pace of the counteroffensive, American expectations, the situation on the ground, and the fact that “warfare isn’t fought at a politician’s pace.” The Navy vet is an expert thrower-of-shade.
wjca
@Adam L Silverman:
It feels like (to my utterly inexperienced eye) Ukraine will keep hitting these logistic hubs and supply centers, both in occupied Ukraine and, increasingly, in Russia. And then suddenly, the entire Russian front line runs out of critical stores at once, and the whole thing implodes.
Doesn’t deal with the mines already in place. But does mean that, once past them, we see a repeat of the previous blitz. (And all the “experts” who have been kvetching about the slow Ukrainian advance will suddenly be proclaiming “We told you so!”)
Omnes Omnibus
QFT.
jackmac
Those long distance drones may not necessarily be a game-changer, but please launch a wave of them at Russian military targets — especially in and around Moscow — and wreak some more havoc. Giving Russians a taste of what their military is inflicting on Ukraine seems like a solid development.
And, as always, thanks Adam for your reports. Glad you got through the hurricane without damage and enjoy Labor Day weekend.
Geminid
@Anonymous At Work: Last year when I read about the Shahed drones Iran was sending to Russia, I was struck by their cardboard construction. The cardboard was a sandwich type and impregnated with resin so it was strong enough for a one-way flight. They were problematic in last winter’s low temperatures that made the wings brittle and liable to crack.
The Iranians are good at design and fabrication, but I suspect the drones these poor kids are making will be deficient in quality. I just hope the Iranians don’t start sending their improved suicide drone models, or even worse the ballistic missiles that were talked about last fall but never delivered.
The ballistic missile deliveries may have been deterred by the threat of sanctions by European countries, or by US threats of kinetic action. I’m pretty sure the Russians still want them.
way2blue
@Anonymous At Work:
When I first saw the cardboard drones (love ’em) they reminded-me of those balsa wood glides we flew as kids. The ones with a rubber band to wind up the propeller… And these cardboard ones are invisible to radar. Genius.
Another Scott
@way2blue: +1
Lots of kids my age got their first exposure to dope that way!
Cheers,
Scott.
BeautifulPlumage
I’m fascinated by the cardboard drones, it will be interesting, after Ukraine’s victory, to find out the success rate of the units in various uses & weather.
BeautifulPlumage
I assume an added bonus for RU using child labor in the drone production is the outrage they can go up if Ukraine targets the facility. Let’s hope a lot of them aren’t very attentive to their work.
BeautifulPlumage
A commenter in a non-Ukraine post brought up some sketchy Google headlines about the war. I like this guy’s takeA sudden inflation of articles advocating for a deal with Russia indicates that the Russian authorities are aware of the difficult situation on the frontline and they seek to freeze the conflict in order to secure the territorial gains. Time to double down on support for Ukraine!
YY_Sima Qian
Of all the crimes Russia has been engaging in, we now add forced child labor.
Jay
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1697342976320540924.html
Gin & Tonic
@Geminid: I don’t know about these cardboard drones, but materials like resin-impregnated nylon “canvas” or fiberglass/epoxy-reinforced thin plywood are surprisingly strong. Analogous to (but stronger than) the “dope” reinforced tissue paper that some of us used for model airplanes long ago. I’ve built an eminently seaworthy kayak out of 3mm plywood, and am hoping to build my next one out of that synthetic canvas. Now I’m wondering if I could build one out of cardboard.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
you don’t need to use a resin on the rayon or dacron fabric.
A water based polyurethane works well.
http://gaboats.com/
Epoxy coating the wooden skeleton is important. Kevlar string can be used to fill out the shape and adds rigidity.
A key thing is to get a nice tight fabric covering.
Gin & Tonic
@Jay: I was oversimplifying. Yes, I know of Platt Monfort. I’ve followed this subject for a long time.
planetjanet
The progress around Robotyne is encouraging. The news about the new Ukrainian missile with the 700 km range makes me want to do my happy dance. Thanks to Adam again for the best news of the day as always.
Geminid
@Geminid: Speaking of drones, Middle East Eye Turkish bureau chief Ragip Soylu had an interesting item in his newsletter two days ago:
What does this have to do with the war in Ukraine? Maybe nothing in the short term. But the Ford’s joint exercises with Turkish ships and jets last week and the Ford’s port call at Antalya afterwards represent a smoothing of US/Turkish relations which have been rocky the last ten years. The Sixth fleet flagship Mount Whitney also called at Istanbul earlier this month. I don’t think this would have happened a few months ago, before the Vilnius NATO summit.
Mr. Bayraktar takes a very pro-Ukraine stance in public, has donated TB-2 drones to Ukraine and sold others at cost. Baykar Industries has also given $10s of millions in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
There is a long term interest here. Baykar is relying on engines produced by Ukrainian company Motor Sich to power its next generation of drones, as is the Turkish aerospace company that intends to supply Turkiye with 5th generation fighter jets by the end of the decade. The manufacture of turbo-jet engines is technically demanding, and this makes Ukraine’s experienced aerospace industry very complementary to Turkiye’s new one.
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
Me too, built a bunch of kayaks, canoes and skiffs over the years
The skiffs had fabric sides and two layers of 4mm plywood, with the edges of the fabric sandwiched between. That was so that you could drag them out of the water or hit the odd rock. The 10′ one weighed 22 lbs.
There are a bunch of experimental light aircraft that use the same techniques.
oldster
“Everyone is now an expert on how we should fight. A gentle reminder that no one understands this war better than we do.”
I think I would have said something far more direct.
“To the gentleman in Washington who says that we are too “casualty averse”:
Here are six Ukrainian flags, carefully folded. Here are the names of six Ukrainian pilots who died in one day, supporting the ground troops around Bakhmut. Here are the addresses of their families, their spouses, their children.
Please deliver each one of these flags to the families of the pilots. And tell them that you think they are too “casualty averse.” Then report back to us with their reactions.”
Freemark
@Adam L Silverman: What brand/model did you end up getting? I have to replace my Tempur-Pedic soon.
Anonymous At Work
@way2blue: I thought of Flight of the Phoenix: balsa wood and small body vs fiberglass multiprops operate on the same principles. That and “anyone can fly; it’s sticking the land that pays the bills.”
Geminid
@Gin & Tonic: One of my many unrealized plans was to build a kayak out of the building material Tyvek, which is used to wrap houses before the the siding is applied. It’s very tough. My notion was to use layers of Tyvek over a frame like Natives used birch bark, paint it with a resin, and call the boat a Ty-yak.
Freemark
@Gin & Tonic: WWI biplanes were basically plywood and impregnated fabric. And they certainly held up pretty well all things considered.
AJ of the Mustard Search and Rescue Team
The rants are nutrient-rich, imo!
I seriously read the post last night as a huge wake up call and I wish that some day very soon your perspective would show up in Talking Points Memo or the Washington Post.
The specific biggest worry I have is the third-party spoilers, but generally your sharp enumeration of the risks is bracing and it fking well should be.
Ty dude.
Adam L Silverman
@Freemark: Plushbeds Signature Bliss. It’s a hybrid certified organic, sustainably harvested all natural latex and pocket coil mattress. It’s a pillow top and I got it in firm. They also have an all latex pillow top and several other models without the pillow top. If you go this route, make sure to order when they’re running a sale. This replaced my 17 year old Temperpedic.
Geminid
@Geminid: Early this past February, the US destroyer Nitze made the first Turkish port call by a US Navy vessel since 2021. It happened to leave Istanbul a few days before the terrible earthquake that killed 50,000 people in Turkiye and 20,000 in Syria.
This spawned a conspiracy theory that I am certain was amplified, if not created outright, by Russia: that the US had used the Nitze’s powerful electronic systems to generate the earthquake.
This story was still making the rounds in June when I stumbled into it on Twitter. People confidently asserted that seismologists could never locate the epicenter of the quake because the Nitze caused it! And others talked about how a Japanese government minister once told reporters that the US had threatened Japan with earthquakes if it stepped out of line, and that was right before the Fukushima quake happened!
A few people tried to argue that the epicenter of the Turkish temblor had in fact been located and gave the exact coordinates and depth, but that was as useless as the other attempts to debunk the stories. I had always understood that there is a pool of credulous people who will believe the most lurid theories because they are so lurid, but here I think I saw how Russia exploits that weakness.
Carlo Graziani
@Anonymous At Work: To me, the surprising thing is the amount of lift that these things can generate, in order to carry even a 5 kg HE payload. There must be a substantial motor dragging a fair amount of fuel. It sounds like a far more finely-toleranced engineering project than a kayak.
Carlo Graziani
Taking Tokmak would be an incredibly valuable feat of arms. It’s not only a logistic hub, but also a major road junction, whose denial to the Russians would seriously complicate their defense of the approaches to Melitopol and Berdiansk.
Let’s hope that these latest Western Intelligence source leaks come from better-informed folks than the ones who were predicting a stalemate last week.
Villago Delenda Est
Same old same old for Mother Russia.
Sister Golden Bear
@Gin & Tonic:
Why not duct tape?
Marc
The drone shown in that video is clearly electric powered, so it’s dragging around a fair size battery. And, not at all finely toleranced, it’s designed to be easily constructed by unskilled workers using hot glue guns. A more aerodynamically efficient carbon-fiber and foam design would easily get twice the range (or carry twice the payload) with the same motor and battery, but would take more money, skill, and time to construct.
Sister Golden Bear
@Freemark: As was the de Havilland Mosquito in WWII. In 1941, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.
YY_Sima Qian
@Geminid: I thought Motor Sich is currently in bad shape. Western weapons manufacturers (or civilian outfits) do not use it, since 2014 I don’t think Russia has been using it. Ukraine itself does not have a large enough aviation industry to support the engine manufacturer. A Chinese holding company (probably an MIC front) tried to purchase it a few years ago, but the US intervened to stop the sale. Most of the most experienced personnel had emigrated to the US, Europe, China & Russia.
I was under the impression Motor Sich has been largely idle since the early 2010s. Turkish orders would be a good opportunity, & a good match, as Western engines manufacturers (or more specifically Western governments) probably aren’t interested in supporting Turkish drone & 5th gen fighter programs.
Torrey
Alabuga PI is in Tatarstan, as you pointed out. Tatarstan has had its own tragic history, including a Soviet-induced famine in 1921-22, a declaration of sovereignty in 1990, which the Russian court declared unconstitutional, a declaration of independence in 2008, with a request for recognition by the UN, which was ignored by both the UN and (of course) Russia. I wonder if that has anything to do with Putin’s decision to choose Alabuga PI to turn into a drone factory.
VeniceRiley
“cheer curiosity” is going in my flexion.
Thank you for all the updates, Adam.
Geminid
@YY_Sima Qian: My impression is that Ukraine’s higher tech, aerospace industries including Motor Sich declined in the last decade. One result was the delays in the on-and-off Hrim-2 program. I’ve also read that Turkiye and Ukraine upped their cooperation on weapons development after Russia invaded Crimea. There’s not a lot of public evidence, but there are reasons such cooperation might be kept quiet. I do remember reading about a joint project to build a rocket to launch satellites with, that was announced earlier this decade and is now on hold.
I’ve also come to understand that manufacturing jet engine turbines is technically very demanding. That’s why when Turkiye manufactured the F-16 under license, they still had to use engines from GE. A lot of the avionic systems were probably American made, but Turkiye is catching up in that area. They still don’t make jet engines though, and that is where Motor Sich can be a valuable partner. Ukraine has evidently lacked the capital to make the most of its base of technical knowledge and experience in aerospace systems, and partnering with Turkish companies like Baykar would help put Ukraine’s human capital and machinery to good (or at least profitable) use.
Traveller
@Adam L Silverman: I really appreciate this link to Plushbeds and your installation experience in a previous post. And, needless to say, I am happy to see how well this is working out for you.
Amid all this excellent war analysis, it is good to see something so very human…Best Wishes, Traveller
Adam L Silverman
@Traveller: Shoot me an email using the contact a front pager link in the top right if you have any questions.
Bill Arnold
Drone material found in my tech feeds. Considerable additional work required for wartime use, but e.g. might be useful, if sufficient (low-latency) computing power is available, for automated evasion of anti-aircraft fire, or for final approaches to defended (actively or passively) targets by a specialized reinforcement-learning trained expert(control policy).
Challenge Accepted: High-speed AI Drone Overtakes World-Champion Drone Racers (30.08.2023)
(The Nature paper: Champion-level drone racing using deep reinforcement learning (Open Access, 30 August 2023, Elia Kaufmann, Leonard Bauersfeld, Antonio Loquercio, Matthias Müller, Vladlen Koltun & Davide Scaramuzza)