Oh, The Irony

[Trevp666]

Russia was a military steamroller

People either forget, or ignore, the fact that Russia has an extremely low 'population density' of 23 people per square mile.
(The UK is 700 people per s.m.!)
A population of 'only' 143 million, large areas of uninhabitable land, huge, long borders to defend, a struggling economy despite the huge amounts of oil & gas sales, and their military forces using dated (and in some cases antiquated) equipment, means that the view of Russia being that sort of powerful military force is very much 'out of date', so using the word 'was' is correct. Oh, except that they do have a large number of nukes which keeps them scary.

 

[Ascalon]

People either forget, or ignore, the fact that Russia has an extremely low 'population density' of 23 people per square mile.
(The UK is 700 people per s.m.!)
A population of 'only' 143 million, large areas of uninhabitable land, huge, long borders to defend, a struggling economy despite the huge amounts of oil & gas sales, and their military forces using dated (and in some cases antiquated) equipment, means that the view of Russia being that sort of powerful military force is very much 'out of date', so using the word 'was' is correct. Oh, except that they do have a large number of nukes which keeps them scary.

Even that is debatable at this stage.

Russia was updating its nuclear arsenal before the Ukraine invasion.
Many speculated that this was unusual, as it had not felt the need to do so previously.
It had scrapped more than it had maintained due to changing priorities and various treaties.
Then it all turned around and there were announcements of new developments etc.
Now it seems clear what was happening.
However, even at the time, it was reported that RF was running into problems of material availability, skills and expertise.
Therefore, the RF nuclear arsenal is suspected to be old, poorly maintained, and unreliable. It's readiness state is likely to be the same as what was seen when the armoured columns rolled across the Ukrainian border.
This might make things worse, as if the unthinkable does happen, it might well be utterly unpredictable as to what is actually able to get into the air, and what happens when it does. Failure rates and misfires are likely to be high, with potentially catastrophic results.

 

[hunck]

The scare tactics might've worked ... if the Russians quickly bombed Ukraine into submission. That such a small nation has actually resisted the 'might' of Russia for so long suddenly made people question the 'received wisdom' that Russia was a military steamroller.
Don't get me wrong - they still have the people and the almost suicidal determination - but, like Putin, we've come to see much of the tech. is out of date or badly maintained, the army to be fragmented in disciplined command, the reliance on a mercenary group (who need paying for loyalty) and much of the military budget being siphoned into oligarch pockets.

Not that small - Ukraine is the 2nd largest country in Europe..

 

[Mythopoeika]

Even that is debatable at this stage.

Russia was updating its nuclear arsenal before the Ukraine invasion.
Many speculated that this was unusual, as it had not felt the need to do so previously.
It had scrapped more than it had maintained due to changing priorities and various treaties.
Then it all turned around and there were announcements of new developments etc.
Now it seems clear what was happening.
However, even at the time, it was reported that RF was running into problems of material availability, skills and expertise.
Therefore, the RF nuclear arsenal is suspected to be old, poorly maintained, and unreliable. It's readiness state is likely to be the same as what was seen when the armoured columns rolled across the Ukrainian border.
This might make things worse, as if the unthinkable does happen, it might well be utterly unpredictable as to what is actually able to get into the air, and what happens when it does. Failure rates and misfires are likely to be high, with potentially catastrophic results.

Are you saying that Russia might nuke itself?

 

[Stormkhan]

If they did, they'd scream it was Ukraine/NATO/The West. Of course they'd exploit the disaster - countries like Russia or China can never admit to mistakes. The infallibility of the government is one of the ways they control the public.

 

[Ascalon]

Are you saying that Russia might nuke itself?

Not necessarily.
Nukes, especially thermonuclear ones, are notoriously hard to detonate. If they crash to the ground, they are usually fairly safe, with just contamination from the nuclear material.

The issue is that if guidance systems have deteriorated, the damn things might not go where they are supposed to. This is not a desired outcome either way. If RF launches them, they will hit targets, however unwarranted. If they go awry, there's no telling where they'll go.

Not a good outcome, either in any case.

Nukes are bad.

 

[Stormkhan]

Not necessarily.
Nukes, especially thermonuclear ones, are notoriously hard to detonate. If they crash to the ground, they are usually fairly safe, with just contamination from the nuclear material.

Nukes are bad.

IIRC, there's been two incidents of American nukes being accidentally brought to ground (not dropped) on America. No casualties, no fuss (supressed).
The problem is if they are actually launched, and the arming process has been completed. Then, you rely on the delivery system to do it's job. If the delivery system is crap, you've launched an armed megaton nuclear warhead - usually set for airburst - and hope that it's actually going to happen where you intended.
Imagine 10-pin bowling. You want the ball to go down the lane to hit the maximum number of pins. Sure, the ball might not hit for a strike but there should be (hopefully) some pins going down. The situation of a crap delivery system is that the player was blindfolded, spun around, and told to roll the ball - if you're lucky, it might actually head down the lane intended. The player is the delivery system.

 

[kamalktk]

Fire in the water tank.

/it was drained and being serviced, but still.

https://wtop.com/dc/2023/04/firefighters-keeping-an-eye-on-fire-in-large-water-tank-in-dc/

-------------------------------
D.C. firefighters have issued the all clear after a fire inside the dome of a large, five-story water tank in Southeast D.C. on Friday.

The situation initially prompted a hazmat response, and D.C. Fire and EMS issued a shelter-in-place for a “minimal area” around the tank. However, officials later lifted the guidance and the fire eventually burned out on its own.

Around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, smoke was no longer coming from the tank dome and firefighters cleared all units from the scene, according to a tweet from D.C. Fire and EMS.

 

[kamalktk]

 

[IbisNibs]

Wifi Connected Braava jet® m6 Robot Mop £399.00
https://www.irobot.co.uk/en_GB/irobot-braava-jet-m6/M613840.html
View attachment 65093

Did you notice that the dog in the background is standing on a rug—mopless territory?

 

[uair01]

Did not check:

 

[Stormkhan]

Reminds me of the plastic model kit which blew the gaff on the real stealth bomber.

 

[ChasFink]

Reminds me of the plastic model kit which blew the gaff on the real stealth bomber.

Well, there's secret and then there's secret.
Back in the last decade I attended the Atlantic City air show several times. At least twice there was an aircraft on the program described only as a "surprise". Both times it was a B-1 bomber. As the plane was well known at the time, I can only assume the secrecy was to downplay its then-unpublicized low-altitude capabilities - which were then demonstrated to a huge crowd on the beach at a popular vacation spot.

 

[escargot]

Her novels are deeply involved in putting over the horror and disgust of murder, as well as being rather good crime fiction. They are well considered, balanced and contain enough emotional content to make the reader aware of the fundamental wrongness of murder. So perhaps her conviction and served sentence made her come to terms with her actions as a teenager.

BTW, I met her once at a convention and a more balanced, approachable and nice person I've never met. Then again, I was avoiding bringing up her notorious New Zealand past.

Perry has just died, aged 84.

 

[maximus otter]

Reminds me of the plastic model kit which blew the gaff on the real stealth bomber.

Yep, the accuracy was uncanny:

The real F-117 stealth “fighter”

Revell’s 1988 “F-19”:

maximus otter

 

[Stormkhan]

Yeah, well, details eh?

 

[maximus otter]

Trendy “raw water” source under bird’s nest sparks diarrheal outbreak​

Nineteen people fell ill with a diarrheal disease in Montana last year after drinking untreated water that many believed to be from a natural spring but which was, in fact, just creek drainage brimming with pathogenic bacteria.

One person was hospitalized in the outbreak, which ended only after authorities diverted the water source.

The outbreak follows a trend that sprang up several years ago of drinking so-called "raw water." That is untreated, unfiltered water collected directly from freshwater sources that is often claimed—without evidence—to have health benefits.

https://arstechnica.com/science/202...e-under-birds-nest-sparks-diarrheal-outbreak/

maximus otter

 

[Floyd1]

People have certainly changed, my avatar is from your Hyde Park Rolling Stones concert of 1969 (I think), which was peaceful and happy apparently - and no fat orange ladies!

Is your avatar Alice Ormsby-Gore?

 

[Ronnie Jersey]

Is your avatar Alice Ormsby-Gore?

I'm not aware of her, have to look her up.
And now looking at photos of her, the internet thinks it's her?
Yet I don't look anything like this Alice person, but look very much like my avatar - I don't think the photo is her, the face is different, and Alice's lips are so thin, unlike the woman with the hat.
How on earth did you find that??

 

[Mythopoeika]

I'm not aware of her, have to look her up.
And now looking at photos of her, the internet thinks it's her?
Yet I don't look anything like this Alice person, but look very much like my avatar - I don't think the photo is her, the face is different, and Alice's lips are so thin, unlike the woman with the hat.
How on earth did you find that??

 

[Ronnie Jersey]

Yes, I know - I found this woman's photos on the internet myself -
On showing them to my husband, he swears they are photos of me.
It is such an odd thing to look into the eyes of a stranger in a photo, and see your own eyes!
The colorized photos show hazel eyes, which I also have, her lips, fat cheeks, facial shape, it's me.
I am still looking for that hat, so I can take photos of me as my avatar!

 

[Floyd1]

I'm not aware of her, have to look her up.
And now looking at photos of her, the internet thinks it's her?
Yet I don't look anything like this Alice person, but look very much like my avatar - I don't think the photo is her, the face is different, and Alice's lips are so thin, unlike the woman with the hat.
How on earth did you find that??

I had been on the James Bond Thread and was looking up Rory Kinnear (who plays Tanner) and saw that he was married to Alice's step-sister.
Then I looked up Alice (whom I already knew about) and that picture came up.
The family home was 40 minutes away from me, but has been knocked down now I think, or is derelict at least.

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

Yep, the accuracy was uncanny:

The real F-117 stealth “fighter”

Revell’s 1988 “F-19”:

maximus otter

On my old Spectrum 128K, the Stealth Fighter flight sim was very much based on the imaginative Revell kit, rather than the actual aircraft.

 

[Stormkhan]

Yeah, okay - the similarity between the real F-117 and the Revelle kit is, well, limited to it being an aircraft and it has wings.
But the thing that puzzles me with stealth tech, on any platform, is that flat surfaces and hard edges are poor radar reflectors?
I remember watching a documentary on the latest design of naval destroyer where windows are minimum, decks are cleared of 'stuff' - to the point that gun turrets are either pop-up or the guns themselves lay within the deck profile - and even the emergency dogging levers for hatches are squared off.
I'm no techie, with a basic understanding of the systems involved, but I was genuinely surprised that squared-off or flat surfaces give little radar return. Seriously, I'd have thought the rounded, more organic profile would do the trick.

 

[Trevp666]

It's more to do with the fact that the use of angles, edges and flat surfaces allows the aircraft to control the radar reflections away from the receiver.
Curved surfaces that are traditionally used in non-stealth 'regular' aircraft have surfaces that reflect radar signals in all directions, including back towards the receiver.
With yer 'stealth' aircraft, they also use (in places) special surfaces with coatings on that absorb the radar signal. I dunno what that special stuff is though. Maybe marmite?

 

[Stormkhan]

Oi loik marmite me - didn't know it made stealth toast!

 

[Trevp666]

Well they have to use something.
Who knows - they might have tried marmite and found it works.
(other yeast extract products are available)

 

[Stormkhan]

Do Australian stealth-fighters use Vegemite then?

 

[Trevp666]

The Northrop (later Northrop Grumman) B-2 Spirit, also known as the Stealth Bomber.
The 'B' stands for 'Bovril'.

 

[uair01]

Haiti fact of the day: “Ticket from Miami to Port-au-Prince: $124 Ticket from Port-au-Prince to Miami: $1,000-3,000”