Pavel Fredomhauer Profile picture
Been a few places, know a few things.

Jan 27, 2023, 16 tweets

1) A bizarre video was released on YouTube by the UK Imperial War Museum, analyzing the Ukraine conflict as if it was long over and using every hackneyed, uncorroborated and sensational claim about Russian military performance. There's many issues with the truth. I'll explore.

2) Samir Puri at 1:41 claims the T-72 has "increasing vulnerability in the face of much more modern weapons systems" and pontificates about Javelin/NLAW top-attack capability. In reality, these weapons have been of marginal use for the ZSU.

3) Most Russian MBT losses were from artillery & other MBTs. Conveniently, the many cases of T-72B3s and T-80BVMs surviving multiple hits are not discussed/shown. See two previous threads, including a T-80BVM surviving a Stugna-P:

4) At 2:06, Bayraktar footage is aired as Samir boasts "there has been extensive use by Ukraine of drones. These ... have proved very effective, especially against slow moving Russian armoured convoys." Incorrect.

5) The Bayraktar has been of minimal value for the ZSU, and most were destroyed early in the RF campaign. Powerful EW platforms protected RF land forces and IADs destroyed anything that got close. Donbass militia have also shot them down.

6) At 2:16, footage is shown of what appears to be a logistical convoy of unarmoured trucks hit by artillery, but the audience may think these are "tanks" hit by drones based on the preceding Puri claims.

7) At 5:12, he claims "there was a lot of aerial activity, a lot of dogfighting activity as well" as cockpit footage from a Su-25 shows S5/S8 ground attack rocket salvos being fired.
Except there wasn't much "dogfighting" thus far.

8) Even without A-50(U) AEW&C, RF VKS Su-35Ss and MiG31BMs can see Ukr MiG-29s from far longer beyond visual range distances and engage with RVV-family missiles and other weapons.

9) The MiG-29 & Su-27 variants used by Ukraine have old N019 & N001 cassegrain radars, respectively, while RF Su-35Ss use N035 phased array radars & MiG-31BMs use Zaslon-M phased array radars.
It is highly unlikely they would get close enough
to engage in a WW2-style dogfight.

10) From 5:58, the targeting display for a Ukrainian Stugna-P ATGM system is shown in use.
The system is not identified, despite previous sensational claims of ATGM performance by inferior named US/UK systems, the Javelin/NLAW.
Why is that?

11) At 6:54, M777 SPHs are shown followed by a French Caesar SPH, with over the top narration claiming "new long-range artillery donated to the Ukrainians has made Russian tanks sitting ducks".
There is no evidence of these guns scoring such consistent hits on RF MBTs...

12) ... and the fact that most of these foreign artillery systems have been destroyed by counter-battery fire, Lancets and other means is not mentioned.
See recent stills from a Lancet strike on an M777:

13) Samir Puri is not just a random academic chosen by the IWM. He observed and/or meddled in the 2004 Ukraine elections/political dramas, worked for the UK FCDO and was an OSCE "monitoring officer" in 2014-2015. He also worked for RAND, a Beltway thinktank in 2006-2009.

14) Instead of seeking out a genuine expert in armoured vehicles, warfare, and the conduct of this specific campaign - like Douglas MacGregor - IWM chose a privileged academic with no military experience or transparency on his agenda, past activities and career background.

15) Perhaps "little Samir" should have just stuck with LEGO.
(Ealing Gazette, 25.09.1987).

Addendum: a primitive troll attempt by an instantly-blocked account appeared as a Tweet quote. The childish, all-caps message screams desperation. Most instructive to observe who one of the followers of this allegedly Malaysian Twitter user is.

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