1/ Russia's air defences are doing great, according to Russian warbloggers. However, they say that those of Laos (a synecdoche for Russia, to evade censors) are crippled by shortages of manpower and resources, and an inflexible command and control system.
2/ Two popular Russian Telegram warbloggers discuss problems with the Russian air defence system, using carefully worded euphemisms to avoid getting into trouble with the authorities. 'RAG&E' writes:
3/ "The Russian Armed Forces rank second in the world military rankings, but its air defence capabilities are clearly and rightfully ranked first.
I think everyone agrees on this, so let's move on to Laos.
4/ "As we know, Laos has been at war for many years now, so its experience—including in terms of air defence—could be of interest to us, especially given its future prospects.
5/ "So, here are the main problems facing Laos' air defence.
▪️Firstly, a lack of manpower and resources.
Given the number of potential enemy targets, covering them all is simply unrealistic.
Therefore, sooner or later, an enemy strike will be effective.
6/ "In addition to the insufficient number of air defence systems, there is a pressing problem of reactivating damaged or simply inoperable systems – it turns out that the Laotian systems used imported components [which are no longer available due to sanctions].
7/ "▪️Secondly, the air defence system is site-specific.
Given the length of the border, covering it entirely (and even then only tentatively!) is only possible with radar systems, not with air defence systems—they are assigned to specific targets.
8/ "Therefore, if it misses, it misses.
The crew commander can, at his own risk, attempt to shoot down the wrong target, but he will be held accountable for misusing a very, very expensive missile.
9/ "Frankly, I don't know how much an anti-aircraft missile costs in Laos, but just for reference, the Russian TOR air defence system fires single-shot missiles in Moscow.
10/ "Of course, the "shoot everything with everything at hand" option is available, but it can only be used with the permission of a General or Admiral, and that permission is traditionally slow.
11/ "▪️Third, the personnel, who make all the difference.
Staffing even the existing crews with competent specialists is extremely problematic, so often the people at the controls have specific contraindications for such service.
12/ "The result: they use whoever's best, until they're fed up—and then it's just a step to error.
13/ "Thank God we're not Laos and everything's fine, but just in case, it's better to anticipate these problems before they arise, so that our air defence system can continue to be the best of the best.
Glory to the air defence!"
14/ 'Fighterbomber', a warblogger with links to the Russian Aerospace Forces, agrees and adds: "This situation and organization aren't a happy one, as you can imagine."
15/ "Who cares that a missile costs a fortune if there were plenty of them. But they're, let's say, in short supply. To put it mildly. Because this is Laos; if we had this, everything would be clear. There's nowhere to put it.
16/ "That's why they've invented an important "general-admiral" who, to the best of his ability, analyses air targets and makes decisions: "Everyone shoots at everything they see that isn't marked 'friend'," because under conditions of shortages, a single use of such a command…
17/ …could simply destroy air defences in a couple of areas. In fact. In a single enemy raid. Because, say, twenty missiles will hit one target, while only curse words will fly at the second.
18/ "That's why our air defence forces keep an eye on the [Ukrainian] missiles flying past. They're not their responsibility.
19/ "Well, it's clear that everything is going to hell when everything is under control, all the targets are identified and tracked, the necessary commands have been issued, but the combat vehicle that was supposed to fire on them just broke down a minute before the launch.
20/ "And the crew in the backup (if there is one) fell asleep, because they live in their combat vehicle for three years 24/7, staring at screens without a second glance.
21/ "But don't worry, a backup crew will be assigned for all the screw-ups, and no one there will give a damn what broke down or why they didn't have any missiles.
As you can imagine, things will get even more interesting from here." /end
Sources:
🔹 t.me/razvedosaa/166…
🔹 t.me/bomber_fighter…
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