ChrisO_wiki Profile picture
May 11, 2022 5 tweets 3 min read Read on X
Really important question below: why would you even design a T-72 so that the crew literally has to sit on top of hundreds of kilos of highly explosive ammunition and propellant? /1
@clmazin answered this by analogy in his brilliant script for #Chernobyl. In the (fictional) courtroom scene in the final episode, Soviet nuclear scientist Valeriy Legasov explains why Chernobyl was effectively rigged to explode: /2
"It's cheaper". That's the answer to the T-72's design flaws. It's much smaller and lighter than the US M1A1 Abrams or similar British and German tanks. But it costs a fraction of their price, at the cost of crew safety. /3
I think we often forget how much poorer Russia (and the USSR before it) is than the West. Millions of Russians still live in abject poverty, without clean water, indoor sanitation or paved roads - much as their great-grandparents did 100 years ago./4
Russia and the USSR have sought to compete with the West by making cheaper and less safe weapons because they didn't have the means to compete on quality. Unfortunately for thousands of Russian soldiers, that philosophy is now costing them their lives. /end

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More from @ChrisO_wiki

Apr 8
1/ Igor 'Strelkov' Girkin reflects the views of many Russian commentators today in declaring Donald Trump's apparent climbdown over Iran to be a huge fiasco. He argues that "US authority will now be greatly undermined, and Trump's authority even more so." ⬇️ Image
2/ News of the ceasefire in the Gulf has made its way very quickly to the special prison for jailed former security officials where Girkin has been held since January 2024. He also hasn't wasted any time in responding on his Telegram channel:
3/ "To say I'm shocked to the core—no, I'm not. In fact, deep down, I suspected the possibility of such a U-turn. The shouting and threats leading up to the behind-the-scenes agreement were too theatrical.
Read 15 tweets
Apr 8
1/ Russia's current efforts to advance are getting nowhere due to endless swarms of Ukrainian drones, says the head of the Novorossiya Aid Coordination Centre. He suggest that instead, Russia should 'temporarily' bank its gains and go on the defensive. ⬇️
2/ Alexander Lyubimov writes:

"Now it's important to take a very realistic assessment of the situation as of April 2026 and determine what we need to do in the near future to achieve Victory.
The most important factors in this situation are:"
3/ "▪️The fatigue of our troops, due to the lack of long-term rotations and many other reasons, is becoming a critical factor of strategic significance!!!

▪️The enemy achieved considerable success in destroying our air defences in February and March.
Read 13 tweets
Apr 8
1/ Iran faces very serious problems even if the currently paused war ends with an agreement, warns Russian political scientist Nikolai Sevostyanov. While many Russians are celebrating the Iranian 'victory', Sevostyanov says the hardest part is still ahead. ⬇️ Image
2/ Guest-writing on the 'Voenkor Kotenok' Telegram channel, Sevostyanov says:
3/ "The Iranians are the clear winners today.Trump raised the stakes as high as they could go and then backed down; the Islamic Republic has preserved its territorial integrity;…
Read 22 tweets
Apr 8
1/ With a ceasefire now apparently in place in the Gulf, Iran has a golden opportunity to rearm – most likely with the aid of Russia, its main supplier of weapons since 2015. A Russian warblogger calls for missiles and drones to be rushed to Iran to prepare for a new war. ⬇️ Image
2/ While Iran's own military production capabilities have likely been severely damaged, it can almost certainly turn to Russia, which is only about 500 km (310 miles) away across the Caspian Sea. The two have extensively traded weapons in both directions.
3/ From 2015-20, Russia supplied 98% of Iran's arms imports, and in 2020–24 it was Iran's sole official supplier. Over the last decade, Iran's imports of Russian arms have included air defence systems, missiles, aircraft, and sensors.
Read 13 tweets
Apr 7
1/ Not to be outdone by the US Artemis II mission, Russia is reported to be rushing out its own plan to carve out territories on the moon. However, as a Russian political commentator observes, Russia's space capabilities have degenerated to the point that this is mere fantasy. ⬇️ Image
2/ Russia (and the Soviet Union before it, which envisaged the moon base shown above back in 1962) has long dreamed of establishing a presence on the moon. However, lack of funds and technological shortfalls have long prevented this.
3/ At a closed meeting of the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Academician Sergei Chernyshev bluntly stated that the federal "Space Science" project is intended to "establish sovereign Russian territories on the lunar surface." Image
Read 19 tweets
Apr 7
1/ The Russian army has switched to indigenously-produced Spirit-030 terminals to replace its blocked Starlink terminals. However, a Russian soldier and warblogger says it is far inferior, with poor latency and significant vulnerability to jamming. ⬇️
2/ Spirit-030 is a compact, portable Russian military satellite communication terminal designed as a tactical alternative to systems like Starlink. It provides secure satellite-based voice, data, and internet connectivity for frontline Russian forces.
3/ It features a small 30 cm diameter antenna, significantly smaller and more portable than earlier Russian terminals that used 90 cm dishes. This reduces its visual and electronic signature, making it harder to detect and target.
Read 13 tweets

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