Ukraine Air Force's next fighter must be able to fly the following missions:

• Air-to-Air (A/A)
• Close Air Support (CAS)
• Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD)

I created a simplified Venn diagram to visualize, which fighter jets have these capabilities:

1/2 Image
As said this is simplified i.e. the E/A-18G also carries A/A missiles for self-defense, or a F-22 could also carry two 1,000 lb JDAM bombs if so desired.

Ultimately no fighter is as versatile as the F-16. It can do everything well & there are 100s available for Ukraine.

2/2

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More from @noclador

Aug 14
The first 4 seconds of this video of a russian attempt to intercept GMLRS rockets hitting the Antonovsky Bridge are revealing:

1) three russian air defense missiles rise & detonate in the same area, which means the russian air defense operators fired

1/4
the missiles into the air on a pre-set course and with a timed fuze. Proof that russian radars are incapable to detect & target GMLRS rockets.

2) and the russian air defense operators fire the missiles into the air to the West and South of the bridge. Proof that they don't

2/4
don't know the actual flight profile of a GMLRS rocket.

As I said before: the russians can't jam GMLRS rockets, they can't spoof P/Y GPS, they can't shoot down GMLRS rockets.

Now we also know that russian radars can't detect them and are useless.

3/4
Read 4 tweets
Aug 11
I need to elaborate on this fake/real... thingy.

This is a real AGM-88 HARM tail fin.
This is a real AGM-88 HARM engine section.
This is a fake serial number / CAGE code combo.

The manufacturer CAGE Code (C3768) is Lufthansa-Technik Intercoat in Kaltenkirchen Germany, which
1/4
is a business doing epoxy coating of aviation parts.

If this fin would have been manufactured in Germany, then the missile would be one of the AGM-88B Block IIIa of the Luftwaffe... but those are upgraded AGM-88B that retained Texas Instrument fins. Also the buyer of the

2/4
German AGM-88 was the "Waffensystemkommando der Luftwaffe" (CAGE Code: D3333), but on this fin the buyer is the US Navy's Naval Air Systems Command (CAGE Code: 30003).

So: a real, burnt out, worthless tail section of a AGM-88, with fake/ photoshopped data.

AND!

3/4
Read 4 tweets
Aug 8
How did the US mount AGM-88 HARM missiles onto Ukrainian fighters... well, I think I know how. A short thread 🧵:

AGM-88B/C-1/D missiles have three operation modes:

• Self-Protect (SP)
• Target Of Opportunity (TOO)
• Pre-Briefed (PB)

1/n Image
When US Air Force F-16CM Falcon or US Navy EA-18G Growler fighters fly Wild Weasel missions they use Self Protect mode.
In this mode the Falcon's AN/ASQ-213 HTS R7 (to the left of the air inlet) and the Growler's AN/ALQ-218(V)2 (on the wingtips) sensor systems detect, locate,
2/n ImageImage
analyze, and identify sources of radio frequency emission. Once a threat is identified the pilot transmits the target data to the missile and launches it.

There is no chance this would work with Ukrainian fighters as US sensor systems can't be installed on Ukrainian planes
3/n
Read 16 tweets
Aug 2
NATO's role in Kosovo - a short thread 🧵:

On 10 June 1999 the UNSC adopted Resolution 1244, which tasked NATO to enter Kosovo & establish a peacekeeping mission with the duties of:

• deterring renewed hostilities
• maintaining & where necessary enforcing a ceasefire

1/n Image
• ensuring the withdrawal & preventing the return into Kosovo of (Yugoslav) Federal & Republic military, police & paramilitary forces

russia voted Yes & Yugoslavia accepted.

50,000 troops from 🇬🇧🇩🇪🇺🇸🇫🇷🇮🇹🇳🇱🇨🇦🇺🇦🇪🇸🇧🇪🇬🇷🇹🇷🇳🇴🇩🇰🇵🇱🇫🇮🇸🇪🇦🇹🇭🇺🇵🇹🇨🇭🇷🇴🇨🇿🇧🇬🇱🇹 entered Kosovo 2 days later.

2/n Image
All NATO members' parliaments repeatedly voted to support KFOR, which is operationally assigned to NATO's Joint Forces Command (JFC) Naples.

Therefore talk of "NATO can't intervene if Serbia invades Kosovo unless member parliaments vote for it" is factually wrong.

3/n
Read 6 tweets
Aug 1
I think last evening Serbia's General Staff officers explained to President Vučić that if he orders to attack Kosovo NATO fighter jets would appear over Serbian forces within hours and start bombing them... and within 48 hours the US Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade would be
1/4 Image
airlifted to Pristina Airport and the Italian Army's Paratropers Brigade "Folgore" airlifted to Gjakova Airport (which Italy's military built for this purpose).
Followed a day later by the Italian Army's Mechanized Brigade "Pinerolo", which is based in and around Bari, and
2/4 Image
would be shipped by the Italian Navy's 3rd Naval Division with its amphibious ships from Brindisi to Durrës within 2 days. From Durrës to Mitrovicia the Pinerolo's wheeled Freccia IFVs and Centauro tank destroyers need 6 hours thanks to the Western co-financed A1 highway.
3/4 Image
Read 4 tweets
Jul 30
Olenivka POW massacre thread 🧵:

1) it wasn't a GMLRS rocket
2) it was a thermobaric weapon
3) russia staged it and did so (as usual) incompetently

Firstly: keeping POWs so close to the front violates Article 19 of the Third Geneva Convention making it a war crime.

1/n
Secondly: Olenivka is about 15 km from the frontline. Striking a target so close to the front with sparse and expensive long-range GMLRS rockets, when one could use 105 mm artillery rounds that cost around 0.4% of a GMLRS rocket makes no sense.

2/n
Thirdly: Olenivka has been a well known DNR POW and concentration camp for years (and a penal colony for decades). So much so that the wives of the POWs knew about it. One needs to be a delusional russian troll or propagandist to believe Ukraine would strike this target.

3/n
Read 15 tweets

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