This is the kind of thing you see at the end of a war, nuclear/carpet bombers are a big PR win but they also seem like the most logical card to discard to save face as part of a descalation.
It points to me towards a possible end to the war on the horizon.
Unlikely. Now putin will be looking to best that. It will be lazily planned and will target civilians and civilian infrastructure. You almost make it sound like putin sacrificed these planes as an olive branch or something. Russia is edging up on 1 mill in personnel losses. They’ve lost a majority of their usable Soviet inheritance of tanks. They’re not going to stop over some old bombers, no matter how significant.
All wars require context, and the shift you have seen is Ukraine developed a decisive enough advantage that interests tangential but intersecting to the war in Ukraine realize it.
The decisive advantage is domestic production of self propelled 155mm artillery in Ukraine.
You almost make it sound like putin sacrificed these planes as an olive branch or something.
No, you have this backwards, this is how a more powerful enemy beats you because it allows an opening for the loser to turn to the crowd and make a bunch of noise and get everyone riled up while they know from their strategic military brain that well those bombers were nice launch platforms for loitering with BVR weapons or killing civilians en masse (turns out this is real bad and we shouldn’t try to drop as many bombs on people as you can) but they aren’t critical elements of a military that if were crippled would make a leader trying to exit a war look weak to rivals.
Anybody in Russia who understands modern warfare will understand that while those bombers were useful and large bomber platforms to launch drones will absolutely be a realm of weapons development, that even in that future war case there are already massive freight airliners being produced all of the world by aircraft companies that will work pretty much as good. This isn’t the same thing as knocking out SUPER critical military infrastructure that places a losing enemy leader in a position where they might act existentially vs. keep seeing the tactical benefit of delaying and retreating instead of going on the offensive.
This is basic Klingon anti-war philosophy/theory, you gotta educate yourself on this stuff.
Everybody feels that way at least to a degree when losing, consider that a truly frightening enemy will be patient with you through that process because every moment is a choice.
This is the kind of thing you see at the end of a war, nuclear/carpet bombers are a big PR win but they also seem like the most logical card to discard to save face as part of a descalation.
It points to me towards a possible end to the war on the horizon.
Unlikely. Now putin will be looking to best that. It will be lazily planned and will target civilians and civilian infrastructure. You almost make it sound like putin sacrificed these planes as an olive branch or something. Russia is edging up on 1 mill in personnel losses. They’ve lost a majority of their usable Soviet inheritance of tanks. They’re not going to stop over some old bombers, no matter how significant.
Why?
All wars require context, and the shift you have seen is Ukraine developed a decisive enough advantage that interests tangential but intersecting to the war in Ukraine realize it.
The decisive advantage is domestic production of self propelled 155mm artillery in Ukraine.
No, you have this backwards, this is how a more powerful enemy beats you because it allows an opening for the loser to turn to the crowd and make a bunch of noise and get everyone riled up while they know from their strategic military brain that well those bombers were nice launch platforms for loitering with BVR weapons or killing civilians en masse (turns out this is real bad and we shouldn’t try to drop as many bombs on people as you can) but they aren’t critical elements of a military that if were crippled would make a leader trying to exit a war look weak to rivals.
Anybody in Russia who understands modern warfare will understand that while those bombers were useful and large bomber platforms to launch drones will absolutely be a realm of weapons development, that even in that future war case there are already massive freight airliners being produced all of the world by aircraft companies that will work pretty much as good. This isn’t the same thing as knocking out SUPER critical military infrastructure that places a losing enemy leader in a position where they might act existentially vs. keep seeing the tactical benefit of delaying and retreating instead of going on the offensive.
This is basic Klingon anti-war philosophy/theory, you gotta educate yourself on this stuff.
That’s your problem, there. The leader has no interest in ending the war. None. He would sacrifice every man in that country for his glory.
Everybody feels that way at least to a degree when losing, consider that a truly frightening enemy will be patient with you through that process because every moment is a choice.
Uhhh I’m not following.