Post by mhbruin on Oct 11, 2022 8:08:48 GMT -8
More Actual Headlines
Enfield Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
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New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Nowhere is Safe
The attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge has highlighted that nowhere in Ukraine is Russia invulnerable.
Despite heavy security, innovative defences and dire warnings of retaliation if targeted, this symbol of Russian pride and engineering — at 19km (12 miles) the longest bridge in Europe — was severely damaged by what Russia said was a Ukrainian truck bomb.
The bridge — a strategic supply and logistics artery not only for Crimea but also for Russian forces in southern Ukraine — is vital for the war effort and has, therefore, been an obvious target for Ukrainian military planners.
Ukraine had few ways to strike it successfully; either its weapons didn’t have the range or weren’t powerful enough to do lasting damage to the $3.6bn steel and concrete bridge.
Ukraine’s air force could have attacked it in theory but would have had to deal with Russian S-300 and, even worse, the latest S-400 air defence missile batteries that guard the span. Ukrainian TB2 drones would fare no better. Their light armament is more suited to taking out vehicles and command posts than destroying sections of reinforced concrete.
Russian defences were bolstered around the bridge to augment the air defence batteries already in place. Fearing missile strikes either from the land or sea, barges festooned with radar reflectors were moored in front of it, facing out.
These are designed to give a false radar profile of the bridge, hoping to confuse any incoming missiles from the sea.
Dense smoke has also been tested as a way to obscure the shape of the bridge and help mask the radar and infrared profiles of the bridge used by certain types of precision-guided munitions and advanced cruise missiles.
These innovations — coupled with heavy patrolling by elite troops, combat air patrols, the presence of attack helicopters nearby plus the likelihood of electronic warfare units in the vicinity — all added up to a formidable defence to one of the highest-value targets of the conflict.
Penetrating all these defences with anything that could be large enough to damage the massive structure posed a serious problem.
Nevertheless, a large explosion took out a section of the road bridge on Saturday and severely damaged the rail line. While repairs began almost immediately, the impact on the Russian war effort — and on Russia’s psyche — was substantial.
Most of the logistics supplying Russia’s southern front, which are centred around the city of Kherson, run through Crimea. The damage to this vital route will have a serious impact on beleaguered Russian forces already squeezed by a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Propaganda-wise it has been a huge boost for Ukrainian morale and a shock to Russian civilians already reeling from the impact of a recently announced troop mobilisation.
The damage to President Vladimir Putin himself has been substantial. With much fanfare, he opened the Crimea bridge himself in 2018, driving a truck across the strait. A close friend and ally built the bridge, and the attack, which came a day after Putin’s 70th birthday, has many Russians now openly doubting the effectiveness of his handling of the war.
Enfield Couple Slain; Police Suspect Homicide
Man Struck By Lightning: Faces Battery Charge
New Study of Obesity Looks for Larger Test Group
Astronaut Takes Blame for Gas in Spacecraft
Kids Make Nutritious Snacks
Local High School Dropouts Cut in Half
Hospitals are Sued by 7 Foot Doctors
Typhoon Rips Through Cemetery; Hundreds Dead
Nowhere is Safe
The attack on the Kerch Strait Bridge has highlighted that nowhere in Ukraine is Russia invulnerable.
Despite heavy security, innovative defences and dire warnings of retaliation if targeted, this symbol of Russian pride and engineering — at 19km (12 miles) the longest bridge in Europe — was severely damaged by what Russia said was a Ukrainian truck bomb.
The bridge — a strategic supply and logistics artery not only for Crimea but also for Russian forces in southern Ukraine — is vital for the war effort and has, therefore, been an obvious target for Ukrainian military planners.
Ukraine had few ways to strike it successfully; either its weapons didn’t have the range or weren’t powerful enough to do lasting damage to the $3.6bn steel and concrete bridge.
Ukraine’s air force could have attacked it in theory but would have had to deal with Russian S-300 and, even worse, the latest S-400 air defence missile batteries that guard the span. Ukrainian TB2 drones would fare no better. Their light armament is more suited to taking out vehicles and command posts than destroying sections of reinforced concrete.
Russian defences were bolstered around the bridge to augment the air defence batteries already in place. Fearing missile strikes either from the land or sea, barges festooned with radar reflectors were moored in front of it, facing out.
These are designed to give a false radar profile of the bridge, hoping to confuse any incoming missiles from the sea.
Dense smoke has also been tested as a way to obscure the shape of the bridge and help mask the radar and infrared profiles of the bridge used by certain types of precision-guided munitions and advanced cruise missiles.
These innovations — coupled with heavy patrolling by elite troops, combat air patrols, the presence of attack helicopters nearby plus the likelihood of electronic warfare units in the vicinity — all added up to a formidable defence to one of the highest-value targets of the conflict.
Penetrating all these defences with anything that could be large enough to damage the massive structure posed a serious problem.
Nevertheless, a large explosion took out a section of the road bridge on Saturday and severely damaged the rail line. While repairs began almost immediately, the impact on the Russian war effort — and on Russia’s psyche — was substantial.
Most of the logistics supplying Russia’s southern front, which are centred around the city of Kherson, run through Crimea. The damage to this vital route will have a serious impact on beleaguered Russian forces already squeezed by a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Propaganda-wise it has been a huge boost for Ukrainian morale and a shock to Russian civilians already reeling from the impact of a recently announced troop mobilisation.
The damage to President Vladimir Putin himself has been substantial. With much fanfare, he opened the Crimea bridge himself in 2018, driving a truck across the strait. A close friend and ally built the bridge, and the attack, which came a day after Putin’s 70th birthday, has many Russians now openly doubting the effectiveness of his handling of the war.