Re:Ukraine attacks Moscow in one of largest ever drone strik...
by rainworld on Thursday August 22, 2024 @11:49AM
(#41321580)
“State of the art” is a red herring for the question of it being a “testing ground”.
Latest L2, Abrams etc. wouldn’t fare significantly better. Close enough for evaluation.
Performance in a real conflict has many dimensions. This large land war is the closest thing to the hot Cold War conflict most of the gear in question was built for. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
There’s much more than tanks, guns and missiles to be tested.
They don’t want to hurt sales with bad PR. But they have to send something. Older, gimped models as excuse.
Costs are already massive. New production is often pitiful. As horny as many NATO generals are for this war, parting with what little working gear they have left, unlikely to be replaced soon if ever, stings.
That said, “testing ground” is also kind of a red herring. A side-effect, not really a cause.
Latest L2, Abrams etc. wouldn’t fare significantly better. Close enough for evaluation.
Performance in a real conflict has many dimensions. This large land war is the closest thing to the hot Cold War conflict most of the gear in question was built for. A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
There’s much more than tanks, guns and missiles to be tested.
They don’t want to hurt sales with bad PR. But they have to send something. Older, gimped models as excuse.
Costs are already massive. New production is often pitiful. As horny as many NATO generals are for this war, parting with what little working gear they have left, unlikely to be replaced soon if ever, stings.
That said, “testing ground” is also kind of a red herring. A side-effect, not really a cause.