http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/pro-russia ... -1.2930529
A major escalation in a conflict that is not headed towards any resolution..

by Americalex » Jan 24, 2015 8:57 pm
by Windwalker » Feb 01, 2015 12:23 pm
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by Windwalker » Dec 23, 2017 1:47 pm
KYIV, Ukraine—U.S. President Donald Trump has approved the sale of commercial lethal weapons to Ukraine, a pivotal decision that comes amid an escalation of Russia’s ongoing proxy war in the country’s embattled eastern Donbas region.
Trump has reportedly approved a $41.5 million deal for Tennessee-based Barrett Firearms Manufacturing to sell Model M107A1 sniper rifles, ammunition, and accessories to Ukraine....
Useful and Symbolic
After four years of constant combat, about 60,000 Ukrainian troops remain engaged in a static, trench warfare conflict against a combined force of about 35,000 pro-Russian separatists, foreign mercenaries, and Russian regulars.
The war is mostly fought at a distance using indirect fire weapons like artillery, rockets, and mortars. Snipers also frequently engage targets across no man’s land, which can vary in width from a few kilometers in some places, to other spots where the two sides are so close they can shout insults to one another.
While the Kremlin denies its hand in the war and Ukrainian officials officially refer to the conflict as an “anti-terror operation,” the two erstwhile allies have been locked in a de facto state of war since early 2014....
Based on U.S. Army testing, the rifle is capable of penetrating up to 1.18 inches of steel plate from 2,000 meters.
Front-line Ukrainian soldiers say the M107A1 will be well suited for the kinds of long-distance battles they currently face in the Donbas.
“It will definitely help us because most engagements are more than 500 meters from trench to trench, it even goes up to 2 kilometers,” said Anton Kolomoets, a 22-year-old soldier in the Ukrainian National Guard Azov Regiment, currently deployed outside the city of Mariupol at the southern end of the front lines.
Kolomoets told The Daily Signal that soldiers in his unit modify Soviet-era DShK machine guns with accessories bought off the internet—like advanced scopes, bipods, and new stocks—to fill the role of advanced, long-distance sniper rifles like the M107A1.
“This stuff is not as accurate as we need,” Kolomoets said of the modified Soviet weapons.
Volodymyr Pavlovich, a 31-year-old former Ukrainian sniper who served with the Ukrainian army’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade in the front-line town of Pisky, said he used a 1969 Soviet Dragunov sniper rifle in combat....
Beyond its battlefield utility, the U.S. weapons deal is a morale booster for Ukrainian troops as they endure their fourth consecutive winter at war against Russia and its separatist proxies.
“Of course this is a good decision,” Dmitry Dybus, a 23-year-old active-duty Ukrainian army soldier currently deployed to the eastern war zone, told The Daily Signal in an email, referring to the U.S. weapons deal.
“It will be a small, but really important step to re-arming the armed forces of Ukraine,” Dybus said. “And of course, it will be nice to stand in defense of the entire civilized world side by side with [the United States].”
by Windwalker » Dec 23, 2017 2:12 pm
by Windwalker » Dec 23, 2017 2:32 pm
wikipedia wrote:The FGM-148 Javelin is an American man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile fielded to replace the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service.[12] It uses an automatic infrared guidance that allows the user to seek cover immediately after launch, as opposed to wired guided systems, like the Dragon, where the user has to actively guide the weapon throughout the engagement. The Javelin's HEAT warhead is capable of defeating modern tanks by attacking them from above, and is also useful against fortifications in a direct attack flight
wikipedia wrote:M107
Caliber: .50 BMG (12.7×99mm)
Length: 1,448 mm (57.0 in)
Barrel length: 737 mm (29.0 in)
Weight (unloaded w/ scope): 12.9 kg (28.4 lb)
Magazine capacity: 11 rounds
Weight of magazine: 1.87 kg (4.1 lb)
Accuracy: 3 Minutes of Angle (MOA)
Muzzle velocity: 853 m/s (2,800 ft/s)
Effective Range: 1,829 m (6,001 ft)
Maximum Range: 6,812 m (22,349 ft)
by Windwalker » Apr 11, 2018 2:54 pm