Don's Weekly, 15 July 2024: Part 3

by Donald Hill

(…continued from Part 2…)

***

Zaporozhye

A video showed a Ukrainian drone attacking a Russian position in a basement. This position is in the center of Urozhaine, meaning the Russians at least reached that far north. It is unclear whether they were able to maintain a presence in other positions in the center, but Russian artillery strikes 200-800 meters to the south suggests that they didn’t.

***

Kherson

A Kherson fisherman does his part for Russian drone suppression.

The Russians shell and bomb civilians every single day in the Kherson region. In one attack last week a 16-year-old living 10 km from the river lost her arm. They often wait for first responders to arrive before attacking again in order to kill them. Last week, a drone dropped a bomb on a fire truck. Somehow the crew survived.

***

Crimea

A Ukrainian drone was reportedly destroyed by a Russian drone…https://x.com/EjShahid/status/1812079256903500190

….and then the Ukrainians hit another Russian S-300 or S-400 SAM-site in the Crimea, this time in the Fiolent area.

***

Black Sea

Ukraine seized a Turkish-owned, Cameroon-flagged ship for entering Sevastopol and loading stolen Ukrainian wheat to sell on behalf of Russia. The ship is being towed to Odesa and its Azerbainjani captain was arrested and could be sent to jail for five years. The ship had turned off its AIS locator transmissions and altered the ship’s logs. The ship had been inspected 40 times since 1999 and had been cited for violations 38 times. The ship had previously entered and left Sevastopol in November, 2023, and had unloaded Turkish cargo in May. Twentyone other ships have been issued arrest warrants in absentia for transporting stolen grain.

***

Unknown Location

A unique perspective as a Russian films a drone attack on his position.

A cruise missile is intercepted by MANPADS.

A Shahed drone is downed by a .50 cal (12.7mm) machine gun.

***

Unknown Date

This is a recording of the communications between a Russian Su-34 and an A-50 surveillance plane after the Su-34 is engaged by a Patriot missile. The video only has Russian subtitles. This thread has a general summary of the events with context. This post contains a literal translation.

Essentially, the Russian operator in the A-50 AEW aircraft thinks he can detect emissions from the MPQ-65 radar of a Patriot SAM-system and is thus calling out three missiles launched from around 80km at the Su-34. Of particular interest: the crew of the Su-34 reports it has no MPQ-65 on its radar warning receiver, so the A-50-crewman (while panicking) is warning the Su-34 to dive and evade. Then he reports tracking the Patriot missiles reaching an altitude of 25,000m and speed of more than 4,000km/h before diving on their target (the Su-34). The Su-34 descends from 2,000 down to 300 metres in order to avoid: still, one of missiles detonated directly behind the Su-34, causing damage (at least the loss of intercom and injury to the WSO).

…certainly something those interested in air warfare (which, in turn, means: everybody with serious interest in how and why is this war fought the way it is) should keep on their minds…

Internal Russian documents say that over 100 of their bombs were dropped on Russian territory, and 38 glide bombs landed in Russia from April 2023 to April 2024.

Sanctions on Russia have had various effects, ranging from low availability of products to higher costs. Russian airlines have been strongly impacted due to their reliance on western components. There have been several reports of airliners stopping in the fields beyond the runway due to worn out brakes. Some planes have been stripped for parts to keep others running. The Superjet 100 is a Russian-built plane with a history of safety issues. Active since 2011, the few foreign customers that bought them have phased them out of service. Last week, a Superjet 100 took its first flight since repairs and crashed shortly after takeoff. Russian media reports that both engines failed, probably due to bird strikes.

85 km from the front lines, a Russia repair and maintenance base containing 500 vehicles was created.

Back on July 13, a guard armed with a drone gun tried to jam a drone just before it impacted the oil tank. Even if he successfully jammed the GPS signal, the drone was so close to its destination that its inertial guidance could guide it accurately to the target.

***

(…to be continued…)