Off Topic WW3 How Close?

In the Vietnam war, USA troops killing their own officers was called fragging?

 

@Draig NATO MMF20 doing a few loops ouvr Poland just west of Lviv. Cargo plane dropping some more supplies off? A quick Google search says it can be cargo, troop, VIP transport or air to air refueling.

 

Incirlik? It's quite an important strategic AFB for America and used as a staging post a lot of the time. It was supposed to be used in the build up to the 2nd Gulf war but Turkey buckled and stopped us and the Yanks from using it so we ended up in Cyprus and Jordan. Although it was still used a lot throughout Iraq and Afghan because I flew in and out of there a fair few times, one time dropping off a full C17 load of ammo picked up from Israel for cross decking to several Hercs and then flown in to theatre.

 

No, it flew from Konya (actually Büyükkayacik) - it's a combined Civil Airport and Military Airbase.

 

MMF20 is its call sign, not its type. It is an Airbus A330-243 MRTT (Multi Role Tanker Transport) so the wings will have been made up the road from me.

The RAF fly them as Voyagers and it was one of these that Boris had us spend over £900k to repaint in white and Union Jack colours 'to better represent

Its a multi role cargo aircraft alright, but it is mostly used as an airborne tanker and you can tell from the loops it has flown that it is being used in that role here.

I've also seen a number of different tanker aircraft landing at
Rzeszów airport - presumably that is the easiest way to keep the airport supplied as the local roads must be chokka with military and refugee traffic.

They fly all supplies for Ukraine into here and drive them across the border so there are two Patriot batteries based in the area and there are generally four fighters airborne around, so you sometimes see the tankers aloft with no other military craft showing as they don't have their civil transponders switched on.

 

The Russian Oligarchs who have been allowed to do anything they liked, in the UK etc, won't like these sanctions.

They're not used to having anyone say 'no' to them let alone interfering in their lives, they'll be absolutely fuming.

I'm sure they'll be asking Putin wtf is going on and what he's hoping to gain.

The reality is that he's disrupting their lives and hurting their finances.

They won't care about the Ukraine but they won't like what's happening.

 

There were a few pictures of the Patriots set up for when Biden arrived at that airport earlier..

 

'Heart Attack' LoL. ..

 

Basically Russia have had their arse handed to them and are withdrawing. That's right Vlad, isn't it ?

 

What it's doing depends on the airpace structure. Tanking requires a big block of airspace because you can have stuff joining from above or below, and because it's at FL250 it's classed as being in the upper air which has higher separation standards uness you have certain pieces of kit on your aircraft. In the UK tanking tends to take place at a lower altitude, 180-210. High level stuff causes problems for the civil traffic. You do get the big formations at high level a few times a week but they route up the east coast and then turn left over the ocean.
Tanking was great fun. Except when the tornados tried to get fuel off a BA jet a thousand feet above the tanking block

 

Generally trolling around doing ovals and figure 8s at 25,000 ft near an RC-135 Rivet Joint, E3 Sentry and/or an E-8C Joint Stars so I would put money on them performing as tankers.

 

Dreaming

 

Sound on...

 

Some terrible videos emerging of Ukrainian soldiers attacking Indian students. There's also videos of them shooting Russian POW's in the legs and beating them up. Another video shows the Ukraine soldiers video calling the Mother of a dead Russian soldier and mocking her.

 

I've seen the Russian POW one. Not good at all, they will be in trouble if it all gets verified as being the Ukrainians.

 

I can't blame them for that. War is dirty and the Russians are invading their land. They'll never be a war where any side sticks to the Geneva convention.

I didn't like them mocking the Mothers. I don't understand why they'd do that.