Venezuela's Chavez welcomes Russian warships

[Wretched Excess]

remember that test joe biden was talking about?  well, it arrived early.

Venezuela's Chavez welcomes Russian warships

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela – Russian warships arrived off Venezuela's coast Tuesday in a show of strength aimed at the United States as Moscow seeks to expand its influence in Latin America.

The deployment is the first of its kind in the Caribbean since the Cold War and was timed to coincide with President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Caracas — the first ever by a Russian president.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has eagerly welcomed the Russian ships for joint exercises with his navy, basking in the support of a powerful ally that has sold him billions of dollars in arms and has seen its own chill in relations with Washington.

Chavez wants Russian help to build a nuclear reactor, invest in oil and natural gas projects and bolster his leftist movement's effort to limit U.S. influence in Latin America.

Chavez also wants weapons — he has bought more than $4 billion in Russian arms, including Sukhoi fighter jets, helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov rifles, and more deals for Russian tanks or other weaponry may be discussed during Medvedev's visit starting Wednesday.

Russia's deployment of the naval squadron — including the behemoth flagship Peter the Great, a missile destroyer and two support vessels — is widely seen as a demonstration of Kremlin anger over the U.S. decisions to send warships to deliver aid to Georgia after its battles with Russia, and plans for a U.S. missile-defense system in Europe.

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[thundley4]

Just another worry added to the growing list for the Obamameister.

[NHSparky]

Right now, a phone in Arizona is ringing...

"Hello?"

"Hey, John?  Barack here.  Got a question for you."

"Go ahead, Barack."

"You want the job after all?"

Obama is so far over his head even an entire cabinet of retread Clintonistas isn't gonna save him or keep America from noticing the fact this guy is way, way, WAY over his head.

[DumbAss Tanker]

There's some potential entertainment value here.  The Russian Navy is not exactly the most skilled bunch of blue water sailors in the world, there is an excellent chance they'll run one of their flotilla solidly into an offshore Orinoco mud bank before the port call is over.

[NHSparky]

There's some potential entertainment value here.  The Russian Navy is not exactly the most skilled bunch of blue water sailors in the world, there is an excellent chance they'll run one of their flotilla solidly into an offshore Orinoco mud bank before the port call is over.

We learned early, as I'm sure you in Armor did, that what they lack in skill or technology they try to make up for in sheer numbers.  Not a shooting match I'd want to stand in.  I'd much rather be one of those "cowardly" bubbleheads firing a few spreads of Mk-48 ADCAPs into their battlegroup.

[thundley4]

We learned early, as I'm sure you in Armor did, that what they lack in skill or technology they try to make up for in sheer numbers.  Not a shooting match I'd want to stand in.  I'd much rather be one of those "cowardly" bubbleheads firing a few spreads of Mk-48 ADCAPs into their battlegroup.

"Hide with Pride", was the motto when I was in.

[NHSparky]

"Hide with Pride", was the motto when I was in.

That was the boomer fag motto.  We fast boat sailors called them "Chickens of the Sea".

Ain't no slack in fast attack, baby!

[thundley4]

That was the boomer fag motto.  We fast boat sailors called them "Chickens of the Sea".

Ain't no slack in fast attack, baby!

I was on a fast attack, the Spadefish.

[NHSparky]

Buffalo and Pogy.  Oddly enough, I liked Pogy more.  More crew comfort, deeper diving, and actually had digital stuff for us folks in RC-Div.

[DumbAss Tanker]

We learned early, as I'm sure you in Armor did, that what they lack in skill or technology they try to make up for in sheer numbers.  Not a shooting match I'd want to stand in.  I'd much rather be one of those "cowardly" bubbleheads firing a few spreads of Mk-48 ADCAPs into their battlegroup.

Same deal on land only more so.  Tank gunnery standards were based on the idea that every US tank would need to take out three of theirs to break even, five to win.  Not as impossible as it sounds, their gunnery was not based on the same tactical foundation as our and suffered badly by comparison.  The Red Army tank training in those days focused on being at about 800 meters to engage while our most distant targets were in the 3,000 meter area down to usually a closest engagement between 900 and 1100 meters.  Our tanks would engage individual targets under each TC's direction, ideally for a first-round hit but staying on the same target until destroyed, and then picking and engaging additional subsequent tanks until the ammo or the Red Army tanks ran out.  Theirs would fire a volley at the same target by three-tank platoon, essentially three tanks trying for that first-round hit (a very high probability if they actually got under 900 meters, of course).

A good measure of how the two philosophies compared can be found in the results of the Israeli 7th Armored Brigade's life-or-death stand on the Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur War.  Didn't turn out so well for the mass attack side.