Edit - November 2022:

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This video has received quite a few views recently. I published it 6 months ago and while I don’t think any of the points discussed are ‘wrong’, some of them are less relevant now. For more up to date and in depth updates, I recommend following the channels ‘Animarchy’ and ‘Perun’.

Also, the sound quality and editing here are awful. I only had 20 subscribers when I made this and I didn’t really know what I was doing.

A few other corrections:

* shaped charges don’t ‘melt’ metal - they ‘plasticise’ it (same outcome though).
* I gave too much credit to the KA-52 designers. Apparently the airframe isn’t particularly good and susceptible to vibration issues.
* Cope cages may actually have a place in defending against drone dropped munitions. It’s difficult to quantify due to survivorship bias.
* Some Russian tanks do have active protection but it is difficult to quantify the efficacy of it right now (again, survivorship bias)

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The current situation in Ukraine is good for no-one. But the shortcomings of the Russian military so far have been morbidly fascinating to follow. There are many reasons, but the Russia's odd relationship with technological innovation is the one I'm the most interested in.

My last two videos were about building things from old Soviet hardware. This video started out as me explaining why I'm not a Commieboo but quickly grew to a 25 minute lecture about the problems with innovation under a totalitarian government.

Music credit: Karl Casey @ White Bat Audio
   • 80s Retrowave / Synthwave Music - Hac...  

Sources mentioned:

Moscow boneyard:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/5...

Russian cruise missiles:
https://missiledefenseadvocacy.org/mi...

Buran Energia:
https://www.buran-energia.com/

Soviet rocket engines:
https://everydayastronaut.com/soviet-...

More info on tube displays:
https://www.industrialalchemy.org/tub...

WebSDR (you can occasionally hear shortwave Russian comms here):
http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/

Documented vehicle losses (when I say 'loads of KA-52s have been shot down, you can verify that here):
https://www.oryxspioenkop.com/2022/02...