Biden Deploys 3,000 Troops To NATO “Eastern Flank” Countries

[Ninurta]

@"Bally002" 

Check.  This is why the headcount comparisons are misleading.

In the 1980s, there was a lopsided aerial battle over Lebanon.  Israelis lost one aircraft and IIRC the Syrians lost something like 60.  The Israelis were better trained, but I think the read edge was better electronic warfare assets.

Same will happen to some degree if Russia and Ukraine go at it.  Russians probably have more and better EW assets than Ukraine.  That will render aircraft and missiles a lot less capable than their book specifications indicate.

Mines are another question mark.  Enough mines on the ground may delay the Russian forces long enough for some kind of international reaction to force a cease-fire.  Likewise, naval mines are still a huge PITA for all navies.

People like to focus on numbers or shiny pieces of warfighting equipment, but the decisive bits may not be so obvious.

Cheers

Yep. We have an old saying here - "its not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog". It's the same reasoning I used when, on another forum, folks used to laugh at a the notion of a guerrilla uprising in America, saying the military here would wipe the floor with it because they are better equipped, No matter your resources, you cannot whip a man who refuses to be whipped. You can only kill him... and that gets more difficult when there are fairly large numbers of him to be killed.

People will fight like demons for their own turf, and their opponents are often worse for the wear because those people are more familiar with the turf they are fighting for. It's never all about raw numbers or shiny baubles.

.