Comments by "Colonel K" (@Paladin1873) on "Ed Nash's Military Matters" channel.

@danbenson7587 WWI AA fire was quite effective against low flying aircraft over the trenches and around observation balloons. That was how Von Richthofen and Frank Luke were killed. The vast majority of German armor destroyed in WWII was done so by Soviet antitank guns and artillery. The IL2, like the Typhoon, P-47, and A-10 in Desert Storm, repeatedly missed or hit targets already destroyed. These facts are well documented and available for research.
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@danbenson7587 All forensic evidence clearly supports the Australian Vicker's gunner as having killed Richthofen. The Red Baron violated his own rule about never flying over or behind enemy lines and it cost him his life. Observation balloons were near, but not colocated with entrenched ground units. I mentioned each because Luke was killed while attacking balloons and Richtofen was killed while flying over Australian lines. When aircraft were used late in the war to attack troops on the ground, machine guns were assigned to counter them and proved effective. Any unarmored vehicle or person caught in the open would have been fairly easy prey to a fighter or attack aircraft, meaning rear echelon troops were at greater risk than those in the trenches. This is equally true today. However, against armor, the attack aircraft were never as effective as claimed. This does not mean they lacked utility; it only means their utility has been exaggerated. This is also true of much of the strategic bombing campaign of WWII. They contributed to victory, but their contribution has been exaggerated.
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@danbenson7587 It doesn't matter which way the trenches run, you have to fly down the enemy lines or fly over them, both of which are very dicey propositions. You are not in a relatively stable balloon; you are in a moving airplane and you as the pilot are not staring at the ground through binoculars; you are scanning the skies for enemy aircraft. The observer has to communicate to you what he sees, but you can only take furtive glances at the ground and cannot fully comprehend your target area. Then you have to get very close to the target because your guns are ballistically very inferior to anything the enemy has aimed at you. Remember, we are talking about SMG armed strafing planes, not IL-2s P-47s, Typhoons, or A-10s.
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@danbenson7587 Then we are roughly the same vintage. Grandpa served in the Navy in WWI aboard a mine sweeper. Granddaddy avoided war service due to a heart issue, which is just as well since he was in Germany. His brother-in-law did serve and earned an Iron Cross and a war wound badge. My Dad served in the Air Force during the Korean War as a B-29 mechanic in Alaska. I spent 30 years in the USAF. I learned to use a slide rule in high school, and my aviation and war knowledge came from books and mentors who were there, not from YT or Wiki sites whihc did not exist then, though I sometimes check them for accuracy. My knowledge of Richthofen's death comes from two primary sources, a book written by a friend of my Dad's named Dale Titler and a documentary that recreated the events right down to firing live ammo from a Vickers to verify the ballistics required to make the kill. Granddaddy used to say that history was an agreed upon error, and our debating bears this out. I try to go where the most reliable and plausible data lead me, but nothing is 100% guaranteed. Unfortunately, I have learned over time that many eyewitness accounts, though as faithfully and honestly reported as the years and memory allow, are often filled with mistakes and false impressions. But I hope I would never tell a man who was there and shed his blood, sweat, and tears, that he was wrong about a certain gun, plane, tank, or event. I'd chalk it up to the fog of war and sometimes even false memories born of postwar lore and commonly repeated tales (don't get me started on the Sherman tank and German Panthers and Tigers). I sympathize with you about bird hunting, which for me mainly involved dove and the odd quail. My wife successfully hunted ducks, but that was before I met her. My Great Uncle Ralph who served in WWI told me tales of doves blackening the sky in the years prior to The Big One. He and his brothers would bring home a hundred or more birds after a single day's shooting. I think on my best day I got no more than six. Even so, it was the most fun I ever had hunting, including one trip to Africa which was fun in itself, but I never derived much satisfaction from killing mammals, small or large. Now I'm rambling, a sure sign of senioritis, so I'll stop.
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I like the beer delivery system at 9:15.
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@michaelmoorrees3585 All the more reason to stick with indivdual cans because even a six pack could hurt you.
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Brown won't be here in 6-8 years, but the Raptor will.
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Geez, Ed, why is it always the Arsenal of Democracy that has to bail everybody else out? Don't you guys have any old Centurions or Challengers you could send them? If you need more tanks for your own army, I'm sure we have plenty of early model M1s we can give you.
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@EdNashsMilitaryMatters Okay, I'll pass your recommendation to the Queen the next time she visits Montana. ;-)
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Ed, don't count on the current leadership of the US government to deal effectively with this crisis. NATO, I fear, will vacillate, even though they have done more than the USA so far to help Ukraine. Unless Putin throws in the towel (highly unlikely at present), I see this devolving into a bloody guerrilla war. Ukraine should consider some strategic attacks of its own, but I don't know if they have the capability to take out or severely damage Russian infrastructure such as Nord Stream. It may be time to think outside the box.
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@theotherohlourdespadua1131 There are so many striking parallels with 1939, including US isolationism. The public distrust in the competence and goals of our government leaders and our institutions doesn't help either.
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Who is that Lurch lookalike talking to Hitler at 1:18?
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Let's see . . . China has shafted every country with which it has engaged economically, Chinese internal economic turmoil has reached a crisis point, and demographically the country is imploding. Does this mean the CCP is a paper threat? No, a wounded or desperate dragon can be dangerous and unpredictable.
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It was a sad ending for this great plane, but from a purely logistical point of view this massive aircraft had limited utility. One of the reasons the US did not try to match or exceed the Antonov designs when we developed the C-17 is that oversized airframes such as the ANs and C-5s require airfields with highly developed through-put capability in order to operate efficiently. Many operating locations where supplies are transitioned often lack this feature, thus equipment and supplies are apt to clog the system and occupy limited ramp space. I remember during Operation Iraqi Freedom we encountered just such a problem. C-5Bs would arrive at Iraqi airfields and dump up to 36 pallets, then depart for their next load. The poor ground crews had to reload these pallets onto C-130s for movement to the forward operating locations (FOL) near where the combat units were fighting. The problem was a C-130 only has six pallet positions, so no matter how hard they worked, the Hercules squadrons were chronically behind schedule. By contrast, a C-17 could depart from the same base that a C-5B operated from and land at the same FOL where the C-130s were going. But the C-17 would dump up to 18 pallets at a time instead of six, thus tripling the payload delivery while also eliminating the need for interim stops and supply transition.
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@leneanderthalien That's why I said they have limited utility. They are specialized aircraft in the vein of the C-133, the Pregnant Guppy, and the Super Guppy.
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So the French lie and trick a trusting and somewhat naive Washington, allowing British merchants to take advantage of the situation in India until the Royals intervene and steal everything from everybody. Is that about it?
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@EdNashsMilitaryMatters From a purely American perspective it appears to have been a worthwhile lesson for Washington. He had a habit of never making the same mistake twice. If only I were so wise.
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Maduro, putting the "dick" in dictator. P.S. my sister-in-law is one of Venezuela's expats, courtesy of Chávez and Maduro.
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@duyataksis5210 Using your logic it was the world's fault that Germany, Italy, and Japan had to slaughter over 50 million people during WWII.
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What, no movie version?
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I wouldn't be surprised if China sent in troops at some point, but I think it would be a huge mistake. They'd be better off investing in the country through its future regime(s).
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A lot of unique aircraft seem to get destroyed in hangar fires.
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I remember the C-130A crash. There is horrific video of it. I had no idea the Privateers soldiered on so long.
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"Hey man, don't mess with my wa."
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That is one butt ugly airplane, but it sure earned its stripes.
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It's the flying sub from the Seaview.
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Putting the butt in ugly.
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@richardb4313 I can't answer your question with any certainty. My expertise is centered more around the Mideast, with some knowledge of European and Asian affairs. My knowledge of politics south of the border is more limited. My best guess is they don't want their Air Force to degrade any further than it has since the Falkland War. Today's friend may be next year's enemy. New Zealand and Iceland have the USA to protect them, so they can afford to be lax for now.
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@richardb4313 Yes, skills are very perishable and can take years to reacquire, often at the cost of much blood and treasure.
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@commie5211 I don't know why you cried BS. Nothing I said contradicts your claims unless you mean China is a dependable parts and technical support partner. I have seen no evidence of this. Any technically competent country can develop its own internal support capability or arms industry without external aid, but few countries outside of Europe, Israel, and Japan have the necessary base to do so, which is why they are vulnerable to supply chain disruption and foreign influence. India has the potential to be self-reliant, but for decades chose to import most of its arms. That attitude is changing as China becomes an ever greater threat to them.
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@commie5211 That can be said of China and Russia as well. Have you ever heard of the Ilyushin Il-62, the most dangerous jetliner in the world? India is in the process of improving its economic, social, and military status in the world. It has the necessary elements to succeed, but how well it does remains to be seen. Meanwhile, China has already peaked and is now facing a multitude of economic, political, and military challenges. Its one-man rule is perhaps its greatest weakness at present.
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@zeitgeistx5239 Show me where I said this.
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