Yes, but it's not so much a "first step" - Denmark is too small for much follow-up - as the the first breach in the dam. If other countries follow (look out for Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Baltics, etc.), the holdouts will buckle
Norway and Finland both have land borders with Russia. Sweden and Denmark control access to and from the Baltic.
In shocking news 🚨New: Tulsi Gabbard will headline a fundraiser at Mar-a-Lago for President Trump on March 7th. @TulsiGabbard ~ The Hill pic.twitter.com/FQOVvOxup1— The Calvin Coolidge Project (@TheCalvinCooli1) February 22, 2024 Reports have her on Cheeto Jesus' VP longlist
abrams in the wild An Abrams tank in the service with the Ukrainian 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, on the Avdiivka front. pic.twitter.com/FCvRW8Sbz1— Jimmy Rushton (@JimmySecUK) February 23, 2024
Again? Again!The Ukrainian Air Force destroyed another enemy A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft, worth $330 million.Great job by Ukrainian warriors! pic.twitter.com/HcLsaGEln5— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) February 23, 2024
Interesting that the Ukrainians are explicitly claiming this as a shootdown of their own, rather than the usual practice of neither confirming or denying and more-ore-less forcing the Russians to say they shot it down themselves or blame it on a technical malfunction. BTW the maouevres an AWACS does in general are pretty plan vanilla of the kind that a bog-standard air force ought to be able to perform safely as a matter of routine and certainly over what is "home turf" in military terms.
They are usually pretty quick to claim aircraft kills. It is only attacks in Russia that they tend to be circumspect initially.
According to Thomas Thiener (ex Italian staff colonel in the Alpini regiment) that one was the only operational A-50U AWACS the Russians had left. They're estimated to have another 6 in storage which are either not flyable as planes, not usable for AWACS because the electronics & computers need servicing/upgrades or both. Putting them into service means they could crash all on their own or provide only partial info to the Russian air force and air defence.
The only question is if this is a Patriot kill or F15 kill.. There is a lot of rumors on Pro-Ukrainian side that F15s are already in Ukraine, they just aren't advertising it yet. That being said, allegedly video of the A-50 being hit. What is interesting is that one of the missiles hit a flare, so that would imply it was a heat seeking missile vs. radar guided. That would seem to imply it was not a Patriot kill. Dramatic footage shows a Russian A-50 early warning and control aircraft intercepted by several air defence missiles resulting in its destruction. pic.twitter.com/yw4NsgwyW9— WarTranslated (Dmitri) (@wartranslated) February 23, 2024
Russian news agencies are now reporting a second aircraft having been shot down. If so, that'll be the IL-20. The two are part of a system, so where there's one there'll be another in the vicinity
Meanwhile An unexploded WW2 bomb that was found in a garden in Plymouth (UK) has been safely transferred to the sea after being transported on a military convoy through the streets of the port city. The 500kg device was moved from the Keyham area to the Torpoint Ferry slipway on Friday evening. It was taken to the sea and is expected to be detonated this evening or on Saturday morning. More than 10,300 people and some 4,300 properties fell within the area that was cordoned off by police. The Ministry of Defence described it as one of the largest UK peacetime evacuations since WW2.
F-15? or F-16... I do think that F-16 aren't on the map yet. THose are not exactly stealthy and Russians would be the first to hunt them and provide info about them. But F-15 would be a godsend. One of the most beatuful bird in the history of aviation.
Now multiple reports of an SU-34 being been shot down near Kherson. I can't keep up with this. Попередньо також припинив існування носій ракети Су-34 в межах Херсонщини.Уточнюємо.22:36— monitor (@war_monitor_ua) February 23, 2024 "Su-34 missile launchers within Kherson Oblast also ceased to exist. We clarify."
And again, the reason the A-50U was flying close is because Ukraine keeps destroying the also-not-easily-replaced ground based observation radars. This means Russia isn't only missing a rare and expensive aircraft, they have a drastically reduced picture of both Ukraine's aircraft and large-scale ground vehicle movement.
If this means Ukraine feels confident enough to move Patriots close to the front and keep them there, then I'm all for it and I have been waiting for this day for a long time. But they have to be expecting the response - the Russians are probably going to be swamping the Patriot sites with dozens of the new Iranian ballistic missiles. I'm sure Ukraine and the US are thinking about that now.
Oh, another thing of note, NATO's Secretary General hinted that Ukraine could use F16s against targets in Russia. https://www.kyivpost.com/post/28446 I haven't seen a correction regarding his comment, but I've been busy of late and have not had the chance to look around much.
Meanwhile, to be filed under "Orban is a fat pussy bitch" Hungary has announced that it is buying four Saab Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, in addition to its current 14. The relevant agreement was signed during the meeting between Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in Budapest on Friday. The service and maintenance agreement for Hungary's Gripen fighters was extended by a further ten years until 2036. In other words, Orban: "Sweden!! Sell me your fighters!! Otherwise, no Nato membership. I mean it!" Sweden: "Sure thing, but they'll be at full price, mind." Orban: "You have finally accepted my demands! Four Gripens at full price, plus a pricey service deal!" Sweden: "Victor, we sell to nearly anyone at full price. Discounts are for allies. Just sign here." Orban on Hungarian TV: "A great triumph for Hungary! We have stood up for our national honour and our national interests. The world respects Hungary!" Swedish PM on Swedish TV: "Lots of money for Sweden."
No AWACS means F-16s and F-15s operate more easily. No AWACS and no ground-based radars mean they operate a lot more easily. In and around the Sea of Azov no less. Alternatively the Ukrainians have some kind of EW system that can spoof Russian location systems and give them false locations for the Patriot batteries. Since the Patriot can shoot down ballistic missiles, maybe they're looking forward to the Iranian missiles being fired? That way they can do a "proof of concept" for would-be buyers of the Patriot who have problems with Iran Whatever is going on, something is definitely up right now.
How long before European governments start giving troops "extended leave" to "volunteer" in Ukraine, if they haven't done so already?
It's mostly a smoking pile of scrap after spending all night being a massive flaming pile of scrap. From pictures, the tail looks kind of ok, but who knows how much it's bent. I'd say the usable percentage of this downed aircraft is 0%.