War in Eastern Europe, what's it good for ....

[WLJ]

I'm guessing you'd want to hit the top two locks and hope that the flow from the top lock would be sufficient to erode around the rest of the lock structure before the operators were able to open the remaining locks.  If they did so you'd probably just end up with a spillway and relatively little damage.

Which would drain the reservoir and thus have much of the same effect as busting the dam.
One somewhat mitigating factor in how much water drains out may be how deep the water is before the uppermost lock.
But they're screwed either way.

[WLJ]

You guys are all getting APS flagged on government lists all over the world. 

I would think all possible sides in this were/are already aware of the dam's vulnerabilities

[Ben]

I'm sure all sides in this are already aware of the dam's vulnerabilities

You did see the little laughing guy at the end of my sentence, yeah? 

[cordex]

Which would drain the reservoir and thus have much of the same effect as busting the dam.

If they open all the locks they'd only have 5 meters or so of loss at most, and that's assuming they can't cofferdam it within a month or so.

One somewhat mitigating factor in how much water drains out may be how deep the water is before the uppermost lock.

That's not somewhat mitigating, that's crucial.  A relatively controlled release of at most 5 meters of water through the lock system would be nothing compared to what that river system can handle.  They release more water than that during regular power generation and their spillway has probably released twice or three times as much during flooding.

[WLJ]

The Japanese had plans to hit the Panama Canal locks with torpedo planes launched from submarines and would have used the I-400 class submarines for this purpose. Almost put in into action.

[WLJ]

If they open all the locks they'd only have 5 meters or so of loss at most, and that's assuming they can't cofferdam it within a month or so.
That's not somewhat mitigating, that's crucial.  A relatively controlled release of at most 5 meters of water through the lock system would be nothing compared to what that river system can handle.  They release more water than that during regular power generation and their spillway has probably released twice or three times as much during flooding.

But do we know how deep? I would think deep enough to allow for droughts.

Either way it would cause a huge disruption in critically important river traffic for months at the very least

[sumpnz]

The Nazis repaired the Ruhr dams within 6 months I think.  Still, it diverted substantial resources from Normandy to do so, which was probably consequential to the success of the D-day invasion. 

If we got into a for realz war with China it would be bordering on pointless to attack the TGD if the best we could hope for was disrupting river barge traffic for 6 months.  Destroying the power generating infrastructure would be a worthy goal if a full dam breach wasn’t feasible.  But even that would only disrupt them for however long it took to get replacement parts for the damaged bits.  That could be weeks, or that could be decades depending upon how much other industrial capacity we managed to disrupt.

[cordex]

But do we know how deep? I would think deep enough to allow for droughts.

It almost doesn't matter.  The rate would be limited by the size of the breach and the geometry of the lock system and would mean they're likely to be able to put in temporary repairs before anything horrific happens.  As long as they were able to prevent erosion around the lock system they could keep the rate at a point that it would be manageable.

Either way it would cause a huge disruption of critically important river traffic for months at the very least

Oh sure, but that's hardly worth anything if we're assuming we are already to the point of attacking civilian infrastructure.

[WLJ]

I was keeping it at hurting them. More than that like I said a few posts up nukes are probably flying at that point.

[MechAg94]

That is a fair issue.  At the point where an enemy is attacking your internal infrastructure with off shore missiles or attack craft, you would probably be looking at using your nuclear weapons. 

.... unless your country is named "Israel", then you are supposed to just sit and take it.   

[JTHunter]

^^^  The movie was called "Dambusters" if I remember correctly.

There was one by that title that came out in 2003 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0858429/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) but there was an older movie which is the one I remembered.  It was titled "The Dam Busters" and starred Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046889/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_4

[RocketMan]

There was one by that title that came out in 2003 (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0858429/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0) but there was an older movie which is the one I remembered.  It was titled "The Dam Busters" and starred Richard Todd and Michael Redgrave.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046889/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_4

Thanks for the info.  "The Dam Busters" is the one I was thinking of.

[WLJ]

Putin Immediately Surrenders After U.S. Airdrops Nashville Police Officers Into Battlefield
https://babylonbee.com/news/putin-immediately-surrenders-after-us-airdrops-nashville-police-officers-into-battlefield

[WLJ]

See who Biden trades for him
Oh, wait, white male. Never mind.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, 31, could face 20 years in Russian prison after authorities there arrested him on suspicion of spying when he visited Yekaterinburg to write about the feared Wagner group
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11919013/US-journalist-Evan-Gershkovich-31-arrested-Russia-suspicion-spying.html

[HankB]

See who Biden trades for him
Oh, wait, white male. Never mind.

Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, 31, could face 20 years in Russian prison after authorities there arrested him on suspicion of spying when he visited Yekaterinburg to write about the feared Wagner group
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11919013/US-journalist-Evan-Gershkovich-31-arrested-Russia-suspicion-spying.html

Maybe he could trade the Uvalde cops so Putin could put them into the line against Ukraine . . . they'd probably show as much courage as some of the conscripts he's using now.

[MechAg94]

The video is called "The T-14 Sucks" or something like that.  Largely a scarcastic look at the Russuan T-14 and its development.  Starts out with a lot of smart ass humor.  You can skip the first few minutes if you don't want to listen to it.   The last half is better.  Good commentary on the T-14 and Putin's military in general.  If he is to be believed, it is a reason we won't see some huge successful Russian offensive, just more of the same.  They might still win a war of attrition, but it won't be pretty or masterful. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-opSlCGLGQ4

[ConstitutionCowboy]

Is it anything like a land war in Asia?

Woody

[sumpnz]

Is it anything like a land war in Asia?

Woody

What about going in against a Sicilian when death is on the line?

[WLJ]

Well this is awkward

The last time Russia had the presidency, February 2022, it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

It means the Security Council is being led by a country whose president is subject to an international arrest warrant for alleged war crimes.

Russia assumes UN Security Council presidency despite Ukrainian anger
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65146557

[ConstitutionCowboy]

What about going in against a Sicilian when death is on the line?

It's OK if second place is your goal ... 

Woody

[WLJ]

Boom today

Video shows the moment a pro-Putin war propagandist was handed a statuette concealing a hidden bomb just minutes before it blew him to bits.

Vladlen Tatarsky, 40, real name Maxim Fomin, was killed in a St Petersburg cafe on Sunday in an explosion that left at least 25 people were wounded.

It is unclear who was behind the blast and Ukraine has denied involvement. Russia's state Investigative Committee said it has opened a murder investigation.

Sunday's explosion appeared to be the second assassination on Russian soil of a figure closely associated with the war in Ukraine.

Moment Putin war propagandist 'is handed statue containing bomb minutes before it blows him to bits in St Petersburg café' - as Russian puppet regime in eastern Ukraine blames Kyiv for blast that killed blogger and wounded 25
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11930499/One-person-killed-six-injured-explosion-caf-St-Petersburg.html

[WLJ]

Don't expect the Russians to be nice

'Statue assassin' at the mercy of Putin's thugs: Russian woman who 'killed military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky by giving him booby trapped sculpture' pleads her innocence as she is filmed being interrogated while chained to a radiator
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11933071/Daria-Trepova-handed-explosives-pro-Putin-blogger-insists-no-assassin.html

[MechAg94]

Space Force’s development agency just put several new satellites into orbit
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/space-force-space-development-agency-satellites/?utm_term=Task%26Purpose_Today_04.03.23&utm_campaign=Task%20%26%20Purpose_TPToday_Actives_Dynamic&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email

The 10 satellites are part of the agency’s initial program, called Tranche 0. Eight of them, built by York Space Systems, are meant to send visual data from space down to sensors on Earth. The other two, developed by SpaceX, use infrared sensors to track hypersonic missiles in flight. They were put into low-Earth orbit roughly 1,000 kilometers above the planet. Now in space, the 10 satellites are set to go through a period of testing before being put to use in exercises later this year.

At least it appears someone in the military is doing something along the lines of their actual mission.  Of course, I am sure these satellites have multiple uses.

[RocketMan]

Don't expect the Russians to be nice

'Statue assassin' at the mercy of Putin's thugs: Russian woman who 'killed military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky by giving him booby trapped sculpture' pleads her innocence as she is filmed being interrogated while chained to a radiator
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11933071/Daria-Trepova-handed-explosives-pro-Putin-blogger-insists-no-assassin.html

I wonder how much longer she has before she disappears or is disposed of by Putin?

[sumpnz]

Space Force’s development agency just put several new satellites into orbit
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/space-force-space-development-agency-satellites/?utm_term=Task%26Purpose_Today_04.03.23&utm_campaign=Task%20%26%20Purpose_TPToday_Actives_Dynamic&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email

At least it appears someone in the military is doing something along the lines of their actual mission.  Of course, I am sure these satellites have multiple uses.

You might be surprised.  Unless other uses were part of original requirements it’s a big deal to change the what a satellite does, even in the design/development phase.