Russia - threadbanned users in OP

Well if a thick enough layer of ice can destroy a wing's lift, a layer of tyres woudn't even let it get off the ground, but they're probably not secured anyway so I supposed they would slide off once the aircraft picks up enough speed. But they would add some drag while the aircraft accelerates on the runway, depending on how big and heavy the tyres are so they might have an adverse effect on the length of the takeoff roll. Then there's the chaos as twenty or thirty big tyres go bouncing back down the runway.

New item for the pre-taxi checklist:

Anti-drone tyres...........Confirm removed from wings

On one level it's a laugh, but it's also indicitave of the new military realities being ushered in by this war.

Update on the wing tyres: Will is saying that they're more likely to be some form of pattern-disrupting camouflage paint.

Would it not be easier for the next plane taking off not be able to manoeuver it’s way in and out between the tyres - especially if it’s in a hurry ?…????????

It's hard to imagine and my tongue was in my cheeek when I typed that, but when you consider...

• Low Russian morale and unmotivated ground crews
• Pilots who may not be able to see the wing from the cockpit (although they should be doing a pre-flight walk-around which would catch it).
• The fact that a number of air accidents have been caused by crew omitting critical checklist items e.g. Northwest flight 255 in 1987

... it remains unlikely, but not impossible.

(Unless of course there are no tyres and it really is just paint.)

Surrender seems to be more the fashion these days

Haven't watched the video, but these look like tires to me

Strange why wouldn't they paint the whole wing?

Save your skin, what's the point of dying or being mutilated for some distant f****rs in Moscow or those giving orders from well behind the lines?

It's the Russians, their front-line troops had medical kits from WW2, their maps of Chernobyl were from 1985 and pre-dated the accident, they are currently hoisting Pantsr's onto old Soviet missile towers (like the German Flak towers)

Let's put it this way, I wouldn't be surprised if they are lobbing tires onto planes to make them more "drone proof".

I agree. But a battle weary Commander with control over a group of men and some equipment/artillery/drones of Russian origin could cause unwelcome issues. I'm not saying this could come from the top and upon investigation the route cause would be quickly identified but stranger things have and will happen over the next few months.

Helicopter pilot

These Ka-52 losses really puzzle me. Those are some of Russia's most advanced combat helicopters, and they're not exactly bad either. These aircraft were designed before the T-14 & Su-57 phase of Russian defense procurement, so they're solid designs with decent production numbers. And yet, they seem to be dropping like flies. According to Oryx, 40 aircraft of the type have been lost so far during the war, out of a total production run of 190 or so.

That would explain it alright. Increasing activity, an effective weapons platform, and a recognized threat. Getting deployed in an environment where there's no real air superiority isn't helping either, I presume. While Ukraine isn't doing much in the way of air-to-air, at least not much that gets out, the Russian Air Force isn't really active either, at least not over the immediate combat zone, which means that Ukrainian SAM assets can operate more freely than you'd otherwise think, which probably isn't doing wonders either.

It's one of the striking features of this conflict, almost WW 1 level of aerial combat, with drones, rather than Fokkers and Camels, drones and SAMs.