@@GrooveSpaceArk My time isn’t free either as I’m a full time student in college majoring in History as well as a History content creator but watching Dr. Felton allows me the little time I have to just relax and enjoy his content while drawing inspiration for my channel.
Well, A channel called Greg’s airplanes and automobiles destroyed the Mark Felton channel on a question about Lancasters and A-bombs. Which makes me question the other content. But seems like Felton‘s normally got really good episodes.
Other than the over- simplification of the history between Ukraine, and Russia, and its agreement to no ukrainian nuclear weapons, this was an interesting video.
@@treyhelms5282 Ahh you mean Greg's - yeah just another youtuber trying to get likes by hammering someone else - his analysis was NOT conclusive at all - it was based on a biased, redacted document which has changes (as far as I could tell) and several inaccuracies where he literally only cherry picked the aforementioned document and nothing else. Jury is still out so far.
@@lc285 It's a 10-minute video. I think the major points were effectively conveyed. If you want more in depth, maybe you should watch a much longer, information-dense history course. No thanks...
Fun fact...the oldest fleet of aircraft still operating is in ... the South African Air Force, with serial numbers going back to 1943...a sight older than the Soviet era bombers. In case you've not guessed it, they're the C-47 (Douglas DC3 Dakota)
@@dmg4415 Think of it in this way, Rather than allow newly formed somewhat unstable nations continue to own extremely large piles of military equipment, wouldn't it be a better way to hand them off to pay off debt and gain more relief? Edit: Adding on, Russia Ukraine and the USA signed an agreement that they would've respect Ukraine's Territory Sovereignty.
You do know that one half of Ukraine is Russophone and the other isn't right ? The Donbass would have had most of this stuff. Not the west Ukarine partisans.
Never get bored of Mr Feltons videos. Great historian. The time he puts into these videos is appreciated by so many across the world. Thanks for all the content and effort you put into it for us all to enjoy 👍
Great historian should also know that use of strategic aviation against cities deep in Russia like Moscow would result in evaporation of city of Kiev with Tsar bomba.
Appreciate the swing your channel has taken during this conflict. I understand the comments about it following the conflict and narrative for clicks but as a long time sub you have really stayed true to your writing style and incorporated history with current events really well. Thank you very much for all of your content. Alberta Canada 🇨🇦
@@CatnamedMittens really? Then why do many about yet another war between 2 dodgy countries. I mean I’ve looked at his back stories and there’s not much on other recent conflicts and to most of the world what going on is a side show.
@@benjamincrom7276 global? Honestly mate you really need to get out of that bubble. Here in the Southern Hemisphere it’s yet another war. Despite the media coverage no ones talks about it.
Perhaps Dr Felton has been offered and declined. We make assumptions on what he would like to do. I think he would prefer to do what he is doing where he has the control over the entirety of his production. But only Mark Felton can answer that question.
I learned a lot in just a few minutes. Always an honor to have content like this available on RU-vid. And now I've got something to discuss at dinner 😂. Anyone else enthrall their families with Mark Felton content?
When I was in the US Navy from 1978 until 1984 I served on a Boomer in the US Submarine Force. If you don't know what a Boomer is it's a fleet ballistic missile submarine and my boat was the USS Alexander Hamilton SSBN617. When we went on patrols in the area between Scotland/ Ireland and Iceland/ Norway, we were occasionally receiving Intel saying "Norwegian sea Advisory". In slang terms that meant there was a "Bear in the Air". This actually occurred several times on different patrols when I was serving on that boat. And by the way it was important to me cuz I was a sonarman.
Could you pick it up on sonar? I've often seen that claimed in discussions about loud aircraft since it's apparently one of the loudest aircraft in existance.
1991 seems like it was a lot further away from the year 2000 than it actually is. I worked at a pizza place in 2000 with a girl from Ukraine. She was around 20. So she was in Ukraine before they separated from the USSR. Wow. That never dawned on me back then. Like I said, 1991 seemed like it was sooooo much further away from 2000 than it was. Wow...
The writing on the bomber at 5:40 reads "Vasily Reshetnikov" who is a Soviet WWII ace, and Hero of the Soviet Union. He is also over one hundred, and still very much alive.
@@chodeoriki4113 Just Soviet .... could mean any 18th federal state. or any land under the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union. and that was half of Europe. But he was a Ukrainian pilot. (23 December 1919 (age 102) Yekaterinoslav, Ukrainian People's Republic) This "little thing" was this important point.
Brilliant video as always, Mark always comes through with the best paced and interesting videos. Also there is something about the sound of your voice which makes it perfect for historical war narration, it just sounds right.
Marks Videos are a life changer for me. The biggest thing I learned is that I know far less than I thought about WWII. Even my Dad who was on Omaha Beach and wounded in the Battle of the Bulge did not know all the info I get here.
Thank you Dr. Felton for all the great historical background that you have been showing on this. Its a valuable historical background that no one else has shown
What background? Based on an utterly idiotic premise, that just because weapon silos where planted or based on Ukrainian territory at a time they where members of a Union that then means they had free use of or control of said weaponry At WILL? *NO* *IT* *DOES* *NOT* and it never did. They where owned and operated by the Soviet Union. Not some country that became an entity after the fact. GEEZUS.
Lesson: Don't give up your guns. While they may do nothing and all of the time spent training is a price to pay in itself, the invisible field of security they provide is priceless.
They complied to world peace. That's laudable and made them a credible peaceful nation. Otherwise there would've been a dozen or so wild, fledgling states with something they were unable to handle.
@mandellorian So you are an F35 pilot and have first hand knowledge of how the plane operates and it’s systems The F15EX is just an F15E with more payload and an upgraded cockpit and no stealth capability The F35 like the F22 is designed to kill its target before the enemy knows it’s there When the F22 was testing it went up against F15s and the F15s were dead before the pilots knew the 22 was there
Mark Felton is a greatasset to the chronicling of a wide variety of human activities. I'm just waiting for him to become: Sir Mark Felton. He deserves nothing but the best!!!!
The Ukraine was not a member of Warsaw pact like other modern eastern european nations like Poland or Romania, but rather a direct component of the USSR and formerly the Russian Empire. It is more comparable to the UK's Scotland, or perhaps Northern Ireland, and it was the second most influential part of the Union after Russia. This is why there was so much equipment and important factories based there when the union split up. Unlike other post soviet states, Ukraine would have likely had the expertise to maintain and modernise these vehicles as many of them where originally designed and built in the country, however the cost of such an endeavour would have been their downfall.
Let's not forget that when they had these facilities, Ukraine was ready to lob nuclear weapons on the West ! Now, suddenly, they're the Good Guys ? Amazing how Reality changes as a function of Time !
@@ashleysmith3106 Amazing what freedom to chose can do. Lesson for dictators and tyrants, don’t starve 32 million to death (the Holodomor ) and expect their descendants to be friends.
@Steve Arthur Always interested in learning. Are you saying that the Holodomor did not occur? Or are you saying that Stalin did not forcibly remove Ukrainians from their ancestral homes and relocate them? References appreciated. I would suggest Red Famine by Anne Applebaum. Or Execution by Starvation by Miron Dolot. Or Holodomor. The Ukrainian Famine-Genocide by Philip Wolny.
Giving up all the nukes and deliver platforms was a mistake. The guarantees given by others turned out to be worthless as was inevitable. Properly maintaining all that gear would not have been possible but with cannibalization, enough of it would be available to put a scare into potential invaders. If the Iranians can keep some F-14s alive after an even greater time, the Ukrainians could do likewise.
As to maintaining the gear, Ukraine has quite an advanced manufacturing capacity. I have seen it stated somewhere (rightly or wrongly), that one of the reasons why so many Russian tanks etc are breaking down is that they are not getting the necessary spare parts - manufactured in Ukraine! If that's true, it's another sign that the Russians were expecting a very quick takeover.
as far as i know many soviet planes where produced (partly) in ukraine. If they kept the nukes the ukrainian economy woud have colpsed because of sanctions
But this is all under the assumption that they would've been well maintained with crews capable of using their capabilities. It is very likely that they wouldn't until 2014 and have other priorities in the army post 2014
What hasn’t been mentioned is how complex these aircraft are to maintain. Ukraine having these aircraft is the easy part, but Ukraine keeping them flying in a fully functional condition is the difficult part. It takes a lot of complex spare parts down to circuit board level, repair facilities, industry support, logistics and trained experienced technicians.
@@aaronleverton4221 Antonov was a commercial plane that paid for itself through international business contracts! That kind of funding was not possible for military planes! After the collapse of the USSR, Ukraine was the largest seller of weapons on the black market, which is why it was forced to give up nuclear weapons, because the West was afraid that it would sell it to someone! They did not give up nuclear weapons voluntarily, but under pressure, because they knew that their economy was destroyed, corruption at the astronomical level, the army fell apart because they did not even have money for food, let alone for proper maintenance of nuclear weapons and sophisticated planes! Especially since they would be under Western sanctions if they did not agree to give up nuclear weapons! All these other stories are pure nonsense!
@@fikaa2388 The point was that if the Ukraine possessed the skills and facilities to maintain the Antonovs then it possessed the skills and facilities to maintain Tupolevs. Money was the problem, not expertise.
@@aaronleverton4221 Of course, experience is not a problem, they have maintained those planes for decades, why would anyone think that experience is a problem? Behind that is logical thinking? Of course not! It is clear to everyone that the problem was money! As I said, today, three decades after the collapse of the USSR, people can be told all sorts of stories about the reasons for certain events, because people do not remember what happened last week, and not three decades ago in a country they have never heard of. !! The fact is that after the collapse of the USSR and after independence, Ukraine was economically, politically, socially, etc. destroyed, almost no law existed, corrupt privatizations of state companies were carried out, etc. The only thing they had was huge weapons, a combination of powerlessness, corruption and weapons it was a paradise for arms dealers, who could buy whatever they wanted, and it was almost ridiculously cheap! That is why the West has forced Ukraine to give up nuclear and highly sophisticated weapons!
As an American who is partial to American Military hardware, I loooove this trifecta of Russian bombers. My fave bomber of all time is the B 1 but the Bear is a close second. The grace of the White Swan and the brutishness of the TU22... seriously, wow. Just, wow.☺
Hey, there's a monument erected to _Operation Frantic_ at the aviation museum in Poltava... 6:35 I asked a guy where he was in WWII and he replied, _"Have you ever heard of Poltava?"_ I'm like, umm yes. _"Well that's where I was."_ I told him i didn't believe him. And that's how I spent the next two days learning about _Operation Frantic_ many years ago
They had 19 Black Jacks!?!?!?! That's an impressive Le May squadron! Too bad they had to give them up! Way to go Mark...love your current event vids!!!
People do forget that in the wake of independence for Ukraine the country had experienced several volatile political events at the time that caused doubt about Ukraine's ability to survive as a country. These concerns where shared by both west and east and from inside Ukraine. During the 1990s between 1991 and 1999 Ukraine lost 60% of its GDP and suffered five-digit inflation during the decade. from 2004 to 2014 the presidency has shuffled back and forth between pro western and pro kremlin factions. It easy to play armchair general or politician when forgetting about past events and not looking at the context of events at that moment in history.
The EU, the ones coming to its aid now, called Ukraine the second most corrupt country in Europe a mere 3 years ago and warned about doing business there. People forget that the Ukraine and Russia are as dodgy as each other and tbh if it wasn’t their oil; the west would have stepped right back.
Yes. Militaries cost money. Especially if they have expensive hardware. That hardware requires maintenance and that costs money. Parts, qualified technical personnel etc. Kinda hard to justify keeping planes for a mission the Ukranian military did not envision when your people need food and jobs.
I think is not an armchair vision, but an Historical, Ukraine is now playing the role that Syria play in the Roman vs Phartia war, Poland in the Germany-URSS relation before the IIWW, etc.
Good point. I remember the 1990s when Ukraine was a basket case led by former Soviet leaders and no economy to speak of. I doubt if any of these aircraft would have been airworthy today.
The Ukrainians disarmed atomically and strategically before Putin even became Director of the FSB (KGB), let alone becoming prime minister of Russia or president.
Well, Putin did say the dissolution of the USSR was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe in the 20th century, so we can guess he’s been at least in some sort contemplating the reunification of the USSR since it’s dissolution in 1991.
@@ItIsHello You could say that's when the premeditation for this began, but it actually began when the Orange Revolution overturned the fraudulent election of Viktor Yanukovych in 2004 and the second run-off election putting Viktor Yuschenko in the presidency. But, the premeditation for this actually began in 2014 when the people of Ukraine booted Yanukovych from office because he unilaterally dumped the EU-Ukraine agreement in favour of a Russia-Ukraine agreement. That is when this began. 2014. Putin's chosen Quisling overturned a massively popular national policy in favour of an unpopular one, the people kicked him out of office and then after he fled they discovered his staggering corruption, Putin responded by seizing the Crimea, Yanukovych's traditional support base declared their independence and Putin sent the little green men into the Donbas to help them achieve the independence they couldn't achieve on their own. Putin thought he had set in motion the eventual unstoppable unification of the Donbas with "Mother" Russia. Instead the Ukrainian forces have slowly pushed the rebels backwards into ever less territory. With the rebels in danger of losing everything Putin has invaded to give them back what they couldn't hold themselves.
Fascinating stuff, thank you Mark for all of your recent and previous work on both recent and historical events. Definitely ought to donate some money for your awesome efforts!
Wrong. UKR never had control of the nukes based on their territory. From the fall of the USSR UKR had agreed RF was the successor nation to the USSR and retained all strategic military command and control. The did so for $Billions in return. If UKR would have developed the infrastructure to use the nukes on their territory would have likely meant a war with RF for breaking their deal and RF would have had the support of USA who were fearful of post soviet states having nukes other than RF.
@@sisyphusvasilias3943 Actually it is true, except it was the USA, UK and Russia who guaranteed Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Russia lied. Of course, to be Russian is to necessarily be a liar. And a mass murdering bunch of Mongol thugs.
@@dhowe5180 >> Fair enough. Have you seen the video of the Finnish Intelligence Officer giving a lecture on Russia? It’s pretty fascinating and had 1.5 million views the last I checked.
It is very surreal to me to think that in the near future, I might watch a Mark Felton video on the terrible events that transpired in Bucha during this conflict. These poor people.
The sad part is that people thought the Russians would behave. Who in their right mind would leave their women and children at the hands of Russian troops? Insane. Any man that thought the Russians would not harm their families are not ignorant, just stupid.
When I was a child the Labour Party used to argue that if we disarmed we would not be a target. This is pretty clearly demonstrates how vulnerable you are if you don’t have the ability to defend yourself.
Point being who's attacking who? UK along with warmonger US and remaining NATO. As been attacking Russia directly or indirectly for the past 3 decades! That's freaking 30 years! Most reading these lines are not even that old! Subversive actions, covert operations, etc. etc. Right now the Western propaganda mention the Russian "action"! In reality purposely forget to mention the correct word! It's not an action, it's a REACTION! I'm a Westerner myself (even served under NATO). Right now I feel ashamed for what we, the "collective West", have been doing all this time! I grew up wondering that we were the "good guys"! Boy, how wrong I was! :-(
Anyone who has been a major and above and in any substantial military will tell you that training and maintenance is the main substantial and recurring cost of weapon systems.
100%. the missiles would likely be useless and they would probably only have about 15% of those planes operational if any. that being said, I'm sure they could use NATO missiles and the right targets would have a demoralizing effect.
The TU-22M is a very impressive aircraft, particularly when you are being overflown by several at very low (just above masthead height) altitude. I have video that I shot in the Black Sea in 1986 of exactly that, Backfire Bomber loaded with cruise missiles overflying my ship. I think the Soviets wanted to make a point, that we (USS Caron and USS Yorktown) were not welcome to transit near the Crimean Peninsula. It's very possible that some of the planes that flew over us were some of those Ukraine gave up. Another excellent production sir. I knew about the Backfires but not about the Blackjacks. I had thought that the Soviets had all of those stationed further north and in the eastern part of Siberia, and had no idea of the number of aircraft.
@@omegacentauri73 Yes. I made that trip twice while in Caron during our 1985/86 Mediterranian deployment. The object of the exercise was to exercise the Right of Innocent Passage through territorial waters, holding a course that would take us within the twelve mile territorial waters limit, enter at one point, steam straight through and depart back into international waters. That's all. The Soviets claimed that despite international law and the Law of the Sea treaty there was no such right. They dispatched aircraft and ships to "chase" us away. We were already on our way back out by the time the Soviet Air Force and ships arrived. The next cruise was a couple of months after I left Caron, you will find video of the "Bumping" by Soviet ships of USS Caron and USS Yorktown. The Right of Innocent Passage is exercised regularly against Russia and China.
@@wallingnaga6563 Yes. In fact the Russians do and earlier Soviets did park Intelligence "Trawlers" off the East Coast of the US near major military installations, just outside of the twelve mile limit and would and do make a point of cruising through U.S. territorial waters in route to their stations. It's a very old game that the Chinese play too, sending Intelligence collectors to Hawaiian waters as well as our West Coast, the Russians do as well. They wouldn't do it if they did not think it worth the effort.
ISRA'EL made a better point when the the USS Liberty was brutally ; attacked by Israeli aircraft. The attack on the Liberty was one of the ; worst assaults ever carried out on a U.S. Naval vessel in peace time - ; and committed by an allied country. Since then, the survivors of this ; unprovoked attack have been seeking justice. The notion that the vessel was misidentified is a fairy story for the naive. That could only be TRUE if Isra'el is totally stupid. The attack took place 54 years, 10 months, 2 days ago as of today Sunday, April 10, 2022 The attack was to teach the USA a lesson who is Boss - The reminder was the attack near Yemen - just for good measure.
At the time that Ukraine left the Soviet Union, I don't think that anyone was able to foresee the present conflict. At that time, the infrastructure of the former Soviet Union was in serious disarray, so there was thought to be serious danger of weapons disappearing or being stolen from Soviet stockpiles by terrorists or rogue nations. I think that destroying the warheads was the best move.
Agreed. Ukraine has only recently started getting back on it’s feet, these aircraft and missiles would have all went into disrepair had Ukraine kept them. Paying the gas bill was probably more important at the time.
@@Rudizel Another thing to consider is that if Ukraine had kept up this fleet there could be only one country it was aimed at. Russia may well have invaded years ago.
Even as at the time of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine was still too poor to maintain such military might. Even the so called superpower Russia have demonstrated less capability than we expected. (If Russia had been up against another country better than Ukraine, they’d be down by now). Good job the world rallied round Ukraine. I pray they keep up the support. Bullying should not exist in the 21st century.
I confess to being a complete youtube addict. But in all of the wonderful and diverse content it supplies I consider Mr Felton to occupy the number one spot!
Moral of the story: If you live next door to the Russian bear, keep your wits about you and your powder dry. Also, now you have plenty of ‘Seller’s Remorse’ for offloading all those military aircraft.
This was a great video. Why haven't you had a show on TV, yet? You could be a narrator for the BBC or narrate subjects for history channels. Well done, sir.
As always brilliant video! Many thanks for such excellent historical coverage perspective of this related sad current war going on in Ukraine. You should have waaaay more followers Dr.Felton!
Yet another fascinating video that adds perspective to events happening in a very troubled part of the world as we speak. Considering how much inventory Ukraine scrapped, what are (or were) the chances that a few examples of the Backfire, Blackjack and Bear bombers, plus cruise missiles and other weapons, made their way to the US or UK? Considering the high value that these planes and systems have (or had) to Western intelligence, I would think that making a few acquisitions written off as "scrapped" would've been opportunities too good to pass up at the time. I'd like to think that, parked in hangars at the infamous Area 51, a handful of these aircraft remain for inspection, analysis, and occasional exercise in the skies over the Nevada desert - at night, of course. Thanks Again, Dr. Felton, for all that you do.
@@wolfhalupka8992 There have been reports over the years of unidentified aircraft flying over the Area 51 and Tonopah test ranges that nobody had been able to categorize. The F-117 stealth fighter has been officially off the USAF books for several years, but there have been credible reports by eye witnesses who saw them in flight as recently as a couple years ago. For what reason, one can only imagine. So, who knows? I'm sure it would've been worth it to the US to pay Ukraine handsomely to take some of these aircraft and other items off their hands - so they could be properly scrapped under close supervision, of course.
Ukrainians sold everything to everyone during 1990s and early 2000s . Chinese were the main buyers (they got their first carrier there alongside blueprints). Therefore, strategic bombers would likely end up in their hands.
all of the Soviet era strategic bombers look menacing. it's crazy to think the tu160 blackjack is an old platform, yet not many have answers even now for such a capable aircraft
Blackjacks were introduced in 1987. They are more modern than most of the American fighters designed to face them - Eagles were introduced 1976, Falcons 1978, and Hornets 1982.
@@frankpienkosky5688 obviously the t-160 is guna get hit with missiles aswell, but I respect the technology, can you build 1? Can you build a missile system? No ya cant, anyone can talk s**t
...don't invite her distant enemies to put nuclear weapons on your territory. That's insane immoral behavior on the part of Ukraine. And now Poland. Get wrekt.
@@LoneStarMillennial especially when everything you own was gifted to you by russsia / usssr, including territory. The betrayal Ukraine did is unthinkable.
Americans not only pushed Ukraine to gave up the bombers but also ground to ground rockets with range 300km, which would be enough to destroy all russian airports around Ukraine used for the invasion and the bridge to Crimea. And now we have to thank only for javelins and stingers from USA(((
Wait, are you using the Russian GPS network to calculate your targeting coordinates being received from Ukraine's drones? For Ukrainian helicopter & fixed-wing systems? And for Ukrainian Army's land unit navigation and coordination...artillery targeting, etc? I mean seriously, do you think you are using Russia's GPS network for all that when fighting against Russia? And don't forget those S-300 missiles coming from Poland, Czechia, and Lithuania that Ukraine is using to kill high-flying Russian aircraft & bombers and dissuade Russian air crews from wanting to fly over Ukraine at all hours aren't exactly free. The S-300 missiles are coming because the USA promised to deploy its own Patriot Missiles (with crew of 90 USA personnel for each Patriot battery) to Poland, Czechia, Lithuania as replacements so they can give to Ukraine all of their S-300 missiles without losing the very same protection they needed their S-300 missiles to provide in the first place. Ukraine reported a couple days ago a number around nearly 40,000 foreign fighters have volunteered and joined the Ukrainian army, and Ukraine only accepts foreigners who have combat or police experience, which statistically means thousands of those people defending Ukraine right now are almost certain to be Americans due to the ratio of American and European soldiers that were deployed at any given time to Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria over the last 22-years. I will concede that the 40,000 number i heard may not be accurate or possibly is inflated to represent Ukrainian propaganda or the news publisher's editorial board...But even with using a much lower number like say 12,000 foreigners, I would still believe that number must includes thousands-of-Americans having joined the Ukrainian Army or para-military group fighting the Russian invasion.
Doc, it would seem your experience as RU-vid's premier WWII historian is serving you well in your recent pivot to contemporary coverage. Superb as always, Many thanks, M.
Great video. A perfect illustration of the concept of 'blowback' but it is doubtful that Ukraine could have afforded to keep the planes fully operational during the 1990s economic chaos.
There missiles are pretty accurate , they just mostly used dummy bombs because its crazy cheaper... We are the only country that's willing to spend nearly a trillion dollars every year on our military. But most of the cash goes to our 900+ foreign military bases so our government can keep most countries under our boot. Now China is creeping and slowly taking our spot.
Ukraine never was a nuclear power, they were hosting soviet nukes assembled and designed in Russia. Ukraine suggested it would keep them, and both Russia and the US proposed to guarantee its sovereignty under the Budapest memorandum . It lasted less than 20 years
Thanks for another great video. To further improve your content, consider the following: 1. Kh is an English transcription of one letter, which is pronounced like the J in jalapeño, definitely not K-H. If it was an acronym, it would be in all caps. 2. Most Eastern designations that are an abbreviation of the chief designer's name should be read as one syllable unless capitalized (MiG is an exception), so An, not A-N, for Antonov, Su (pronounced soo like in soot, not S-U) for Sukhoi, Tu (pronounced too) for Tupolev. Not only it's the correct pronunciation, it also rolls off the tongue better.
Thanks so much Dr. Felton for your expert opinion of the war in Ukraine, I'm always amazed at how much you know about military intelligence of past wars and also current affairs please keep us updated on what's happening thanks again..
Brits helped in the development of the Mig-15...and the Arrow project in Canada was ended because it was believed to be compromised...a similar Soviet jet made its appearance shortly thereafter....the blackjack is a beefed-up B-1....the only real penetration bomber left is the B-2...all others are stand-off missile launching platforms...the bear has proved quite useful in many capacities [remember it in "The Hunt For Red October"?]....and was used to drop the worlds largest nuclear weapon [Tsar Bomba]...nearly being downed in the process...
Russian soldiers hate ukraine cus of propaganda,they won't stop and they will continue torturing and raping kids until they're dead. There was people saying that russian soldiers were against this,that this is putins war etc.,but seeing how russians treated the lands they occupied just nullifies the hope of peace. They're brainwashed like zombies,just read some articles of russian journals and you'll see,it's really difficult to wake em up since they were thought for over a generation to hate ukranians,ever since pietro I
Mark Felton, I don’t understand why the big hitter’s, Netflix, BBC, SKY, Amazon, PBS etc haven’t commissioned your own history series. You just keep giving out info that nobody else ever talks about. More relevant today than at any other time 😮👍
I like how you completely leave out the fact the US/UK completely abandoned their treaty obligations to Ukraine. Maybe that would've been a deterrent, had the Russians believed we would back it up.
@Sir Bader if Ukraine hadn’t violated the Minsk agreements and just stopped shelling their own people in the east Russia wouldn’t of invaded. You know Ukraine was responsible for killing over a million Ukrainian Jews when they sided with hitler during WWII and now they’ve been trying to do the same since 2014 to their own people in the east because they also speak Russian.
@@taterkaze9428 There was the Budapest Memorandum signed in 1994 by Russia, USA and UK to give security guarantees to Ukraine and respect its territorial integrity.
So you support the West helping to overthrow a democratically elected government by fascist thugs in Kiev 2014 as well as breaking our word to Gorbachev that NATO would not move one inch eastward? Anyone who thinks surrounding Russia with NATO is a good idea is looking for conflict with Russia.
@@JarrodFrates excellent point Jarrod. So they sent billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine... which mostly went into the leaders pockets and Swiss bank account... Leaving scraps for the people and the country Disarmed. It was a win-win all around.
These bombers require huge maintenance and decent runways, if Ukraine kept those, they would have been the main target of cruise missile strikes (perhaps not on Day 1 but within the first week). Plus I have doubts of the possibility of striking deep into Russia against S400 and such...not that I want to overestimate Russian actual combat capabilities, but I don´t think these bombers would do much. A small Sub or two would have been more useful against Black sea fleet.
@@demonprinces17 I´ve been checking updates pretty regularly, they had, even those near Lvov are hit once in a while with cruise missiles, I don´t think they went for runways, just for infrastructure near it which is just as well...and keep in mind that info is from Ukranian side. As I said I don´t think these things would do well in defended or contested airspace. I am not saying it to glorify Russia, I just these things are not suitable for this conflict and would take resources which would be missed elsewhere.
Great stuff as always! 👍 Would love to see a video on the 80’s Soviet - Afghan proxy war, where the US supplied the Mujahideen with weapons, stingers & intel to try & weaken Russia financially & militarily, without direct intervention. Would be a fascinating video, & very relevant!
@randomguy9777 A lot of the equipment were Chinese manufactured, such as the Type 56 which have already been widespread at this point (unlike the Soviets or US, China supplied to everyone regardless of ideology, as long as they were willing to pay for it) and therefore more plausible than say, M16s operated by US allies. The Chinese were strong allies of the Pakistanis and supplied them quite freely. Like the US, this decision will come back and bite them in the ass when foreign fighters return home and demand an Islamic Xinjiang.
randomguy9777 this is a typical problem with American politics. “This isn’t our war/problem” “we don’t belong here” “what are we even fighting for!?” It all cuts both ways, if we stay out of it, someone complains. If we get involved, someone complains. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Jebi Se they gave eastern bloc equipment as it could be maintained with captured eastern bloc ammo and parts. In the end, accepting this might not be as emotionally satisfying for you as to say “no, I know better than recorded history” but it doesn’t really change what the US did.
Similar to the Ukraine 'proxy' war of today.. An extremely risky 'test' by US warhawks, military complex, to determine fighting power, see how far militarily, Russia is willing to go?,.. to protect Their homeland, of Eleven time zones ;/ note; It has been a risky gambit with bad odds, for many nations throughout history
Thank you Dr Felton for this, while I am more knowledgeable of U.S and British bomber like the venerable Avro Vulcan this has given me an expanded knowledge of Russian a aviation, thank you very much for this small and very entertaining lecture
While it’s true these aircraft could have threatened Russia’s Black Sea fleet and staging areas, they would have been priority cruise missile targets on the opening days of hostilities. There’s no chance Ukraine would have used them pre-emptively, so it’s not clear keeping them would have mattered.
Ukraine would never invade Russia, whatever would their propaganda now say. Now when Ukrainians are disappointed with NATO, I hope the country will start producing that kind of weapon again in order to defend itself
The larger bombers would have been easy targets early on, but also Ukraine had several years to plan for this invasion so it's unlikely the aircraft would have been left on open runways waiting to get bombed. It's more likely as Ukraine sensed a military build up that the aircraft would have been in a constant ready state with many of them pre loaded, targets already identified and potentially in the air. As was the case with their mig-29s and su-27s on constant air patrol and ready status.
@ Adam Adam Not possible. First of all, the warnings on the imminent attack were talked about since January and Zelensky accused the west of stoking fear. So, no….they weren’t prepared. Secondly, keeping a meaningful deterrent force in the air or at the ready requires highly trained crewmen in the air and on the ground, along with the supply of parts keeping them airworthy. Neither they, nor any of the other former Soviet satellite nations, had that capability in the post Cold War era. It’s one of the reasons many of them joined NATO.
@@ericcrabtree6245 The Ukraine was very prepared for the invasion, granted they didn't know the exact hour but they did know. Secondly Ukraine already had highly trained air crews, in the years prior to this Ukraine had been training with American crews in mock battles pitching their old mig-29s against modern F15s to prepare them for fighting the Russian Su-30s. Ukraines airforce was not just sitting on runways aging. Ukraine can manufacture parts for migs and sukhois and have been doing so for years. Ukraine has the technical skill and industry to maintain the TU bombers if they retained them. As for keeping them on the ready, while this is costly to fly them there was no shortage of funding from the west, especially to fuel the Jets. The West was already paying for their man portable weapons, militia training and weapons and the air to air combat exercises. If Ukraine had a strategic bomber fleet it would not have been sitting in hangers waiting to get struck. It would have been put to use.
@ Adam Adam Wrong. From Global Security Org - “By 2008 the [Ukranian] Air Force had 208 combat aircraft, of which only about 60 were combat-ready. By one estimate even upgraded aircraft will be able to fly no longer than up to the year 2015. That is to say that approximately from 2012 Ukraine would have to take practical steps to create a new combat aircraft.” “When Russia invaded Ukraine in Februar 2022, the Ukrainian Air Force comprised about 210 aircraft of all types, including some 98 combat aircraft. However, lack of spare parts for its mostly Russian aircraft had reduced Ukraine's airworthy fighting strength to about a third of the total number.” They made no significant improvements to their combat ready aircraft, despite the 2008 annexation of Crimea and breakaway of Donetsk and Luhansk. While the Clear Skies exercises vs CA Air Guard units helped with their tactics, they were woefully unprepared to wage an air campaign - whether offensive or defensive. Their bomber preparation would have been on par, if not worse. It’s only due to the influx of western supplied intel and sheer ineptitude of Russian tactics/forces they haven’t been wiped from the skies.
Great video, illustrates how failure in strategic thinking and over reliance on so called “ guarantees” can lead to disaster. Should be a lesson to all those who don’t believe in “ deterrence “.
The democratically elected government of Ukraine (recognised by EU and US) was overthrown in a violent ‘coup’ in 2014. If the West had backed the elected government (or renamed neutral) this would have been the best form of deterrence. Not so good for the arms industry though.
and Ukraine was given an ultimatum, either the country gives up weapons or it will face complete isolation (the example of North Korea) as soon as Ukraine gained independence, they immediately began to put pressure on it that the eastern abomination that the western abomination, in the 90s there was a collapse in the post-Soviet countries, they gained independence but they didn’t have any possible, because there was no money and let's be frank, the so-called Western LGBT world has done nothing to prevent the horror that has been happening in Ukraine for a year and a half
Never ever give up your guns/military/nuclear weapons - *Si vis pace, para bellum* - for over 2.000 years we have this motto from the Romans and still people don't learn anything from it 👌🏻
And yet western nations actively prevent nations from acquiring weapons of their choosing (= Iran and nuclear weapons) or try to coerce nations to give them up (= North Korea). On a second note, I suggest that Germany builds 500 nuclear war heads and appropriate delivery systems as part of it new security architecture. Since the UK left the EU, the independent nuclear deterrence in Europe sits on France's shoulders alone ... Germany has to support Europe by deploying its own nuclear deterrence.
Ukraine wasn't ever really nuclear armed though, since they were still staffed, and controlled, by Russians. Ukraine couldn't launch a missile, since control of the Missiles was still in Russians hands. The same way US nuclear Missiles in Europe can't actually be launched by europeans. They don't have launch codes or control of the weapons.
@@24pavlo Yes, and Russia took them all back in 1991 as fast as possible. The deal of 1994 was just funding for ukr. oligarchs for getting rid of silo-ICBMs..
@@demonprinces17 in 1991 it was analog typed in codes held in soviet safes in Moscow with physical arming keys but in todays terms a valid point I’ll agree
@Cancer McAids interesting cause a reason the Ukraine gave in support to give up the Nukes originally was Moscows refusal to turn over the codes /keys to arm the warheads anyways as means of supporting their governments choice to give them up but you do have a valid point that they could’ve probably overcome that issue somehow.
We need to keep in mind that the Bears operated today are very unlikely to have been built in the 1950's or 1960's. The Bear remained in production until around 1993, turning much upgraded versions.
I am new to this channel, and this is the only video I have watched. I really appreciate the "what if's" that are made plainly and clearly, "opinions" are not required for those following closely and in the know.! I have my opinions and can speculate as well as the best of you, but sadly most "channels" make "statements" rather than ponder questions... . So far I like this channel, 1-video down, impression made, I will subscribe, watch a video or two now, and get back to you.
Wow. Thank you. I remember when Ukraine gave up its nukes, and I thought it a terrible mistake. I didn't know about all the other weapons it gave up, as it turns out, to Ukraine's detriment.
I love you videos, I have learned so much more about WW2. Than any other creator(other than German videos in English subtitles LOL). You deserve millions more subscribers, thank you Professor Mark for all the superb content. 😎😎😎
Shaking my head at this. Hindsight is a great thing but that said, this is a salutary lesson in never putting National security in the hands of other nations. There is no guarantee all these aircraft would have survived sneak attacks by the Russians who would certainly have made them prime targets for first strike. However, significant numbers of the Ukrainian airforce have survived and if even a fraction of these were still in use today, the Russians would undoubtedly be on the receiving end of an even bloodier nose than they have received to-date. Considering what the Ukrainian Airforce has done so far including a raid on a Russian oil refinery by two helicopters, they have clearly shown the Russians what they can do if they have the right tools to finish the job. No wonder the Russians are terrified of the prospect of transfers of ex soviet aircraft from other European countries such as Poland, the Czech Republic and Cyprus
Russia must turn Ukraine into stone age by bombing cities deep in Ukraine with termobaric bombs, cluster bombs, napalm, high explosive munition and continue to carpet bomb Ukrainians like Americans did against Cambodia and Vietnam. Only by overpowering brute force and enough high explosive conflict in Ukraine can be resolved.
War in Ukraine will be resolved when Russian speaking regions of Ukraine will be completely liberated from Ukraine and when Ukraine will be divided into Russian speaking and Ukrainian speaking territory by Great wall of steel and barbed wire.
