[YouTube] BLUF: The Telegraph reports that Russian bombs have a 60% failure rate.
A 60% Dud Rate for Precision-Guided Munitions Explains a Lot of Russia's Problems in Ukraine
One of the staples on social media accounts reporting from Ukraine has been the very high rate of cruise missiles that have failed to detonate.
Problems with fuzing are not unknown. The most famous example of this is the Mark 6 exploder used in the Mark 14 and Mark 15 torpedoes of the US Navy until September 1943. The flaws of the exploder and the torpedo produced a dud rate of over 50% in the standard submarine torpedo. The problem was caused by the Navy weapons designers wanting to avoid the cost of a field trial.
Precision-guided munitions are essential in modern warfare. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
in Ukraine, the proliferation of air defense systems, particularly MANPADS, has made flight below 10,000 feet very unhealthy. By the same token, dropping gravity bombs from above 10,000 feet, given the skill level of the Russian Air Force, which flew eight hours per month before the war, is not much better than using a trebuchet.
If this report is accurate, it speaks to massive manufacturing and possibly engineering design problems in the Russian arms industry.
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