Russia launches satellite for global navigation system

[Gerald]

Russia has launched a satellite needed to create its own global navigation system, intended to rival America's Global Positioning System (GPS).

The Glonass-K satellite was carried into orbit on a Soyuz rocket from a cosmodrome in northern Russia.

In December, an attempt to put the final three satellites into space failed when they crashed into the sea.

More launches are planned with the aim of finishing the system this year.
'Sovereignty'

The Russian prime minister, Vladimir Putin, has said the Glonass system will give the country satellite navigation sovereignty.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12587238

Note:26 February 2011 Last updated at 12:46 GMT

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Good for them, I say.

[Gerald]

Good for them, I say. Competition is always good, and especially in this case

[TLAM Strike]

Hopefully they can put it in the right orbit this time! :haha:

[Oberon]

Hopefully they can put it in the right orbit this time! :haha:

Indeed.

Downtown Pyongyang... :03:

[Takeda Shingen]

Indeed.

Downtown Pyongyang... :03:

Wait, Pyongyang has a downtown now? Any good shows playing there?

[Oberon]

Wait, Pyongyang has a downtown now? Any good shows playing there?

Of course.

Kims, The Phantom of the Evil Imperialist Pigdogs, Capitalist Imperialist Boulevard, and Fiddler on the DMZ. :yep:

[The Third Man]

I don't see any problem with this. While the US drops to the third largest economy in the world some nation has to and will step up to fill the vaccum. I can't wait until we are the 6th largest... then Barack Obama can claim victory, and legitimatacy to a Nobel prize.....I'll be so proud.

[Takeda Shingen]

Of course.

Kims, The Phantom of the Evil Imperialist Pigdogs, Capitalist Imperialist Boulevard, and Fiddler on the DMZ. :yep:

:haha:

The reviews for Fiddler are pretty good.

[Gerald]

http://i.imgur.com/iIwkY.jpg

[Takeda Shingen]

^^ I've always wondered how many of those buildings were made of plywood.

[Oberon]

:haha:

The reviews for Fiddler are pretty good.

They say the ending is particularly explosive. :yep:

[TLAM Strike]

http://i.imgur.com/iIwkY.jpg
Anyone else think that big abandoned hotel thing would be perfect for bulls eye navigation?

Wait, Pyongyang has a downtown now? Any good shows playing there?

All of Pyongyang is "downtown" man, just check out their AAA sites:
http://img696.imageshack.us/img696/428/fzan0g.jpg
Now me and Oberon just need to bring ye ole Intruder out of retirement...
http://img46.imageshack.us/img46/4351/tlwzaqctruppbig.jpg

[Oberon]

Yeah, about those AAA sites, I got some CIA footage of them in action:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/77/163422937_3a1917def0.jpg

I think we'll just need a Vimy for this flight. :yep:

[TLAM Strike]

Yeah, about those AAA sites... you laugh but this is what a buddy of mine had to say about them:

The North Korean capital is probably the most heavily defended city on the planet. I’ve catalogued over 150 AAA positions around the capital in Google Earth and there are more waiting to be discovered with the next high resolution image update. In fact I’ve catalogued over 500 AAA sites in DPRK… there are simply loads. For those with a schoolboy love of stupendously gigantean statics, there are so many AAA positions around Pyongyang that if they were all to fire at once they’d throw up over 63,000t of high explosive shells in the first minute – think about that, that’s more than the weight of an Iowa class battleship, and it’s travelling at about Mach 2!

[The Third Man]

In case you missed it.........

I don't see any problem with this. While the US drops to the third largest economy in the world some nation has to and will step up to fill the vaccum. I can't wait until we are the 6th largest... then Barack Obama can claim victory, and legitimatacy to a Nobel prize.....I'll be so proud.

[Oberon]

Makes me feel even more sorry for the residents of Pyongyang, what goes up must surely come down again...

Besides, I wonder how many of those guns would fire and how many would jam. Still, maybe put a stand-off missile on the Vimy then. :yep:

[Takeda Shingen]

Makes me feel even more sorry for the residents of Pyongyang, what goes up must surely come down again...

Besides, I wonder how many of those guns would fire and how many would jam. Still, maybe put a stand-off missile on the Vimy then. :yep:

You would also have to wonder about how much functional ordnance they actually have as well.

[The Third Man]

Lets consider what the horn section can do to the string section. Or, lets consider the worst case.

[Takeda Shingen]

Or we can just speculate. After all, unless you work in the intelligence community, you don't really know. And if you do work in the intelligence community, you probably shouldn't be yaking about it here.

[TLAM Strike]

You would also have to wonder about how much functional ordnance they actually have as well. Based on the the Yeonpyeong attack ~1/5 were duds.

Or we can just speculate. After all, unless you work in the intelligence community, you don't really know. And if you do work in the intelligence community, you probably shouldn't be yaking about it here.
:shifty:

[Takeda Shingen]

I get what you're saying TLAM, but I've always thought North Korea as kind of a paper tiger. Sure, they've got soldiers and hardware, but with dubious training and in dubious states of repair. They're also so diplomatically isolated that if they went to war with anyone, they wouldn't be getting any help; military or otherwise. They're not like, say, an Iran who actually has buddies in the world. True, they have China, but the Chinese seem more embarassed by their association than anything at this point, and appear to do everything to distance themselves from Kim and his regime.

[The Third Man]

I would cosider all tests successful and work backward. Not the orherway.

[Gerald]

you laugh but this is what a buddy of mine had to say about them: 150 AAA positions,that's a lot :yep:

[XabbaRus]

That photo of downtown is pretty nice. Given that there is hardly any cars, thus little smog it could be a great place to live.

Then again one hopes that your building stays up, you have regular water and electricity and a decent food supply.

Saying that I really want to visit NK. Would love to see it before Kim goes and 'democracy' comes along. I had always wished to see Russia before the USSR disintegrated and capitalism came along, just so i could have a greater understanding of how they lived. Just listening to my wife tell me about it isn't the same.