The Hilarious Backstory of Russian Missiles Hitting Toilets in Ukraine

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Hilarious episode of Soviet Aviation history on how the Russians cheated during the Kh-29 missile trials back in the ’70s, which could potentially explain the recent multiple missiles strikes on outdoor toilets in Ukraine.
Chapters:
00:00 - Toilet Strikes
03:11 - Smekalka
07:02 - Video Killed the Radio Star
10:25 - Yellow Sand Road
16:40 - Kh-29 Missile
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#aviation #history #skies

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

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[@Irobert1115HD]

this gives a completely new meaning to the phrase flushing money down the drain.

[@oleglegenchuk6615]

I really liked episode about smekalka😂 That’s similar to what I was always saying) Russians are proud that they can make anything from bunch of shit and sticks, and it is good on itself. The problem is because of their government they HAVE to do it to survive and they just ignore this fact for some reason.

[@Rentta]

@@Irobert1115HD Yeah i have nebula but seems like most creators who i follow upload all the same stuff to youtube usually without delay too.

[@Irobert1115HD]

@@Rentta nah i actually ment the rockets hitting toilets thing.

[@georgetregubov3936]

@@ardeladimwit Actually, they are not. That is what QuickClot and Cellox are for. Sticking tampon into the would does not help.

[@CobraDBlade]

If the targeting camera is looking for a high contrast image and nothing more, it could just happen to be that the average outdoor toilet is just painted a significantly brighter or darker color than it's surroundings, to the point where it's the highest contrast in the area. Thus when the original target gets obscured the toilet is the most likely thing for the lock to transfer to.

[@LuqmanHM]

Agreed. Its not a smart munition indeed

[@martinkaufmann5205]

My first thought was an IR seeker picking up the heat given off by the decomposing waste under the outhouse.

[@SteveBueche1027]

Ukrainian people should ask their government why is the IS military involved and what it has to do with illegal chemical laboratories.

[@baconatoromg6062]

Lmfao you summed it up better in one paragraph than he did in a 20min video

[@fkiesel9442]

If I had an outhouse, I would paint it in a light color, so it doesn't get too hot in it during the summer. So it is absolutely possible, that the rockets lock onto a light colored outhouse instead of a big building.

[@B_O_N_E]

It's called "fire and forget" because you fire it and then it forgets its target

[@xantiom]

Well it satisfied design objectives!

[@SavageMonkeyJizz]

Hahaha I don't care if this is a year old comment, that actually made me laugh like I haven't laughed in a long while. Thanks man!

[@4pelokananasov992]

It all makes sense now!

[@user-bw6jg4ej2m]

I recently saw a joke: _"all Russian missiles have a secondary civilian infrastructure setting if they lose lock."_

[@Mr.Dinosalt]

Here in Brazil we have a similar concept to Smekalka, and is as culturally present as in Russia. Here use the "Gambiarra" which is a smart and cheap way to solve a problem using what you have at hand. For example, if you have a broken shower, instead of simply buying another or calling in someone to fix it, you would try and fix it using bycicle parts, or something like it. And this goes so much farther that justa that, you can find it in almost anything over here, and even though it usually is the worst way to fix something, we just say that "it's the Brazilian way".

[@jorcyd]

I'd say that Smekalka is more about the "Jeitinho" than an actual "Gambiarra".

[@CiaranMaxwell]

Sounds like what we in the States would call a "kludge" or "redneck engineering." (Kludges are temporary.) It is the most horrible fix possible (inducing both fear and disgust in those who see it), and yet it works just fine, somehow, and impresses those with engineering skill. To give a kludge example, in the 1940s, it was common for American farm tractor engines to be repaired with a corset rather than the proper part. It got the engine running again, didn't harm the engine, and would last long enough to get paid after the harvest. This wasn't meant as a permanent solution, just to last long enough to be able to afford the time and money for a _proper_ repair. As it turned out, diesel submarines and warships used the same part in their engines. If you were transporting some US Army nurses, it wasn't unheard of for a corset to be keeping the ship moving. (At least, I think it was a corset. It might've been panties. Something with both a lot of stretch and a lot of elastic pull.) Rednecks, however, never bother with the "proper repair" portion, resulting in what you mentioned: a kludge that horrifies yet impresses any engineer. To give a permanent example, one of my friend's brothers wanted power windows in his car. So he got a power drill and a bunch of rods, and used them to turn the crank for the windows... on both sides. One drill for each.

[@Darwinpasta]

@@CiaranMaxwell There is nothing more permanent than a temporary repair that happens to work.

[@benjaminphelps561]

ive never heard of kludge in the states. But redneck engineering? thats the nations rural pastime. Another fun one that i heard some programmers use the word bodge or bodging it, to fix a thing by Jerryrigging a specific solution that doesnt work at scale but works in the situation needed

[@sailor5853]

​@@CiaranMaxwellI'd never heard the word "kludge" but the way you described it's the most similar word to "gambiarra" I've ever seen. "Gambiarras" are meant to be temporary too but for lack of resources or ***** to give they too end up permanent.

[@michaelratliff3068]

I am ashamed to say that we had something similar with an anti-aircraft gun. They put a perfectly fine radar for fighter aircraft and put it into a ground based anti-aircraft gun. Unfortunately, it had a tendency to lock onto portable outdoor toilets. The higher end ones with electric fans in them to keep the air fresher in the toilets. The radar just loved those fans.

[@bradleyross2274]

Was this the Sergeant York anti-aircraft system for the US Army? I hadn't heard about outdoor toilets, but the vendor attached radar reflectors to the target to make it easier to hit. It helped a little but the Army was furious when they found out. In addition, there was an episode where during a demonstration before the brass where the gun suddenly turned 180 degrees and aimed at the center of the reviewing stand full of high-ranking officers. Since the best seats were in the top row, you had a number of colonels and generals jumping off the back of the reviewing stand, although there were apparently no serious injuries. The contractor said that this was normal procedure since, in the absence of targets at the site, the reviewing stand was what most closely resembled targets. The Pentagon's response was to cancel the project and several of the officers in charge of supervising the project found their careers very severely impacted. (demotions, courts of inquiry, etc.) There was also the case where the US Army was investigating the sudden increase in transmission failures in the early Abrams tanks. It turns out that some NCO's had found that you could cut a few seconds off the shoot and scoot drills by putting the tank in reverse while still moving forward. In earlier tanks, the round would totally miss the target or the transmission would break. With the Abrams, the gun stabilization system would allow you to hit the target, and the transmission would survive despite being damaged and having its time to failure dramatically reduced. They added a switch in the transmission that would stop you from shifting to reverse while moving forward.

[@michaelratliff3068]

@@bradleyross2274 yep! yep! That's the one! They have good video on KZbin about it. My memory isn't as good as it used to be, but I believed it was tested at Whitesands Missile Range when I was stationed there as a weather observer and helped another weather data collector try to get his wind speed indicator working as it was directly supporting the test. There was high wind gusts that day and the wind speed indicator was on top of a truck. We couldn't stand up and had to lay on our stomachs for fear of being blown off. As the information about the project was on a need to know basis and as I didn't need to know, I didn't know anything about it's idiosyncrasies until many years later.

[@novat9731]

The difference is the Soviet missile was accepted, the anti air system was not.

[@nicholaswalsh4462]

@@novat9731 well that's just Russia. Of course it was accepted. It worked in trials. The context of that success is entirely irrelevant. Glory to the Soviet Union! /sarcasm

[@elmerjfapp5730]

@@nicholaswalsh4462 if it works for about 5 minutes in a test its good enough for deployment seems to be their modus operandi in ruskieland. im just glad their equipment is nowhere near the capacity as advertised otherwise the airborne BMD drops for the VDV would have gone a lot differently in the recent war

[@Db--jt7bt]

Knowing what I know about the Soviet electronics industry, I’m surprised the missile was even able to lock onto the road. The USAF had a much simpler solution: use a plane with a co-pilot. The co-pilot would guide the missile while the pilot took evasive action. This worked fine until more advanced Fire and Forget missiles came out, all based on earlier TV guided missiles.

[@bocahdongo7769]

@@mandellorian790 But let's be honest. Something in the military unit went insanely wrong if you forced F-105 to do ground attack

[@20chocsaday]

Royal Navy planes used to be 2-up and the Buccaneers used to be able to hang around till a US missile had got in.

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

@mandellorian Now I imagine the pilot dual joystick flying both at the same time.

[@SecuR0M]

@@bocahdongo7769 What a bizarre take. The Thunderchief was literally built as a bomber.

[@bocahdongo7769]

@@SecuR0M Fast bomber. Not on-time ground attack. You won't using Bronco as strategic city-nuke bomber either even if you could, let's be honest with that

[@Lobos222]

*While not a "lock on" failure story. When I was in the military.* We some times during night or winter patrols. Used the Eryx missile launcher and attached thermal gen 1. Now, you need to keep in mind that this is the size of a backpack you hold as binoculars. Thermal gen 1 is 10x times better in video games compared to real life etc. However what we did was to set the one color thermal setting to max contrast and sensitivity to ultra low. What this would do is that it would show you a totally black screen. Wow! A black screen, never seen that before... Except, if you scanned over lower temp terrain that also had a tent with soldiers in it using heating equipment. Then you would see sharp edge contours of the actual tent in bright red, you now know where the enemy is. On one such patrol, in the middle of the forest, where nothing but animals and soldiers would be in the area. We scan and saw a *perfect* red square in the sights about 500 meters away. It is pitched black and in the middle of the forest so while we have gen 2, I think, night vision as well. The forest canopy prevents us from seeing anything. We could turn on our IR light projectors, but we are on an attack patrol against a known platoon sized unit. We are 5 guys, they are 30 and we also know they have night vision as well. We would expose our position if we turned IR on, so logically we did not. We instead continue towards the target, super tactically and slow, trying to pinpoint listening posts, tent activity and so on. Nothing! These guys were super duper disciplined on sound it seemed (people need to understand that in these kind of setting. Animals tend to shut the F up because they can tell when humans are "hunting"). So when I say there wasnt any sound. There was ZERO sound. Eventually we got so close to the heat source, think Alien1 jazz hands scene close, we decided to just assault it, take out whatever was there and instantly retreat. We charge, 5 meters later it turns out the red heat square was a window... To an abandoned small wooden container like structure formerly used by lumberjacks and was therefor not marked on the map. We had spent so much time advancing on this "target" that daylight was approaching and we had to abort the mission. Later I, since I was in charge of the squad, had to explain to my platoon leader why platoon such and such had not been woken up by an attack during the night to test their alarm readiness... I had to be a bit more descriptive than just saying: "We attacked a window instead." LoL

[@charierasiplease]

how was a window to an abandoned building a heat source?

[@tondekoddar7837]

@@charierasiplease Ever heard of greenhouse effect ? Or in a forest, that may be only square-shaped object thus getting more interesting, or pitch used on roof so the heated building air keeps war for a long time. Lots of options, and if the house was warmer, wooden frame would lose some heat but during day heavy'ish windows (especially if 3-layered) will stay warm longer.

[@penyuk1851]

during early gwot the prior gen Javelins were also used just for their NV aspect. Since Javs were issued more often than nods, you just activate it and look around without firing the missile itself.

[@Lobos222]

@@charierasiplease While wooden structure was semi whole and therefor trapped air. This slightly warmer air radiating heat out through the window was enough to create a sharp contrast in the thermal optics. The thermal optics does not see light, it sees radiated heat. Therefor the forest canopy had no impact (night vision amplifies none visible light via radioactive substance in the googles), but the thick forest also meant less wind. The slightly warmer air behind the window and the window not preventing heat penetrating it, unlike the wooden walls etc, was enough to make it look like a perfect red square in the optics (if a perfect red square has scan lines between each line that is, aka lines that are not rendered at all with any light. Similar to to how Robocop view is in the movies). Heat source does not always mean you think it feels hot. It is more often a temperature difference between two areas.

[@trolleriffic]

@@Lobos222 The sensitivity of thermal cameras is amazing. A few years ago I rented a relatively low-end camera to do a building survey looking for possible leaks in a heating system and while playing around with it I discovered I could see exactly where I'd walked in my apartment. My body heat had warmed the soles of my shoes (I was also wearing thick socks and these were thick-soled trainers) enough that the brief contact with the floor as I took each step was able to heat the carpet up enough that I could see a clearly defined shoe print that lasted a surprisingly long time. I then went outside in the dark where I spotted a black cat which ran when it saw me and hid in some bushes which were themselves in shadow. It was completely undetectable to the eye but when I looked through the camera, it was lit up like a Christmas tree and I felt like the Predator!

[@oneghost1257]

"Smekalka". A word I'd never heard before in my life but once I had a rough idea of what it means, immediately brought to mind the image of the Marines going to Iwo Jima who yanked an aircraft Browning machine gun out of a scrapped plane on board and slapped a butt stock on it because they wanted a fast gun like the Germans had. And then I realized that was actually too practical of a decision and I might not have a grasp on Smekalka at all.

[@istvanbrooks5319]

The Stinger LMG!, with a 20mm Machine gun, BAR Bipod, and M1 Garand Stock

[@oneghost1257]

@@istvanbrooks5319 ayy that's the one

[@bluedistortions]

I knew two WWII vets I loved talking to after church. One manned a rocket boat on beach assaults. The other patrolled PT boats in the Pacific. The latter told how PT boats had two engines for forward, and one for reverse, but it was standard practice for them to rig up the reverse engine to help the other forward engines to outrun Japanese boats. When inspections were carried out, the reverse motor was simply reported as malfunctioning. There was also a case where they were going to be sent out with one engine busted, and so they snuck out to the local storage facility, explained their predictament to the sentries, and had a friendly theft to get a functioning motor installed by the the time they had to go on patrol. I think these were American versions of smekalka.

[@kievbutcher]

​@@istvanbrooks5319it was a .30 caliber AN/M2 aircraft machine gun, but other than that you are correct.

[@ferinzz]

@@bluedistortionsThe smekalka is the fact that they put in two motors so that the boat can go both forwards and reverse instead of having two motors that can do both so that there's a backup motor if one is hit.. Smekalka would be like developing a jet without jet streams by turning it into a prop plane. It's more like the 'job done boss' memes.

[@cruelangel7737]

In Thai military reserve training one of our drill instructors told us that sanitary pad plus duct tape is our way of bandaging wounds. The reasoning is that the pads come in waterproof plastic packages and they are sterile and remain sterile. Medics do have typical bandages and they are sterile and come in waterproof packaging too. But the pads are for non medics to carry around in case the medics cannot reach them quick enough? Smekalka has a direct translation in Thai. ศรีธนญชัย this is the name of a folk hero who rose to prominence by solving problems with well, smekalka. His smekalka is cruel and calculating and morals or suffering does not factor in his plans, rather than being sadistic, it seemed he was oblivious to morality. The end of his story is him meeting a young monk in training who beyond smekalka, possesses intelligence and wisdom, and a sense of morality, who won against him in becoming the King 's problem solver. He became depressed and died from heartbreak. I don't know if ศรีธนญชัยexists or not but he is used to teach Thai children two lessons. 1. Be smart. 2. Don't be an asshole.

[@nirfz]

Interesting! I am from central europe, and her in austria, we have conscription. Over23 years ago, on my first day, one of the things we got issued was a steril, water resistantly packed bandage that had a 20x20cm pad covered in foil near the start of the bandage so it won't stick on a wound. In its original package it was (as i said) sterile and water resistant. The package was olive green, and rectangular in shape quite rugged, possible to open without tools, and it perfectly fit in an inner pocket of the cargo pocket we had on our right leg. So each and every solder here had such a package on him at every point apart from under the shower, or in bed. It surprises me that something as cheap and simple is not common world wide. We also were encourraged to use it even if an injury would seem too small for it as we would get it replaced without problem, and we did not have to give it back when our service ended. (still have mine at home soewhere)

[@ajshell2]

For people who can't read Thai script, "ศรีธนญชัย" is "Sri Thanonchai". Hopefully this will help someone who wants to know more.

[@jasoncreighton5140]

Sanitary pads came out due to nurses in WW1 using absorbent bandages as such, Cotex made the bandages originally

[@arthas640]

I've heard of that before. Tampons are useful for bloody noses, stab or piercing type wounds, and gun shots.

[@arthas640]

​@@ajshell2that's interesting, I know a Buddhist monk called Sri Thanon. Wonder if he got the name from the hero

[@kristenburnout1]

In the Norwegian army, we have a similar word to smekalka, called "hatløsninger", translated directly as "hate solutions". Essensially, these are stupid, short sighted solutions to practical problems you do while you hate your existence (for instance while being on a long exercise) that will come back to bite you in the ass later. Unlike in the Russian army however, these "solutions" are not encouraged. Examples: Not drying your socks properly to save time. Not going to the toilet because it's -26 degrees outside, meaning you then waste a lot of heat to warm up your own excrements. Eating fuel(!) to not have to go on exercises.

[@nos9784]

Makes me think of the somewhat related "ragefix" in english.

[@youngthaiarfssoldier8732]

Eating "fuel"!?

[@dgthe3]

@@youngthaiarfssoldier8732 probably meant drinking

[@youngthaiarfssoldier8732]

@@dgthe3 yeah, that.

[@nos9784]

@@youngthaiarfssoldier8732 propably means hexamine (ESBIT) tablets, the solid fuel for mini camping stoves and toy steam engines. They are in French and German field rations, I guess Norway also uses them. They make you sick when eaten. (edit: words, precision, research)

[@fiftycal1]

One of the more humorous events in the history of weapons testing occurred when testing the Maverick Missile. A bevy of VIP’s were observing a test where the missile was launched and was supposed to home in on a target on the proving ground. Instead - it locked onto a transformer adjacent to The VIP viewing stands - calling for a panicked plea to evacuate the the stands.

[@WardenWolf]

Pretty sure that's wrong. Maverick missiles are exclusively manually guided, either TV-guided (originally using standard TV camera for guidance and later infrared cameras) or laser-guided. They have no internal homing system and all targets must be manually designated. It's also exclusively an air-launched weapon. AGM-65 Maverick. AGM stands for Air-to-Ground Missile.

[@markus30000]

@@WardenWolf On the contrary, Mavericks are exclusively self-guided. You probably have something like the Walleye in mind, which technically isn't a missile, but does have TV guidance.

[@katana1430]

Great to see you are back! I remember a story of smekalka from a book on Soviet armor in the early Cold War. A Guards Tank unit had ended the war with mostly IS-2 tanks. They were very pleased with them and looked forward to the new IS-3. They thought that the new tank would help ensure that they never had to fight another war like WW2. After they had their new tanks for a while, they changed their minds. They found out that the IS-3 was the tank that meant they had better never fight another war. One one occasion, a general was coming to visit and they only had 1 working tank in the entire unit. All the others were broken. So they lined them up and propped the engine bays open, saying that they were practicing engine maintenance, and let the general ride around in the single working tank. Smekalka indeed.

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

perfect example

[@jwenting]

and right now the US Army is doing the same thing with its M1s, mostly due to a chronic lack of spare parts. And the US Navy and Marines do it with their F/A-18s as well.

[@가니메데]

​@@jwenting The US is pretending that their tanks are under maintenance?

[@jwenting]

@@가니메데 The US has a serious maintenance/readiness issue, yes. I'm sure that more than a few unit commanders are putting up shows like this just to give the impression things are better than they really are when politicians visit, out of fear of reprisals against themselves.

[@_wayward_494]

@@jwenting Source for this?

[@kaengurus.sind.genossen]

Smekalka seems to be part of all militaries to some exend. In the German army there are the magically multiplying camouflage nets. If you want more camouflage nets, you rip one apart and report two damaged ones. Edit: The important difference between normal armies and Russia is that smekalka is not encouraged. It happens to circumvent bureaucracy, missing material or to react to unexpected circumstances. You, other than the Russian army, still try to have a plan of what you're doing, and of course you don't manipulate tests to pass them.

[@fgk44]

This.

[@-Lazy]

Besser als darauf zu warten dass die Bahn neue liefert. Nimm das eine und Brich es in zwei

[@kaengurus.sind.genossen]

@@-Lazy Ein Netz zerbrechen? Das muss ja ein steifes Netz sein.

[@todydn]

@@-Lazy right over your head its not 2 its four one ripped in half and 2 new full ones rinse wash repeat

[@andresmartinezramos7513]

They simply undergo mitosis

[@EvanMcClurg-tb9bz]

One does have to admire how the people painting the hanger put in extra effort. It's oddly inspiring despite the results of their work.

[@ZergrushEddie]

Another smekalka example is the story of the space pen. “NASA spent 500 trillion dollars on a pen that can write into microgravity. The USSR used pencils!” That cute story ignores the fact that NASA used pencils on their first flights and pencils are REALLY bad in space; small particles get caught in people or sensitive equipment. But, like using pads/tampons for wounds, helps turn a shortcoming into an example of creativity. I suppose smekalka is the word to explain the phrase “necessity is the mother of all invention.” Fascinating

[@polymorphesquirrel]

It's an urban legend. Pencils are an awful idea for use in space, because graphite is electroconductive, and floating microparticles in zero gravity cause short circuits.

[@jacoblitman4866]

Specifically, NASA didn't spend a dime on developing the space pen: it was 100% funded by the developer, at which point both NASA and the Soviet space program realized it was a way better solution than prior methods like grease pencils, and both bought them.

[@aperson1]

No less, it's triply wrong: The soviets *also* used the exact same space pens, same model same developer and everything.

[@brandonlatzig]

I would like proof of this, given how the developer was american , I doubt the soviets would happily buy from them@@aperson1

[@artos9406]

doesn't change the fact that russia rammed into moon, while even Indians managed to get there safely@@jacoblitman4866

[@yorktown99]

The closest thing to "smekalka" in American slang is the term "kludge" (pronounced "KLOOJ"). It means to slap together a temporary fix for a stubborn problem, often with inferior parts & equipment, just enough that it will work right away. "Duct tape & zip ties" has a similar meaning. There is, of necessity, a level of imaginative creativity at work; you have to think of the immediate problem in terms of the possible tools at hand.

[@eddievhfan1984]

Though even a kludge works for its intended purpose without the intent to deceive or mislead people into thinking it works better than it should. You know a kludge is inelegant and temporary; it doesn't pretend to be anything more than it is. Smekalka has a fundamental component of deceit in it.

[@John.0z]

I don't know if the vehicle is sold under the same name in the USA; but in Australia Toyota sell a relatively light, but large SUV based on the Camry - called the "Kluger". I have NEVER been able to see the things as anything but a kludge. And the name seems to support my view of the things. A cheap way to get a vehicle quickly to the market and fit the cost and function roughly between a Camry (with all the off-highway grace of a marshmallow) and a Landcruiser.

[@nikolai_kury]

Yep, super similar, but ours is also used for interactions with people and etc hehe 😂

[@SnakebitSTI]

"Kludge" has negative connotations though. Describing a solution as a kludge implies that it should be replaced as soon as possible.

[@Pavlos_Charalambous]

In Greece we called Greek patent, basically is the sip tie / duck tape consept, just make it work and, fix it properly" later " maybe years later Because if it works DON'T FIX IT 😂😂

[@xthetenth]

Oh god the tampons in bullet wounds thing is particularly funny because it's a common myth in american gun circles that they're great for bullet wounds, but everyone actually serious about trauma care dismisses them out of hand because they're a wildly inadequate amount of gauze for a bullet wound, and flat pack gauze is simple, cheap and effective. At least come up with novel, original genius solutions that turn out to be wildly inadequate!

[@brockvegas9571]

Let alone that tampons leave particulate matter in the wound, greatly increasing the chances of infection.

[@Holammer]

In the Army of Two games they meant to have tampons inserted as a way of resuscitating your co-op player. It was removed before release afaik, never played the games myself.

[@sbvera13]

You misunderstand the problem being solved, which has nothing to do with bullet wounds. No, the problem is that soldiers are complaining! Simple solution: Tell them to make their own first aid kit out of common household items! Smekalka.

[@colbunkmust]

Honestly, the tampon wound patching myth has been so thoroughly debunked on the internet it's honestly amazing that the Russian MoD would advocate its use. Menstrual cycles do not bleed like an arterial wound...

[@Edax_Royeaux]

@@colbunkmust Well if the Russian Army can't even provide sleeping bags, then perhaps the idea is that anything is better than nothing.

[@KingBobXVI]

6:40 - "...and Russian history is full of such examples of military smekalka..." Since you showed a Russian tank here, it reminded me of a little story involving the T-34 - there was an issue during development where the pins holding the track links together would come loose, causing the tracks to come apart. While they were looking into ways to fix the pins, someone had the idea of just welding an angled plate to the hull of the tank near the front. Since the pins were loosening and coming off on the side of the track facing the tank, the angled plate would just knock them back into the track as they passed. This is incidentally why the T-34 has that very distinct clicking sound when driving. Unlike some of the other examples though, this is a solution that actually worked, more or less, would it fit under the category of "smekalka"?

[@CiaranMaxwell]

I'm not sure. It's a cheap, simple solution. It works. It doesn't inspire horror. I don't think there's any downside to it. It's a cheap workaround that costs nearly nothing to implement and reduces the time until release. You see this sort of workaround in industrial machinery and repair all the time. It's not unheard of to "fix" a machine by paying the guy closest to retirement to sit next to it with a sledgehammer. This old guy spends 99% of his workday reading the newspaper. Occasionally, a specific part in the machine will stick, and an alarm will go off. The guy will drop the paper, grab the mallet or sledgehammer resting next to him, stand up, and whack the bullseye on the side of the machine. The machine happily resumes production and the alarm stops. He sits back down, returns the mallet/sledge to its resting place, and resumes reading the newspaper. This is done because hiring an extra worker to do this one job costs less money over the lifetime of the machine than the loss of one week of revenue from trying to find and solve the actual problem. Once the workaround is confirmed to not do any harm, of course. This behavior frustrates engineers to no end because their (our; I'm a programmer) mindset is to get to the source of the problem and solve it so you don't need to apply a workaround, but is also the most important lesson an engineer can learn. Sometimes, you need to just stop when you can get the machine working again.

[@tobyalder42]

It would. "Smekalka" is about smart solutions, not dumb ones. Dumb solutions are called "smekalka" only sarcastically

[@paavobergmann4920]

@@CiaranMaxwell It´s everywhere. I know of a case where a beautifully designed part of a car would resonante with the engine´s idle rpm, and cause a terrible buzzing. Solution? Rivet a piece of plastic to the inside to change the designer piece´s resonant frequency. No change of machinery required.

[@TioDeive]

Your channel is just fantastic! Smekalka has it's Brazilian version as well, something some people are proud of, called "jeitinho" in Portuguese, which often leads to improvisation, cheating, disregard for safety, lack of consideration for your kin and corruption, probably is one of the reasons that our society is morally a failure.

[@ThisMagello]

Absolutely love the channel and so glad you're back. I used to be US Navy back when we were doing high tempo operations in the Persian Gulf when our maintenance programs were getting constantly delayed. Because of that we often had to defer or try to figure something out to get whatever maintenance we could done so as to not delay operations. We used to call it a boondoggle and I gotta say it feels a lot like smekalka. Stay safe out there brother.

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

Thank you Magello!

[@iivin4233]

I am constantly surprised how well that war went. It seems like such a unique combination of circumstances. Or am I wrong? Was it meant to be based on how the coalition and Iraq built their forces over the course of decades?

[@rashkavar]

@@iivin4233 If you're talking about the First Gulf War (the one where Iraq invaded Kuwait in the early 90s and then got bombed to oblivion, it's largely because they overextended themselves not thinking a superpower would show up to stomp all over everything and because the coalition (US, UK, France, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Kuwait), having an air force that was ridiculously overqualified for said process, took full advantage of that situation. If you're talking about the Second Gulf War (the one in 2003 based on faked intelligence about WMDs) then the biggest reason is largely the First Gulf War. Iraq's military got pretty much wiped out in that first war, leaving a country of relatively moderate economic weight only a decade or so to rebuild before the Second Gulf War. And again, the coalition was ridiculously overqualified for the invasion. Less so for counterinsurgency operations afterwards because that's a much more complex and nuanced problem and isn't as amenable to being bombed out of existence as traditional armies are, but when you're talking the invasion itself. Either way, things went that well (until the occupation in the latter case) because Iraq was trying to fight a traditional war and was substantially inferior to the alliance attacking them. In a pure invasion, the US would crush something like 190 or so of the 195 countries in the world with just as much ease as long as things stuck to a traditional war. (China being the big exception I can think of, and there's a number of possibles.) This is, of course, assuming everyone decides to not use their nuclear deterrent even in the face of a full scale invasion by the US, and assuming they don't just hunker down and prep for a massive insurgency to make the occupation all but impossible to maintain. Heck, if Russia's miltiary was as powerful in real life as it was on paper, the expectation was that Ukraine would have fallen within a month or so of the initial invasion and that the only hope to avoid annexation was to set up the kind of insurgency that makes continued occupation more costly than just backing off and letting things be...just like it was with Iraq. That's why the US's advice early on was what it was. But through a combination of massive Russian blunders and failures to live up to its on-paper military capacity and Ukrainian tenacity, ingenuity and logistical support from its many allies, the war has turned out to be much closer to a peer level conflict than most analysts anticipated.

[@classifiedad1]

@@rashkavar Russian military deception is so good it not only deceived NATO command as to its true capabilities, but also the Kremlin.

[@rogerwilco2]

@@rashkavar Nice summary. I want to add that the invasion is the easy part, the occupation is the hard part. The US lost 27x as many lives during the occupation of Iraq as they did in the phase before Bush had his "Mission Accomplished" show.

[@NovemberOrWhatever]

Perhaps an English word that's kinda close to smekalka would be MacGyver. MacGyver was a character on a television series of the same name who would solve very complex problems using improvised mechanical tools and the word has passed into common usage. It's a more narrow scope than smekalka, but I think the spirit is similar. MacGyvered solutions are ingenious if you're desperate but a terrible idea if you have any other choice. For example, if the fuel pump in your car failed and you had a hand pump and some tubing, a MacGyvered solution would be to rig it up so you can manually pump the fuel while you drive. It only makes sense if you have no other choice, and you'd have to be pretty irresponsible to try and rely on something like that long-term.

[@ieuanhunt552]

Maybe the British word bodge would be close

[@Edax_Royeaux]

The term jerry rigging means made in a quick or careless way. Apollo 13 jerry rigging a square CO2 cartridge to fit in the LEM's round slot could be an example, something made out of lots of grey tape, a bag, an astronaut air hose and the flight plan cover to save the astronauts from death.

[@eddievhfan1984]

There's also a connotation factor as well: MacGyver as a character was incredibly brilliant as an engineer/scientist, and his solutions were legitimate solutions to pressing problems. smetalka, on the other hand, carries the connotation of "improvised to cover your ass or because someone else did something stupid and you're left holding the bag." Indeed, I might go so far as to say the best idiomatic translation of smekalka is "polishing a turd."

[@Edax_Royeaux]

@@eddievhfan1984 Repairing something with duct tape has something of a similar connotation in the US, only it's seen more as a joke than something taken seriously.

[@Edax_Royeaux]

@mandellorian A lot of Boeing dreamliners are covered in speed tape due to the paint coming off, which is also seen as a joke.

[@SexyLilSeaOtter]

The attaching heat lamps to the Bradley in pentagon wars actually happened. However (in real life) it wasn't to try and fool the budget committee it was because they wanted to test how the armor withstood a direct hit hit with an ATGM. They also put water in the fuel cans and sand in the ammo boxes (again) not to try and fool anyone but to test the Bradley's armor in a very specific way to try and see what happens in a worst case armor failure scenario.

[@Elendrian]

Its the kind of movie that seems enlightening at first watch, but incredibly misleading when if you actually look into the context.

[@HAPPYFUNTIMEx2]

Russians did that on a relatively recent episode of Combat Approved. Episode 185, Mi-28N testing the Khrizantema missile. They used hot plates to simulate a hot target for the IR system. It's just testing.

[@nomercyinc6783]

@@HAPPYFUNTIMEx2 russian shit is just propaganda. their military is a joke

[@vaclavjebavy5118]

They didn't attach heat lamps to a bradley, neither in the film nor the book. The claim was that a heat seeking missile couldn't hit, so the target was artificially heated up. The testing committee also [allegedly] used bogus computer models based off minimal real life models that was completely inaccurate in predicting results.

[@JonatasAdoM]

@Elendrian People praise it. That's enough reason to stay away from it.

[@joeydr1497]

19:35 my favourite part about this clip every time I see it is that tampons have been tested for this purpose, they don’t provide pressure which is required to stop the bleeding, they just absorb the blood. To provide proper pressure you should use packing Gausse, you press as much gausse into the wound as you can and hold it there to hold arteries shut. Literally any fabric w work better than tampons in this case, in fact if you see someone on the street who has a deep traumatic wound ripping strips of t-shirt works well. Sure it’ll lead to infection in the end but it’s better to be alive and have an infection that needs some antibiotics than be dead with no infection. The Russians could literally have just sterilised loads of absorbant fabric.

[@BavarianViking711]

5:35 This is the timestamp you are looking for. But what you said is true and important for people to know: Tampons do NOT work for wound paking.

[@NoName-ds5uq]

I served in the Royal Australian Navy towards the end of the Cold War, and I admit I feared Soviet weapons at the time…in hindsight our exercises probably gave them much more credibility than they deserved! Back then we had no idea how bad they really were!

[@thathumanhayden2979]

My uncle was deployed in Iraq at the start of the war. He had a good few smekalka-like stories when he got back. "Your Bradley's are getting blown up from IEDs? How about putting some sandbags on the floor of the troop compartment." "You need more batteries for your night vision? You have flashlights don't you." "One of you guys broke his IBA plate? We'll work on it, but try to keep him away from where the bullets are flying." He could have been exaggerating a bit, but it seems like officers being dumb is a remarkably unifying feature of militaries around the world. War is dumb after all. I guess it is standard to be dumb when you are in a dumb situation. 😅

[@williamwchuang]

Those are more examples of field expediency. Like it's not optimal but shit has to be done so they just do their best. Like you can't just stop patrolling because your Bradley might get blown up.

[@thathumanhayden2979]

@@williamwchuang Thats fair. Shits hard in the field.

[@smallpeople172]

To be fair sandbags on the floor sounds ingenious, why is it a bad thing?

[@thathumanhayden2979]

@@smallpeople172 Its more that the vehicle wasn't designed to get hit from below, and better armor packages were still a way off. I imagine sandbags should help, but it was an emergency solution to something that, in hindsight, was a serious problem. Something similar happened in ww2. US tankers often put sandbags all over there tanks to provide protection against HEAT rounds. In that case, it didn't actually work very well in protecting the crew, but it did provide some psychological comfort. Basically, while not real corruption like smekalka, these are problems that are very disconcerting if its your own life on the line and I imagine that that was the source of contempt.

[@classifiedad1]

@@thathumanhayden2979 I suppose the difference is that while lining the floor with sandbags to hopefully stop IEDs is a stopgap measure and one which was also used by Humvees and Strykers before MRAPs and double V-hull Strykers were fielded (and even then there’s little that can stop a 9-ton VBIED), smelkalka seems to be more… permanent.

[@pasha_exodite6475]

Another important term apart from Смекалка is Шапкозакидательство (literally: we will easily beat them with our fur hats), dating back to the Crimean War of XIX century and meaning "DRAMATICAL overconfidence". It had put Russian troops in big trouble again and again, in Crimean War itself, in Russian-Japanese war of 1904, in WWI, in Soviet-Poland war in 1920s, in Winter War, in WWII, in Afghanistan, in Chechnya and now in Ukraine. Maybe it's worth a dedicated video to be made about. Спасибо за видео, улыбнуло. Мир вашему дому.

[@LeCharles07]

Is there not anglicized Russian? Russia want's so bad to be European but they refuse to even use the same alphabet? Shit, even Japan and China have anglicized spellings for stuff. Get with the program, Igor.

[@Casmaniac]

Lecharles your ignorance is stunning, the cyrrilic alphabet is not restricted to Russian alone and your attitude is quite inappropriate in the context of bot this channel and the ongoing war

[@Kromaatikse]

@@LeCharles07 There are indeed ways to transcribe text between Cyrillic and Latin alphabets. For Ukrainian language, the official method is actually reversible, so you can get the original Cyrillic text back afterwards. Russian uses a few different letters from Ukrainian, so they have their own methods which are not reversible.

[@imtiredtiredtired]

@@LeCharles07 There "shapkozakidatel'stvo" that's the word for dramatic overconfidence. Cyrilic is not that hard, you could learn it in an afternoon since it's not much different from latin alphabet. Who knows, it might be useful to learn before the shit hit the fan and you're suddenly finding yourself as a part of the NATO formation driving toward Moscow.

[@svidentkyrponos7530]

@@LeCharles07 dude WTF

[@thedevilinthecircuit1414]

Paper Skies, you are creating some of the absolute best content available on You Tube. It is well-researched, presented in clear words and images, and extremely entertaining and informative. Bravo!

[@romwell]

"But this is Aviation History, not the World of Animals channel" - I'm so glad I've been a long-time subscriber

[@chaosXP3RT]

As an American, the closest thing I could think of to the mentioned Russian term would be "Jerry-rigged", but it doesn't apply to every situation. It usually only applies to building something. For example, if your car door latch no longer works, you might "Jerry-rig" it closed with a series of bungee cords or some rope. Otherwise, some people might say sarcastically that you had to "improvise". So, the Soviets "improvised" and painted the hangar door yellow.

[@volo870]

"Smekalka" is better translated as "ingenuity". Often understood as "people's wisdom". Akin to "wife's tales".

[@egoalter1276]

Street smarts, or resourcefullness would be more accurate english translations. Jury-rigging is the result of smykalka, smykalka itself is the redneck mindset that drives one to such solutions.

[@bluewavechris]

I had some co-workers who used to call it "jack-legged", which usually meant any hasty make it work for the moment solution that was likely to fail soon after, create a larger problem or necessitate a more involved or costly fix later on. It usually involved little skill or technical knowledge, few tools or parts and minimal time. And was universally hated by the proper technician who would have to execute the proper fix later on, as it only made their job harder or more dangerous.

[@yetanother9127]

Fun fact: "jury-rigging" and all its variant spellings come from "jury masts" which were temporary masts rigged up on sailing ships when their proper masts were broken or otherwise inoperable. It comes from the French "jour", meaning "day", since a jury mast was only expected to hold up for the day or two needed to get the ship to the nearest safe anchorage where it could carry out more permanent repairs.

[@AmBush2048]

Bodge?

[@abdulmasaiev9024]

PSA: The tampon thing? It's one of those LIFEHAX that even some actual western medics buy into. But if you're ever dealing with actual gunshot wounds, do NOT actually do that. It might intuitively sound like it makes sense (it's like putting a cork in to stop the spillage, right?), but the short of it is it will NOT help and will actually make things worse.

[@egoalter1276]

You need something like 15-20 tampons to properly dress a wound, amd they will fill it with detritus, pretty much guaruanteeing an infenction. You are much better off with 2m of gauze strip.

[@RandomGuy9]

The whole point was a lack of bandages. So they thought its better than nothing which would result in bleeding out

[@abdulmasaiev9024]

@@RandomGuy9 Which is a natural assumption and that's why it needs to be said that it's completely wrong. Tampons are worse than nothing. They make things worse. If things are so bad and you don't have dedicated medical equipment, do improvised tourniquets. Don't dick around with tampons, and certainly don't obtain them specially just-in-case for this occasion.

[@joshuaa.5523]

​@@abdulmasaiev9024May we ask how you came to be an authority on this? Why should people take your advice, I have not searched, but this does not appear to be widely known information.

[@abdulmasaiev9024]

@@joshuaa.5523 I've looked into the topic a bit myself but I'm not an expert. I'm just passing along knowledge I heard from actual experts. Here's one citation: "A search of peer-reviewed medical literature will fail to provide you with any data whatsoever on tampon use. This is likely, because no physician or researcher would recommend such a dangerous practice or suggest something so inferior to products that are battle tested with thousands of hours of research and hundreds of lives saved. " - Andrew David Fisher, "Ill Advised Use of Tampons for Gunshot Wounds", part of BMJ-published response letter to another BMJ article which suggested the use of tampons as an improvised wound treatment in case of a terrorist attack. I'd link it directly but youtube doesn't like that. There's plenty of other sources discussing this issue.

[@Kohdok]

4:00 In the United States we have a joke where the term "Military Intelligence" is an oxymoron, or two words that contrast directly with each other, such as "Jumbo Shrimp".

[@KermitFrazierdotcom]

8br9ntnkn9w - some of those Prawns are the size of small catfish...

[@oli24yt]

Really glad to see you're back! Hope you and yours are staying safe as you can. Great video.

[@JunkPhuJP]

Welcome back Skies. I look forward to learning more about the Soviet Union from an inside source. And in all seriousness, hope you’re doing okay and staying safe over there brother.

[@AhmetwithaT]

There is a word for "Smekalka" in Turkish as well. It's called "şark kurnazlığı", literally "oriental cunning".

[@brookechang4942]

This reminds me of a few cases I've seen from Eastern Europeans, most notably Boris (from Life of Boris) using a whisk stuck into a power drill in place of a hand mixer. The culture of "we'll make do with what we have", which I now understand is smekalka, is something I've always admired in principle. Now, though, I can see how it gets taken to ridiculous extremes.

[@hedgehog3528]

Tampons to treat bullet wounds? Talk about a heavy flow… I’ll see myself out

[@patrykkotkowski8781]

I mean, smekalka on it's own isn't bad. It's a good thing to have the ability to come up with solutions to some of the poorest situations out there. After all, life is full of surprises and you can't ever be prepared for everything, the problem only starts when you combine it with negligence that leads to having to use such abilities on a constant basis *or* the lack of care for whether your solution momentarily saves your ass rather than solve the problem.

[@jdreyes3745]

Just when I thought you wouldn't surprise us with proper Russian pronunciations since that MiG-27 video (Gsh being "Gsha" when most not-Slavs, me included, would just spell it out), I got surprised once again with Kh-29 sounding like "Ha-29". Same goes for the entire story itself; I thought nothing could top the M247 Sergeant York mistaking a bunch of fans in toilets for hovering helicopters. And third, that's yet another new Russian word I've learned which perfectly describes Russia to non-Russians to a tee, right up there with "Vranyo". Love your videos, and can't wait to see what else you got in store for the year!

[@SPFLDAngler]

Why is it be surprising that a RUSSIAN person can speak RUSSIAN…

[@classifiedad1]

@@SPFLDAngler Paper Skies is Ukrainian. The Ukrainian language is linguistically very similar to Russian, there are many Ukrainians whose first language is Russian, as well as Ukrainians whose first language is Ukrainian but are also fluent in Russian. The Russian language is common in areas of the former Russian empire mainly because Moscow forced them to learn it.

[@fffUUUUUU]

@JD, yes! vranyo - just spot on!

[@jwenting]

I was always taught the proper pronunciation is Kha, not Ha. Might be regional of course. And tbh there's not a lot of audible difference as the K is soft :)

[@theodiscusgaming3909]

@@jwenting the Russian letter Х represents a sound that doesn't exist in most dialects of English (voiceless velar fricative), it's usually transliterated as 'kh' but 'h' is an ok approximation of the actual sound

[@unizero_]

During development for an in-house, post-season robotics competition, my team was short on programmers and the day before the competition my friend and I (both engineers) came in to try to fix the controls once and for all. We were having difficulties with the "hold code" for our robotic arm, since the amount by which we needed to hold it changed depending on how high it was and which side of the robot it was on. Eventually, we remapped the arm's movement to the triggers of our Xbox controller (which return a decimal between 0 and 1, not true or false) and made the driver control the arm's hold manually. It was an easy, quick fix, and the robot worked well enough the next day, though I'd never put it into play in a real competition.

[@justinlea2406]

I kept checking back for new videos...so excited there was a new one! Worth the wait!

[@florinmatusea]

In Romanian smekalka is translated as "descurcarism", in English its roughly "handler" as in being able to handle issues (but not in the correct/proper way), pretty much what you said.

[@NM-wd7kx]

There's an ancient term for a kind of carpenter in English, 'bodger' it was used to describe a village handyman who'd patch or quickly fix things with whatever was available. Today bodger isn't so positive, it's the kind of person who uses duct tape on everything

[@sillysad3198]

it is a purpose-defeating smart

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Sounds a lot like “kludge” to me. I used to mess around with old hot rods and I was constantly coming up with kludge jobs for the transmission cable on my ‘61 Buick in the middle of the night when everything was closed & I was miles from home.

[@grahamstrouse1165]

@@NM-wd7kxDon’t knock duct tape, man!

[@thekinginyellow1744]

@@grahamstrouse1165 bubble gum and bailing wire!

[@malaista]

In Brazil, we too have a similar word to smekalka, which is "gambiarra", as most other posters have explained, it's when you give a very improvised solution that is very shoddy and prone to coming back to give you even more trouble in the future.

[@BadByte]

I can see how the road was also painted yellow. Conscript: Sir we have finished painting the hangar door. Officer: Good any paint left?. Conscript: Yes. Officer: ... use the rest to paint the road then might as well use all the paint.

[@timsmith2525]

The quality of your research and presentation combined with your delightful sense of humor makes for great videos!

[@adamix1010]

I'm from Poland. I guess that our word "smykałka" has similar meaning in many ways, but what you are describing Pole would call "kombinować". If, for example, during assembly of the machine, we lack some important part and deadline is approaching, we would try "skombinować część". It is hard to translate to English. The closest thing I can think of is "improvise" if you are talking about activity, and if something is "skombinowane" it is made crudely on the spot or acquired by contacts or illegal means. In Poland, we also all hope for Ukrainian victory. I hope that you're safe wherever you are. слава україні

[@tiberiusgracchus4222]

What you're describing would, in American English at least, be call "jerry-rigging" something. Like, "I had to jerry-rig the lawnmower in order to cut grandma's yard." In other scenarios where a solution is needed on the spot you might say that you, "pulled that one out of my ass."

[@romanzbawiciel5221]

​@@tiberiusgracchus4222 It can be jerry-rigging, but also a person who's called - in english, a "fixer". Legally and illegally obtains certain goods that are difficult to get at the moment - can be anything, gets a "contacts" to "people", a cheeky trader etc.

[@nerd1000ify]

I think US English "Jerry rig" comes from the nautical phrase "Jury rig" meaning an improvised mast and sails constructed by sailors if their ship's original rigging was destroyed (e.g. in a storm).

[@rudboypaintbrawl]

Yeah, but "kombinować" is Polish state of mind, broad term including lax attitude to rules and laws, any regulations, proper procedures etc. We somehow made it and luckily everyone is still alive, there is some recklesness of behavior in this term, disregard for official way of doing things ;)

[@fffUUUUUU]

Geroyam Slava! Dziękuję 🇺🇦🤝🇵🇱

[@mikedrop4421]

Man what a twist, when you mentioned the sand pathway to the outhouse in the beginning I had no idea that was the key to the whole thing! Amazing video. Stay strong.

[@TheNightquaker]

Normal armies: bandages and tourniquets Russian "army": tampons

[@StanleyVaughn-xk3wv]

One of the GREATEST videos ever!! Your tongue-in-cheek explanation is FANTASTIC!!!

[@griffn14]

What is happening at 09:04? Looks like an A-4 Skyhawk shooting itself down with its own bomb. Another excellent video Paper Skies! 👍

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

Debris of the ground target hit the plane. Happened during the AGM-62 Walleye tests.

[@griffn14]

@@PaperSkiesAviation 👍 Just looked it up. Unfortunately the pilot did not survive. What a stupid pointless accident.

[@thewrathfulbadger2614]

Worst part about that tampon bit is that it doesn’t work. Ask a paramedic or ER if it does and you’ll get a very friendly angry glare😊

[@calmlikeabomb2140]

I love your way of narrating. The implementation of funny facts here and there. I learn more than expecting every time. Lovly.

[@satcom6]

i started watching your videos yesterday, and i love them! I enjoy your own (often Unique) perspective and insight. The topics you choose are interesting. Best of all, many of your videos are completely hilarious. Not sure if being true makes them kinda sad or even funnier, but I nontheless I am really enjoying them. Thankyou so much for making them. I hope you are able and intend to keep making more!

[@InsectSpray]

I lived in Russia for 2 and a half years and been all around both the Ukraine and Russia. A lot of Dacha toilets are out houses which is normal. However they are often very brightly painted like the traditional dacha houses themselves. It makes sense they were accidentally targeted by faulty munitions

[@borismatesin]

13:27 Absolutely lost it at the label in the bottom left corner, took me a while to figure it out! Thank you for your unique videos and shining a light on an airforce very much still clouded in mystery. Hope you're keeping safe.

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

I don’t know what are you talking about 🙄

[@nitsu2947]

What ??

[@090giver090]

I guess FaceID doesn't work on devices imported to Russia anymore 🤣

[@ajshell2]

I don't get it.

[@MichealleShoemaker]

@@ajshell2 it says "что с ебалом" which loosely translates to "what's up with your fucking face?" And used kinda like "what's up?" But in a derogatory way

[@Lebannehn]

Just FYI: You cant treat wounds with tampons, it just wont stop bleeding

[@jocelynstclair3901]

I became hooked on political history as a teenager living in Hong Kong when I was studying for my British 'O' Level exams thanks to a wonderful teacher called Mr Gillingham. I studied Russian history as part of that course. I wish that I had you as my history teacher because you teach in a beautifully sarcastic way that makes learning so enjoyable. Unlike you though I wasn't taught how to strip and reassemble an AK47! You had me giggling right from the start of this video and at some point I lost it and started laughing helplessly! I am addicted to your channel both as a historian and one of your fans. Spasibo!

[@florinmatusea]

Wow a military youtuber with slavic accent who isn't a copenik, respect.

[@conejero00]

He has said that he is russian Is father was even a russian military pilot So it's awesome that he maintains a impartial mindset

[@PaperSkiesAviation]

I've never said I'm Russian, because I'm Ukrainian. My father indeed was a military pilot but while in the Soviet Union. Which doesn't automatically make you Russian.

[@adenkyramud5005]

Red effect is another one I highly recommend if you're into armored vehicles.

[@Mynameisnotjoe]

@@conejero00 bruh in some video he put “hard to understand Ukrainian accent? Subtitles are available!” Or something like that I’m not sure. But it’s implied that he is Ukrainian

[@florinmatusea]

@@adenkyramud5005 I heard from some he was kinda biased but I never really watched myself to find out.

[@banggobang5148]

Really glad you uploaded another video, can I have a request?😅 Can you do any video about the VTOL aircraft technology of the Soviet and why they never implemented this system anymore in their military aircraft?

[@JonMartinYXD]

I can answer that. 1) VTOL is hard to start off with, _really_ hard. 2) The Soviets didn't have an engine with a high enough power to volume ratio, so all their solutions had separate engines for vertical and horizontal flight. The problem with that is no matter which flight mode the plane is in, it is carrying a lot of dead engine weight, and the vertical engines take up interior space that would be used for fuel. The result is a plane with limited payload and limited range. None of this is to knock the Soviet efforts, the fact is that the vaunted Harrier isn't nearly as good a plane as its reputation might suggest. It is basically the bare essentials of a plane wrapped around a really big engine. It is difficult to fly, maintenance intensive, and has limited payload and range. But it was just good enough that it was adopted for service and then it somehow gained a cult-like following (particularly in the USMC) that convinced a lot of people that STOVL fighter/attack aircraft were completely practical. And that is how the F-35 debacle began...

[@Archimedes.5000]

USSR and Russia barely have a navy, and it never leaves their territory, what would they even use the VTOLS for

[@JS_Precision]

These are some of the best videos on YT. Simply amazing. I love this channel.

[@doodoofart5057]

I’m so happy that your back to posting!

[@MinedMaker]

I wonder if smekalka can be compared to the english/american phrase "to MacGyver a solution". -To fix something without benefit of tools or a manual is called "to MacGyver a solution," after the television show in which Richard Dean Anderson disarmed nuclear bombs with paper clips.

[@ieuanhunt552]

A Bodge job.

[@Halinspark]

Sounds like MacGuyvering, mix with that thing where you do a less efficient, more difficult job plugging something in just to avoid getting up and walking three feet.

[@yjfuykyil]

This is my absolutely favourite youtube channel. Would instantly join Nebula just to see your content if I wasn't living under the poverty line, struggling to afford even rent and medication. Your content is interesting & well-researched, and done in a really humorous way. I thought I was pretty well-informed about soviet aviation in particular, but I've learned a ton of new information from your videos that I otherwise would have missed. I keep telling people to check this channel out because it's so worth it. As a cherry-on-top, the production value has gone through the roof. I just don't get it why you don't get 10x the views, because you deserve that and more. I'm genuinely gutted I can't see your Nebula content, and moreover that I can't support you financially, but know that I appreciate the work you do a whole lot, and your videos have had a positive impact on my mood. Having completely lost both my income and health, anything to help me forget the hopelessness of my situation is invaluable. Thank you!

[@SPFLDAngler]

You can afford internet and whatever you’re using to watch KZbin…

[@yjfuykyil]

@@SPFLDAngler Yes... Internet comes with the apartment, and I'm on a Samsung A8 that I bought used 4 years ago, when I was still able to work, barely. Are you suggesting I should sell the only device that allows me to connect to the internet, which is required for nearly all services now, including electronic ID, for 20€ or whatever a poorly running, very much used A8 is worth? Would that make me fit your world view better? Or is it that I dare to enjoy content sometimes, instead of staring at a wall, being miserable that ticks you off? What a weird dude.

[@DaFinkingOrk]

​@@yjfuykyilThere's plenty of idiots who think like that dude, and when you spell it out to them like you just did it makes them sound so ridiculous. It's just a case of not thinking before you speak I guess.

[@JamieR2077]

Sorry for what you're going through man. Hang in there, you'll make it. These videos are a good escape aren't they? Sounds like you need some support around you, you have a church? God works all things for the good for those who love him. These tough things you're going through will make you a better, kinder, stronger person if you keep your attitude right.

[@jordanbell4736]

Billions of poor people have internet access. People in Africa, Asia, south America, farmers in rural China have internet. Your comment is shamefully ignorant of you to say. You bring shame to your family and they are uncomfortable with you

[@reich1983]

As always, I admire and envy you all those archival videos you're putting up here.

[@pdmlynek]

Many years ago, there was a story, perhaps apocryphal, that missiles developed to target spinning propellers on helicopters and planes kept locking onto fans of outhouses.

[@elburropeligroso4689]

It was the DIVADS program that led to the creation of the Sgt. York SPAAG. During a live fire exercise in front of several members of Congress nonetheless, the targeting system locked onto the fan of an outhouse next to the stand where everyone was seated...

[@ale1022]

So good you are back - was so happy to see you in my notifications. If could talk all day about something - we would happily listen! You are brilliant. Stay safe and well with my very best wishes.

[@Galatz_Tirah]

That tampon part reminded me something I said during my trauma treatment training "If anyone even attempted to shove a tampon into my wound, dispense with the sadism and just euthanize me.", because it's an incredibly dumb idea for three reasons: 1) Tampons are all treated with pesticides, they're okay to go up the lady parts, but not for insertion of a literal wound. You're infecting the blood like that. 2) Tampons do not just expand and stop the bleeding... They are designed to absorb blood, nothing else. It's only concealing the bleeding until the tampon can no longer absorb any more blood, that's it. 3) Tampons aren't designed to go into the wound cavities. And the surgeon is definitely not going to thank you for doing something so extraordinarily stupid. Because there's no greater joy than trying to pull out every little bit of fiber out of the wound cavity that doesn't show up on any medical device known to medicine, maximizing the risk of sepsis. And if the mentality is "oh, it will do for the moment", well sepsis can set in within days and then you're no longer combat effective because your limb is aggressively festering from the depths of your bodily tissue, leaving you in mind-shattering pain and a limb that can start rotting if left untreated. Teal deer, get Israeli bandages, they're not expensive for what they're made for. Speaking of costs I don't understand why she's telling them to get "the very cheapest ones" as if price point would make the difference. What I'm getting at is just how often does she expect them to get gunshot wounds and in what monstrous quantities? I guess she imagines them ending up with so many gunshot wounds, that each of them would be putting Cathal Brugha to shame.

[@fffUUUUUU]

Look up videos how russian nazis storm Bakhmut and you'll see where they can get bullet wounds, a bunch of them and then some.

[@Galatz_Tirah]

@@fffUUUUUU how many of them are alive for this trite to be to them of any value?

[@Ghost_PM11]

This is great story-telling, kept me interested for the full length of the video.

[@wolfitirol8347]

I love the stories you bring here on the channel and i feel that youve got a real got back knowledge from your father and your own experience when growing up thanks for the vids 🤔👍

[@xavermaier9625]

Btw. in Pentagon Wars theres even a scene where he has to justify, why a missile locked onto the ventilation of a latrine and almost kills one of his officers. Fits perfectly to this topic

[@vriesvak9094]

I like the ПТН ПНХ easter egg at 1:21 lol

[@EtsuKanno]

and 4to c e8al - om, in same frame)

[@vriesvak9094]

@@EtsuKanno Saw that one right after commenting indeed )))

[@johndododoe1411]

​@@vriesvak9094Translations needed.

[@vriesvak9094]

@@johndododoe1411 PTN PNH - Putin poshel nahuj - Putin, go fuck yourself. The other one I'm not sure how to translate correctly into English

[@michaellanger5671]

Your videos here were the reason for me to join Nebula. Keep up the good work and I love love your sense of humor !

[@xyz3524]

Great video, one of the best on this channel!

[@foowashere]

I'm glad to see you back, Paper Skies. I hope you and your dear are well. Slava Ukraini! A sobering and yet amusingly told topic. I guess something similar will be told about the testing of the current Iskander missile, which seems to suffer from all kinds of problems.

[@fffUUUUUU]

Geroyam Slava 🇺🇦

[@jelly.212]

Npc

[@MikePasqqsaPekiM]

I feel like I’m learning psychology as much as history with this channel. Absolutely fantastic watching these situations play out with 2020 hindsight.

[@Laminated57]

Interesting video! Great to see you back

[@gilrstein]

He's back! love your content, thank you

[@nonamesplease6288]

Super video! I enjoy your pacing, the sense of humor, and the window into the Cold War.

[@rustyshackleford3884]

So glad you are back! You do fantastic work and keep your videos so engaging with humor. We appreciate you!

[@rizypeacy4877]

Happy to see you back!

[@hfar_in_the_sky]

15:54 I face palmed at this moment. Like literally paused the video and slapped my forehead at the sheer, mind blowing, absolute incompetence of this decision

[@khaldrago911]

Welcome back dude! Good to see you making new vids again!

[@spladam3845]

All aspects of your videos keep getting better even after you've refined your aesthetic. Really interesting material here, but there are so many anecdotal stories that make the Russian military sound like a true satire of itself, it's all really true. Russian culture is fascinating but crazy.

[@gorillaau]

Perhaps Sargent Bilko had a Russian equivalent. Say did the Russians hear about the hover tank?

[@mrrobinet5551]

Mostly full of hatred towards Russians

[@jenpsakiscousin4589]

We went through almost the same struggles while developing the Walleye tv guided glide bomb. It also had a simple solution and has since become a legend at China Lake.

[@osamamutaafi3796]

Very nice content, love your channel ❤ Here in South Yemen " Smekalka" can be translated into " Dhbasha" although the word "Dhbasha" has no meaning in Arabic language, but it was used by us in the south in after a comedy show which was aired after the unity by the northern TV showing the daily life of a guy named " Dehbash" who used to "Dhbasha" to fix his day to day problems ... At first it was a funny comedy show that everyone in the south believed it's just an exaggeration for comedic effect, but after the 1994 war, the southerns learned that many things are done this way in the north, from day to day activities all the way to the military... The show was later banned as the southerns used "Dhbasha" to describe the northerns ways in dealing with problems... It's strange to see Smekalka in Russia but not here in south Yemen ! Although the culture of south Yemen was influenced by the USSR in the cold war era, as south Yemen was the only ideological friend to the USSR in the middle east... In fact the "Dhbasha" is taken as an insult when descriping a half a**ed task which was done the wrong way! The south Yemen army which was built and trained by the Soviets and east Germans didn't encourage those kind of activities dispute being a poor country lacking in resources and menpower... To give you some examples to those who are wondering why the war in Yemen is still going on, and how the national Yemeni army failed to finish off a small rebellion while being equiped with what worth millions of dollars of western made advanced weapons from KSA and other gulf countries, the reason is "Dhbasha" lol You could look it up in the internet for Yemeni military Smekalka such as M61 mounted on a Toyota pickup truck or BMP-1 turret on a humvee or jump starting cars using AKs !!

[@classifiedad1]

I kinda feel an equivalent American English term to "smelkalka" is "jerry-rigging," which is the act of solving problems quickly and carelessly which are poorly-built. "Makeshift" and "ramshackle" could be other equivalents.

[@smallpeople172]

All the words you list are the final result of smekalka. Smekalka is an internal psychological trait of a person, as in, “he has smekalka”. Then the smekalka leads to jerry-rigging, makeshift and ramshackle solutions.

[@classifiedad1]

@@smallpeople172 I see now. Smekalka is the fuck fuck circus from start to finish.

[@Halinspark]

@@smallpeople172 So, to reference the Red Green Show, one could say it's the Handyman Corner approach? That they were "Possum Lodge-ing it"?

[@smallpeople172]

@@Halinspark tbh I dont know those references, but i guess so

[@brandonmckinney6298]

There is something so satisfying about someone with a foreign accent absolutely nailing 1980s American pop culture references

[@matty4z]

5:35 NGL even in the Aussie army we use tampons as a "temporary" bullet wounds meds as they swells to block the wound and help stop the bleeding out

[@cmendla]

Excellent video and narration - Thanks!

[@jirislovak2134]

Hi im glad you are back

[@hyperroma]

Another translation to Smekalka could be "smart ass" :) Greatings from Israel and its army that I served. We have a lots of "sekhel`" (smekalka in Hebrew) solutions. One of the famous ones is Davidka mortar from the Independence War in 1948. This mortar did more noise and smoke than harm, but its blast in shape was similar to the atomic explosion and scared the crap out of the enemies. :) Great channel! Go on.

[@kirtknierim3687]

Somehow, even after nultiple re-watches, this has gotten even better than it was the first time i watched it. Paper Skies, you are amazing.

[@TheBlueB0mber]

Great story & outstanding presentation. Liked & subbed!

[@jansenart0]

I remember watching Family Double Dare when Marc/k Summers asked a question about the Soviet's economic policy change program. It was the question meant to force people into vats of slime. My mom was astounded that I knew it was Perestrokia. I didn't know the details though, just the name and that it was a major Soviet change so it made sense.

[@ArsLanHGunner]

I think the closest phrase to a "смекалка" in English could be "street smarts" although in case of a Russian word it has a broader meaning and not restricted to just something that streets can teach you. I also just realized that my out house/outside toilet is painted bright yellow with blue accents🙃 Awesome video as always, Paper Skies!

[@grahamstrouse1165]

Problem with that is that “street smarts” almost always has a positive connotation, albeit sometimes begrudgingly. Also, “street smarts” are more a kind of acquired wisdom than a knack for improvisation or a short cut. I think “savvy” works pretty well as a direct translation, tbh. It has both sincere and sarcastic connotations.

[@zaper2904]

The closet English equivalent would be bodging.

[@Raptor747]

Street smarts is still a positive term that mainly applies to specific kinds of situations (as in, "on the streets")--notably, it refers to experience/knowledge about handling situations outside of social norms or official/formal solutions. Doing things like cheating on a military weapons trial is nothing like street smarts, it's just a pure lack of integrity.

[@ArsLanHGunner]

@@grahamstrouse1165 as a native Russian speaker I have never in my life heard "смекалка" with a negative connotation. If you say that somebody is "смекалистый" or he/she "смекает" it means that this person knows how to come out of a difficult situation with what they have on hands. There is also a phrase "давай, включай смекалку" which you use when you have no idea how to deal with the situation, and you ask your friend to "switch on" their smekalka. Anyways, thanks for the interesting comment.

[@dwaneanderson8039]

@@ArsLanHGunner From your description, an English equivalent would be "ingenuity" or "resourcefulness."

[@Miamcoline]

Really interesting. Had no idea. And great plug. I'm now on Nebula and its great to see youre part of the project! Had no idea it also had classes! That means I dont even need to consider Skillshare. Can it get any better!

[@Brunzy1970]

A fantastic episode! New subscriber here. Hope your existing shows are as good as this one my friend. God bless you & yours.

[@perin99]

The English word for Smekalka is probably bodge. More important than that, I'm happy that you're safe.

[@guyk2260]

But KZbin would not be KZbin without hearing the wonderful work of Paper Skies. Hope you're doing well , we missed you

[@ADogNamedStay]

Smekalka is best translated as drunken hubris. It's about the same my thought patterns went when I used to drink. Typically after I've sobered up I'd look at the half measures I made with whatever I built the night before, and I'd have to tell myself, why in the fuck did I do it like that.