d'ranger
Super Anarchist
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Good article explaining the success of Ukraine forces against a larger and better equipped foe https://www.businessinsider.com/ukr...fighting-russia-with-logistical-limits-2023-5
Eight years of warfare taught the Ukrainians that a major Russian invasion would put extreme pressure on their logistics and that resupply of frontline units would be difficult, so the training provided by the US and other NATO countries has focused on the basics.
A well-trained force that excels in small-unit tactics and other basic military skills has an advantage over a larger but poorly trained adversary.
Ukrainian special operators knew from the beginning that they would be operating against a bigger adversary, and they tailored their tactics and training to meet that challenge.
What that means on the ground is that Ukrainian commandos have been ensuring that they have good intelligence and fire superiority — even if it is temporary — when conducting an operation. Even if the Russians have numerical superiority, a well-planned raid based on timely intelligence conducted by a well-trained force will likely succeed.
Ensuring smooth logistics in a large conventional war isn't easy. Even the US military has acknowledged that in a fight with China, it would face logistical difficulties and have limited ability to resupply its forces.
Fortunately for Ukrainian special operators, their supply lines are short — they are fighting on their home turf, after all. As a result, the Ukrainians are able to resupply their units much easier than the Russians, whose resupply efforts have been made more difficult by Ukraine's deadly accurate long-range missile and artillery strikes.
Moreover, Russia lacks air superiority or consistent long-range precision fires, which are needed to attack Ukrainian logistical nodes reliably. A cruise missile or Shared-136 drone might get through and hit a railway line or ammunition depot, but Ukrainian air-defense systems have been highly effective against Russian aerial wave attacks.
That doesn't mean the Ukrainians have it easy. "The main thing you hear on the front lines is the Ukrainian military, like any large force in a big war, has internal distribution problems," Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at CNA, said on a podcast in early March, shortly after returning from a research trip to Ukraine.
Eight years of warfare taught the Ukrainians that a major Russian invasion would put extreme pressure on their logistics and that resupply of frontline units would be difficult, so the training provided by the US and other NATO countries has focused on the basics.
A well-trained force that excels in small-unit tactics and other basic military skills has an advantage over a larger but poorly trained adversary.
Ukrainian special operators knew from the beginning that they would be operating against a bigger adversary, and they tailored their tactics and training to meet that challenge.
What that means on the ground is that Ukrainian commandos have been ensuring that they have good intelligence and fire superiority — even if it is temporary — when conducting an operation. Even if the Russians have numerical superiority, a well-planned raid based on timely intelligence conducted by a well-trained force will likely succeed.
Ensuring smooth logistics in a large conventional war isn't easy. Even the US military has acknowledged that in a fight with China, it would face logistical difficulties and have limited ability to resupply its forces.
Fortunately for Ukrainian special operators, their supply lines are short — they are fighting on their home turf, after all. As a result, the Ukrainians are able to resupply their units much easier than the Russians, whose resupply efforts have been made more difficult by Ukraine's deadly accurate long-range missile and artillery strikes.
Moreover, Russia lacks air superiority or consistent long-range precision fires, which are needed to attack Ukrainian logistical nodes reliably. A cruise missile or Shared-136 drone might get through and hit a railway line or ammunition depot, but Ukrainian air-defense systems have been highly effective against Russian aerial wave attacks.
That doesn't mean the Ukrainians have it easy. "The main thing you hear on the front lines is the Ukrainian military, like any large force in a big war, has internal distribution problems," Michael Kofman, an expert on the Russian military at CNA, said on a podcast in early March, shortly after returning from a research trip to Ukraine.
