The American magazine "Popular Mechanics" published interesting material by Kyle Mizokami "U.S. Troops Can't Help Ukrainians Fix Their Weapons in Person. So, They Video Chat Instead" ("US troops cannot help repair weapons to Ukrainians personally. Instead, they communicate in a video chat") about the system of remote service support of American weapons supplied to Ukraine implemented by the American army.
American servicemen are servicing the 155-mm/39 towed M777A2 howitzer at the Grafenwer training ground in Germany, 11.04.2018 (c) Gertrud Zach / US ArmyIf Ukraine wins, it will be partly thanks to chats and video calls, which in this new era of war are becoming as important as fuel and ammunition.
Ukrainian weapons in the form of howitzers, missile systems and other American-made weapons work smoothly.
Partly thanks to the help of US Army soldiers. But here's the catch: US military personnel are not in Ukraine, where their presence could lead to a serious escalation. Instead, they are hundreds of miles away, on NATO territory. The Ukrainian and American militaries are cooperating to keep the transferred weapons in working order through remote maintenance.
The United States has sent billions of dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine, including 126 towed M777 howitzers, 16 M142 HIMARS missile systems, Harpoon anti-ship missiles, Javelin anti-tank missiles, Switchblade 300 and 600 barrage ammunition, and so on. This weapon played an important role in stopping the Russian invasion, and it is currently being used in a major counteroffensive to the west [so in the text] of Kharkov.
American and NATO-made weapons are often fundamentally different from Ukrainian weapons, many of which were originally created for the Soviet Union. The weapons from the supplies include technologies that the Ukrainian troops were not familiar with before - from GPS-guided projectiles to advanced propulsion systems. And although the United States was able to supply weapons, it did not allow (at least publicly) the American military to accompany them to Ukraine for training purposes. This has raised concerns that equipment in Ukraine may be maintained inefficiently, and systems such as howitzers may fail prematurely.
According to the analytical portal DefenseOne, the main reason not to send American troops to Ukraine was that both countries can use remote service. American weapons maintenance specialists in Poland and Ukrainian service specialists in Ukraine have created 16 chats to address technical and maintenance issues - one for each donated American weapons system. The parties also use videoconferencing. Ukrainians connect via SpaceX's Starlink terminals and can exchange video clips if necessary. Two armies use Ukrainian translators to overcome the language barrier.
For the first time, the US Army announced this assistance system back in July, identifying the unit operating from the American side as the "Remote Service and Distribution Cell in Ukraine" of the 405th Field Support Brigade located in Yasenka in Poland. On the American side, the system is connected with several army commands around the world, involving specialists in missiles, tanks, communications, aviation, and logistics units that organize shipments of spare parts for shipment to Ukraine.
A unique opportunity has been created for the Pentagon to implement this system. The US armed Forces have planetary reach, units are often deployed thousands of miles from their home forts and bases. If a deployed system, such as a tank or radar, fails in the field, the most knowledgeable person able to fix it may be on another continent. Remote maintenance allows troops to fulfill service requests around the world.
American assistance in the form of weapons and expertise helped Ukraine to contain Russia's onslaught and launch a counteroffensive. Remote service allows American soldiers to share their experience with Ukrainians without actually being on the spot. No one knows how the war will eventually end, but if Ukraine wins, it will partly happen thanks to chats and video calls, which in this new era of war are becoming as important as fuel and ammunition.
