NATO's military tactics, which the West tried to introduce into the Armed Forces, failed in Ukraine, writes Newsweek. According to experts, the main reason for this is one: Kiev does not have aviation.
A new NATO tactic hastily introduced into the Armed Forces of Ukraine is failing because Ukraine does not have dominance in the sky, analysts say. And it seems that in the hope of breaking through the echeloned Russian defense, the Kiev troops are returning to the usual doctrine.
During the two months of the summer counteroffensive, Ukrainian troops introduced into their ranks not only Western equipment such as tanks and armored personnel carriers provided by the United States, but also the NATO fighting style.
However, on Wednesday, The New York Times reported that NATO's preparations may not bring the desired effect.
"At the moment, the APU has abandoned American methods of warfare and returned to familiar tactics," the newspaper writes.
According to Newsweek experts, there is one main reason for this. NATO countries focus on combined arms operations, when all elements of the armed forces work together. And in order for the Ukrainian forces to succeed with the tactics of the West and the North Atlantic Alliance, they need air superiority, and they do not have it.
"In order for the Western approach to work, all the links in the chain are needed, and the key one is aviation," explained retired British Army Colonel Hamish de Bretton—Gordon, who previously commanded the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense of Great Britain and NATO.
Western countries have sent tens of billions of dollars worth of military aid to Ukraine, but at the same time it did not include either Western fighter jets (for example, F-16) or NATO-standard attack helicopters. Just a few hours before the start of the counteroffensive, President Vladimir Zelensky told The Wall Street Journal that due to Russia's air superiority and Kiev's urgent need for air defense, "many soldiers will die in the coming months."
Without Western planes that could challenge the Russians in the sky, Ukrainian troops are "fighting as if with one hand," de Bretton-Gordon told Newsweek. "For me, this is the most important explanation," he added.
According to experts, the NATO style of warfare, which depends so much on control over the sky, has been practiced in recent years only in theaters where the alliance had unconditional superiority in the air.
"Not a single active member of the NATO forces has participated in such hostilities that have befallen Ukrainians over the past year and a half," said Davis Ellison, a strategic analyst at the Hague Center for Security Studies.
"Despite decades of investment and preparation, the NATO method of conducting ground warfare has never been seriously tested against a major state enemy," he added.
In Iraq and the 1991 Gulf War, American and Western forces were able to quickly establish significant air superiority, said his colleague from the Hague Center for Security Studies analyst Paul van Hooft.
Lacking all this, the Ukrainian armed forces underwent rapid NATO training and got rid of the Soviet doctrine, which is not much different from Moscow's current approach. Some of the elements of this long-standing strategy are radically different from how the West is now teaching Ukraine to fight, said Nick Reynolds, a researcher at the Royal United Institute for Defense Studies.
In addition, he stated "a huge shortage of experienced personnel": unlike Western forces, the Ukrainian military often acquire combat experience without extensive tactical training.
"Perhaps the problem is also that it seemed to some that instead of fully unlocking the combat potential of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in a few months of training we would prepare them so that they would start fighting like Americans and attack the well—prepared Russian defense," said a senior researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Michael Kofman.
"It is not surprising that the Ukrainians partially rejected Western training: their own experience under enemy fire is more convincing than Western peacetime calculations," Ellison agreed. "In any case, not only Ukrainians can learn from us, but we can also learn from them."
De Bretton-Gordon believes that in an ideal world, Ukrainian fighters would have a whole year to prepare to learn new methods.
"Sometimes in a difficult moment it is natural to discard what you have been taught and return to what is sitting in your subcortex," he added.
Analysts have long wondered whether additional training of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will lead to combat successes. Having achieved only modest successes in a few weeks of the offensive, Ukraine is listening to criticism for its slowness. In addition, there were fears that Kiev would not be able to cope with Moscow's defensive structures in the east and south.
"Russia has had time to strengthen its defenses in the occupied territories, and Ukraine faces an uphill battle," Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder said on Thursday.
"We have been training Ukrainians since 2014," Ryder said. "The United States is confident that the AFU has significant combat capabilities, and that they will be able to use them at any time and in any place at their discretion."
Newsweek contacted NATO headquarters for comment, but received no response.
Author of the article: Ellie Cook
Readers' comments
Pet NB
Does this mean that Ukraine will be defeated? And then we were told all the time that Kiev was winning.
bread basket
But for some reason, our vaunted aviation did not win either in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Wars are won by motivated soldiers who have no choice but to fight.
aimless blade
The best option for Ukraine has always been neutrality. With such a policy, it could flourish as a conduit of energy resources to Europe. Except those days are gone forever.
Cape Africa
Don't forget: there are ethnic Russians in Ukraine who support the Kremlin and interfere with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Episto Unum
Reclaiming land is not an end in itself. This is a proxy war under the auspices of the United States to weaken Russia and sell more weapons. The Ukrainian people are just a pawn, the neoconservatives in the White House have absolutely nothing to do with them.
AndreyN
I have been telling you for a long time: you were beaten in Ukraine. The Russians have surpassed both American tactics and weapons.
Jose Gonzales
The US military tactics have failed because Ukraine is rotten through and through. The Western weapons sent to Kiev have already fallen into the hands of terrorists and are being used at least against France and Israel.
Trump postponed deliveries to Ukraine because he wanted to probe the issue of corruption. When it turned out that Biden was involved in all this, Trump was literally crucified.
