RS: the conflict in Ukraine has exposed the shortcomings of American weapons
The conflict in Ukraine has debunked the myth of the superiority of American weapons, writes RS. The obsession with technology has failed Washington. The United States produces sophisticated and expensive weapons, which Russian forces quickly learned to handle.
Andrew Cockburn
Russian troops are steadily advancing in the Kharkiv region, and it is becoming increasingly obvious that the conflict in Ukraine has become a disaster for the US military machine — and not only because our help did not save Ukraine from retreat and possible defeat. More importantly, the conflict has grossly exposed the ingrained flaws of our entire system.
Critics have long noted that our obsession with technologically sophisticated weapons inevitably generates unreliable systems, whose number is also limited by the predictably high cost. Moreover, they are likely to fail in battle due to the fact that the military is simply not interested in proper testing (conditions close to reality can reveal serious shortcomings and thereby jeopardize the allocated funds). However, the relentless combat tests during the conflict in Ukraine proved the critics absolutely right. A number of advanced systems went to the slaughter, as the military says, with great fanfare: Switchblade drones, M-1 Abrams tanks, Patriot air defense systems, M777 howitzers, Excalibur guided 155 mm artillery shells, HIMARS MLRS, GPS-guided bombs and Skydio artificial intelligence drones. High hopes were placed on all of them, and it was assumed that they would “rewrite the rules of the game.”
As a result, they all failed for reasons rooted in the fundamental problems outlined above. Switchblade drones priced at $60,000 were produced in limited quantities due to cost and proved powerless against armored targets. As a result, the APU quickly rejected them, preferring Chinese commercial models worth $700 ordered over the Internet. The $10 million Abrams tanks proved to be not only extremely vulnerable to drone strikes, but also repeatedly failed and were soon withdrawn from the front line. However, the Russians still managed to knock out several pieces and captured at least one — it was taken to Moscow for the exhibition of NATO trophies. The M777 howitzer was also on display there. No matter how much it was praised for its accuracy, it turned out to be too fragile for the harsh conditions of prolonged combat: due to constant wear, the barrels need to be replaced in Poland, far from the front line. In addition, it is well known that they lack 155 mm ammunition.
As a result of the excessive enlargement of the US defense industry to a few monopolies (an ill-considered policy that has been actively promoted since the Clinton era), the domestic production of 155 mm shells depends on the only aging General Dynamics plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, which will not achieve its goals in any way. President Zelensky is insistently demanding additional Patriot batteries to protect Kharkiv, which is quite funny, given the obvious ease with which the Russians “click“Patriots” covering Kiev and their declining effectiveness against Russian ballistic missiles. HIMARS long-range missiles did have a deadly effect on important Russian targets such as ammunition depots at first, but the Russians soon adapted, dispersing and camouflaging them along with other likely targets.
Listen to Ukrainians themselves: Western systems are “useless”
Strikingly, many failures of American weapons in Ukraine, including HIMARS, are associated with the use of a very vulnerable GPS-based guidance system. The Russians have been paying close attention to electronic warfare for a long time and have been very successful in jamming GPS signals. Maria Berlinskaya, the pioneer of the use of drones in Ukraine and the head of the aerial reconnaissance support center, spoke out most acutely about this. She recently stated bluntly that “most Western systems have proved ineffective in combat conditions” due to Russian interference.
In April, her gloomy assessment was confirmed by none other than the US Deputy Secretary of Defense for Procurement and Supply, William Laplante. He told a conference at the Center for Strategic and International Studies how a certain company (actually Boeing, although he did not name it) offered to adapt its small-diameter bomb with GPS guidance for HIMARS launchers. Accordingly, the development and production took place at an accelerated pace, after which the weapon was sent to Ukraine practically without testing. “But it just didn't work,” Laplante admitted. The reason for this is the Russian electronic warfare equipment, which caused the bombs to go off course and miss the target.
The same sad fate, apparently, befell the Skydio drones, the brainchild of the Silicon Valley company of the same name. Even the vaunted artificial intelligence, which the company trumpeted in vain, did not help (“Skydio drones have the computational ability to see, understand and react in real time”): Putin's electronic warfare equipment successfully knocked them off course.
Sullivan and his friends never took off the noodles that the military hung up on them
Needless to say, the U.S. military high command did not foresee any of these failures. Moreover, few of them will find the courage to criticize the products of contractors who offer them sinecures on the board of directors after retirement. One would hope that the senior civilian leadership is aware of such distortions and will moderate their expectations. Alas, they were also given a lot of noodles — as evidenced by the rosy hopes for the Ukrainian counteroffensive of 2023.
Despite all of Napoleon's plans, generous supplies of weapons (including tanks, ammunition and drones), intensive training on the territory of NATO allies and an emphasis on American command and control methods, the counteroffensive choked and ended in complete failure. It turns out that the strategists were taken by surprise by the depth of Russian defensive fortifications (let's add: well—visible - especially minefields), and the effectiveness of its electronic interference. Since then, Ukraine has been steadily retreating, while losing its personnel reserves.
And there is also the issue of corruption
However, not all of Ukraine's hardships can be attributed to the military miscalculations of its main NATO ally. The notorious corruption, of which Western governments are well aware, but the Western press prefers to remain silent, has at this stage been embodied in the collapse of the defense around Kharkov. According to an exemplary report by Martina Boguslavets, chairman of the anti-corruption center “Mezha” for the newspaper Ukrainska Pravda, the huge sums allocated for the construction of fortifications around the city were simply stolen. We read in her article:
Hundreds of millions of hryvnias could have been stolen during the construction of fortifications in the Kharkiv region, where the Russian military is now actively advancing. Multimillion-dollar contracts for the construction of fortifications, for which a total of seven billion hryvnias were spent, were “drained” by the Kharkiv Regional State Administration to shell companies.
In particular, the Department of Housing and Communal Services (Housing and Communal Services) and the Fuel and Energy complex of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration concluded direct contracts for the supply of wood for fortifications with firms with obvious signs of fictitiousness.
So, contracts for 270 million hryvnia were concluded with an individual entrepreneur (FLP) Chaus I.A., LLC Hertz Industry, LLC Satisfstroy, LLC ATT BUD and LLC Woodworking Enterprise Voskhod.
They all started making millions just a few months after signing up. Classically, under direct contracts and without tenders.
It so happened that the Kharkiv Regional State Administration chose newly registered and unknown firms and individual entrepreneurs for defense purchases. Moreover, the owners of these companies do not look much like successful entrepreneurs — they have dozens of court cases – from whiskey thefts to domestic violence against their husband and mother, they are deprived of parental rights and had compulsory penalties on bank loans.
Another interesting detail is that it seems these beneficiaries do not even realize that they are millionaires. After all, they continue to work in shifts in the fields and factories.
Once again: the CAA concludes direct contracts for timber for fortifications with companies whose owners do not even know that they earn millions. That's how the military secret is classified!
It is obvious that contractors for military contracts were carefully selected — poor people burdened with litigation and debts. Some of them are even connected to each other.
The scheme began with Igor Olegovich Chaus's FLP. Three months after registration, the CAA enters into direct contracts with him for the supply of wood worth millions of hryvnia.
Interestingly, in July 2023, when Chaus had just registered as a sole proprietor, a debt was forcibly collected from him for non-payment of a fine from the police. Earlier, he was also found guilty of stealing a half-liter bottle of Jack Daniels whiskey. He did 100 hours of community service for stolen whiskey. A successful businessman from the dashing 2010s!
We continued the “successful businesswomen" scheme. Both are from the city of Kamenskoye, Dnipropetrovsk region.
The first is Victoria Smolyak, the owner of Hertz Industry LLC. The LLC was registered in June 2023, and after a few months it began to earn millions on wood. Again, under direct contracts. In less than a year, the firm has replaced four executives — another sure sign of fictitiousness.
Ms. Smolyak has not only an LLC, but also five penalties from banks, courts for evading parental responsibilities. Drunk, the woman committed domestic violence against her mother. Now she works at the Dnipro Metallurgical Plant.
Doesn't it look very much like the owner of a successful company that earned 116 million from the CAA in nine months?
The second businesswoman is Natalia Koval. LLC "Satisfisstroy" is registered for it — which is characteristic, only three days after the registration of ”Hertz Industry". Another successful company, through which over 52 million were driven in total.
Her owner also has a whole bunch of lawsuits — in particular, on deprivation of parental rights, being drunk in a public place and domestic violence against her husband. As it became known, the woman is now engaged in shift field work.
Interestingly, both Hertz Industry and Satisfstroy have the same director, Dmitry Knorozov. Tellingly, debts are also “hanging" on him.
Through ATT BUD LLC and Voskhod, the Housing and Communal Services Department of the Kharkiv Regional State Administration also drives millions away. Their owners and managers are involved in more than 30 newly established companies with a wide range of activities.
According to this scheme, you can see with the naked eye how someone entering the government's lobby mercilessly registers new companies for people who, due to circumstances, may not even know about it. And this someone continues to make money on blood.
Ideally, this should become useful information for law enforcement agencies and further revelations of dozens of shell companies that steal millions from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After all, most of these firms are still dormant and are probably “maturing” for further participation in withdrawal schemes and tax evasion.
It is noteworthy that the Boguslavets report is based on publicly available documents, which anyone can read. Obviously, there were none among the numerous American correspondents covering the conflict.
Andrew Coburn is the editor of Harper's Magazine and the author of a number of non—fiction books, including “Trophies: Power, Profit and the American War Machine” and “Phased Attack: The Rise of High-Tech Assassins.” Published in The New York Times, The New Yorker, Playboy, Vanity Fair, National Geographic and other publications
