Latest news with #militarytactics
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
‘Brutality over precision' — What the Army is learning from Russia in Ukraine
Russian forces in Ukraine are learning that tactics based on 'brutality' and quantity over quality can improve their fortunes, according to a 170-page report put out by the U.S. Army this month. Published last week, 'How Russia Fights' lays out a series of hard lessons the U.S. troops are learning from Russia as its full-scale invasion of Ukraine steams towards its fourth year. 'The Russians have already reverted to Soviet form on the battlefield, favoring mass over maneuver, quantity over quality, capacity over capability, brutality over precision, and mobilization over readiness,' the report says. Produced by the Army's Foreign Military Studies Office at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, it's a rare look at how one part of the U.S. military is studying this war and what lessons can be taken from it. Based on events between Feb. 24, 2022, and June 30, 2024, it shows how Russia, despite sanctions, isolation, and battlefield losses, is rapidly adapting and refining a model of warfare that leverages mass, improvisation, and emerging technologies to sustain operations far longer than many expected. Drones are foundational One of the strongest themes in the report is how drones have become central to nearly every part of the Russian way of war. Quadcopter drones, often rigged with improvised explosives or thermobaric payloads, are used at every level of the Russian military. These systems are produced at scale, often through informal networks, and treated as expendable munitions. Russia is reportedly going through tens of thousands of drones per month, according to analysts and open-source tracking. Drones are now directly tied into command and fire support. Fixed-wing systems like the Orlan-10 conduct intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, or ISR. Targets are passed to artillery batteries or FPV drone teams that engage the target. Another drone confirms damage. In many cases, drones have replaced manned forward observers entirely. In contrast, Army units below the battalion level often don't have their own drones, though efforts to fix that are underway. Electronic warfare shapes the battlefield Russia's use of electronic warfare, EW, is another area the report highlights as both mature and deeply integrated. Russian battalions independently operate systems like the Borisoglebsk-2 and Leer-3, which jam Ukrainian communications and GPS navigation, spoof drone signals, and expose the location of emitters. More than just a support capability, EW is used to shape the battlefield before major attacks. Western-supplied guided munitions like JDAM-ERs and Excalibur rounds have reportedly been degraded in areas with dense Russian jamming. And not all of these capabilities are coming from high-end gear: commercial jammers purchased online, some as cheap as $20, are also being deployed. Russian units are adapting The Army's assessment of Russian troop quality is nuanced. Some formations, like Spetsnaz or VDV units, retain a professional core. Others, especially mobilized conscripts and penal battalions, struggle with morale and coordination. But even in lower-tier units, cohesion and tactical learning are improving. Officers are creating makeshift leadership structures. Training pipelines are becoming more efficient. And units that survive long enough are adapting to the demands of trench warfare and drone-saturated environments. It's not a well-oiled machine by any interpretation, but the soldiers and leaders are adapting and learning quickly how to survive. Artillery is doing the heavy lifting Russia has shifted decisively to an artillery-first doctrine, creating formations known as 'army artillery groups.' These units integrate with drone ISR to deliver massed fires against static defenses and troop concentrations. Within the U.S. military, the Army has traditionally emphasized maneuver warfare — mobility, initiative, speed. But as the report shows, Russia is winning ground slowly and methodically, with drones feeding targets to artillery in a sustained kill chain. Top Stories This Week Culture Top Air Force enlisted leader apologizes for uniform slip-up Top Air Force enlisted leader apologizes for uniform slip-up By Jeff Schogol Culture An Army pilot and mechanic switched units for a week. Here's how that went. An Army pilot and mechanic switched units for a week. Here's how that went. By Patty Nieberg News Air Force Global Strike Command suspends use of M18 pistol after airman's death Air Force Global Strike Command suspends use of M18 pistol after airman's death By Jeff Schogol A whole-state effort A major theme scattered throughout the report is how this is a war that is being fought through all levels of society. Ministries, civilian industries, universities, and city governments have all been pulled into the effort. A bread factory in Tambov, Russia, for example, has been retooled to manufacture FPV drones. Local officials help fulfill recruitment quotas and raise money to buy gear for troops. Vans originally designed for public service have been converted into field ambulances. Regional governments are given quotes for 'kontraktnik,' volunteer enlisted soldiers. This blurring between civilian and military lines isn't an accident — it's part of how Russia sustains its war effort. This crowd-sourced approach isn't unique to Russia, with Ukraine employing similar practices, particularly fundraising for gear and equipment, but it does illustrate how large the effort has become to sustain this 'special military operation.' What is the U.S. doing about it? The Army is already making changes. In 2024, it began incorporating drone awareness and concealment techniques into enlisted training at Fort Benning, Georgia, Fort Jackson, South Carolina and Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. Soldiers now train to reduce their visibility to overhead ISR — a direct lesson from the Ukrainian trenches. Modernization programs like Project Linchpin and TITAN are also underway, aiming to speed up targeting decisions and better integrate sensor data across domains. The Pentagon's July 10 memo, 'Unleashing U.S. Military Drone Dominance,' opens up the branches to more rapidly acquire, field, and train with small drones by treating them like munitions instead of like an aircraft. To break down the full report — and what it means for the future of U.S. ground warfare — we've got a deep-dive video up now on the Task & Purpose YouTube channel. It covers everything from drone saturation and GPS jamming to Russia's artillery doctrine and how the Army is rethinking its own training and modernization in response. You can watch it here. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
14-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Hamas uses Gaza's rubble as a tactical advantage against the IDF
Hamas apparently believes that the IDF views ruined areas as secure. As such, it thinks that it can move more freely in these areas. Recent terrorist attacks in Gaza against IDF forces have revealed that Hamas and other groups in Gaza are exploiting the landscape to carry out attacks. What this means is that Hamas may view Israel's continued destruction of urban areas as a possible opportunity to exploit. Throughout the war, many Gazan neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble. In some cases whole towns have been razed. The policy of razing areas has been articulated in the media and among voices in politics in Israel. Most buildings in Gaza are presented as acceptable targets because terrorists could use them. It is also believed that many buildings conceal tunnels or tunnel shafts and entrances. The theory is that if you destroy the building, the enemy can't use it. However, Hamas appears to be shifting tactics to take advantage of the ruins. In Khan Yunis, Beit Hanun, and other places this appears to be the tactic. Its terrorists can hide in the ruins of buildings and move from one place to another. The group apparently believes that the IDF views ruined areas as secure. As such, it thinks that it can move more freely in these areas. It knows that the IDF has entered and claimed to have cleared many urban areas, such as Jabaliya in Gaza. It always returns to these areas afterward. Hamas has another reason for using the rubble. The terror organization controls the central camps and Gaza City and it knows that the IDF is reluctant to enter those areas. That is apparently where the terror group is holding the 50 hostages. At the very least, Hamas knows that Israel is afraid that could be the case. Thus, the group feels relatively secure in 30% of Gaza. Hamas terrorists can then infiltrate the other 60-70% percent and wait for targets of opportunity to appear. A recent report indicated that this is what Hamas and other groups are doing. They send cells back into the rubble and wait. They wait for an IDF armored vehicle to appear; or to identify a road that the IDF is using. The deadly attacks in Beit Hanun and Khan Yunis in the first weeks of July illustrate the new Hamas tactic. This must lead to a question about whether the policy of destroying buildings in Gaza is effective. It is possible that this policy has diminishing returns. It's not clear what percentage of Gaza has been reduced to ruins, but it appears that a large part of the areas where the IDF operates, comprising 60-70% percent of Gaza, has been badly damaged. Areas near the Israeli border are earmarked for a future buffer zone. Beit Hanun is apparently one of those areas. However, it appears that dozens of terrorists are still hiding there. The IDF has gone in now to clear them out. Will this work this time? Will the same clearing work this time in Jabaliya, Sheijaya, and Zeitoun in northern Gaza? Hamas has been able to tie down several IDF divisions for 645 days of war. Now, it appears to be adapting to the new situation. The question is whether the IDF is also adapting. The incidents in Khan Yunis and Beit Hanun illustrate that Hamas tactics should be examined and studied. The rubble across most of Gaza could become a threat just as deadly as terrorists hiding in civilian homes and schools.
Yahoo
13-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Ukraine made the Patriot a moving target — and taught the US Army how to fight smarter with its air defenses
The US Army is closely watching how Ukraine uses its Patriot air defenses to stop Russian attacks. Ukraine has turned its Patriots into moving targets, making them harder for Russia to find and destroy. This tactic has taught the Army about why it's important to stay mobile, two officers told BI. The US Army is closely watching how Ukraine uses its coveted Patriot systems to fend off Russian missile attacks and is learning that, in order to best protect air defenses, it's crucial to keep them hidden and mobile, two American officers told Business Insider. The MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile systems are the top layer of Ukraine's air defense shield. Kyiv is believed to be operating six batteries, which have proven to be critical in defending the country against Russian aerial attacks, particularly ballistic missile strikes. Lt. Col. James Compton, the deputy operations officer for the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, explained to BI that the Ukraine war has, in some cases, reinforced US military air defense doctrine. However, he said the war has also "introduced more concepts, like how to become more mobile, how the system's components are organized on battery sites, ways of camouflaging the equipment, and how the system can be improved to be more survivable." "This conflict has definitely made the community relook how we train, how our units are organized, as well as how we prepare for potential conflicts with robust air and missile threats," Compton added. Being mobile requires a whole-of-system approach. A Patriot battery consists of several complementary parts, including a radar, a control station, a power generator, and as many as eight launchers that can each hold four interceptor missiles. Dozens of soldiers are needed to operate the weapon. The Patriots are coveted weapons for Ukraine, giving the country its best shot at defending against Russian ballistic missile attacks. But Kyiv has long been hamstrung by a shortage of interceptor missiles, with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly calling on the US and NATO allies to send more ammunition and batteries amid worsening aerial bombardments. Chief Warrant Officer Sanjeev "Jay" Siva, a technician in the 10th Army Air and Missile Defense Command, said Ukraine's Patriot batteries have emerged as priority targets for Russia. He told BI that Patriot units have to prioritize movement discipline, cover and concealment tactics, and overall survivability measures in ways that haven't been required in decades, adding that the US "can no longer operate under the assumption of relative invulnerability." Siva said the war has given Army planners various ideas, including for creating decoys and camouflaging equipment, to confront the changing air defense landscape. Survivability is critical to maintaining a robust air defense to keep missile threats and enemy airpower at bay. The suppression and destruction of surface-to-air missile systems like the Patriots allows an enemy force to carry out more powerful air attacks. For Ukraine, it's not enough to keep the batteries hidden; it also needs to harden the positions. Compton said Ukraine has "shown remarkable ingenuity in how the systems are arrayed on their tactical sites and how each site can be physically adapted to increase protection of the batteries." Earlier this year, for instance, Ukraine started putting steel plates on the exterior of the control units of its Patriot batteries, which is where the crew sits to operate the system, to better protect them from missile shrapnel and blast fragments. Ukraine has "shown how the equipment can be physically adapted to protect the crews, as well as what is possible to conduct maintenance and repairs quickly and in adverse conditions," Compton said. Lessons learned from Ukraine may already be paying off. Since April 2024, the Army has used Patriot batteries in the Middle East to fend off multiple Iranian ballistic missile attacks. Just last month, US soldiers in Qatar used the Patriot to defend an air base from a volley of over a dozen Iranian missiles. The Pentagon later described it as "the largest single Patriot engagement" in American military history. Read the original article on Business Insider
Daily Mail
28-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Moment Putin's 'suicide bikers' roar into hell: Russian commanders send waves of motorbike troops into no-man's-land in desperate one-way missions
Dramatic footage shows Vladimir Putin 's 'suicide bikers' speeding into no-man's land during desperate one-way missions. The troops are sent by their commanders as part of a new tactic to try and overcome Volodymyr Zelensky 's soldiers. They're instructed to breach Ukrainian defences and cause as much chaos behind enemy lines as possible. But the method is reportedly ineffective, and the bikers are often taken out by drones or artillery fire. Some even destroy themselves by crashing into shell craters. Most of the bikers don't even make it as far as enemy lines, but the life expectancy of those who do is little improved as they are stranded and surrounded. 'Basically it's a suicide mission,' Yevhen, a lieutenant captain in Ukraine 's 28th brigade, told The Times. 'Because they never come back.' A video shows three bikers, dubbed 'iron horses' by Russian forces, roaring across fields near Toretsk before they're blown up by a drone. Motorbikes first appeared along this stretch of the front roughly three months ago, according to Yevhen. He said within a few weeks motorcycle assaults had become a daily occurrence - with between ten and 20 bikers spreading across a width of about 400m before speeding towards them. The bikes can only be intercepted by skilled drone pilots as their speed and irregular grouping makes them difficult targets to hit. However, the area of no man's land near Toretsk is so wide that usually only about a quarter will make it across. Those that do survive try to destroy as many enemy drone and mortar crews, who are less well-armed than regular infantrymen, as they can before being killed or captured themselves, Yevhen said. The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) writes that a servicemember in a Ukrainian brigade reported on June 24 that the threat of Russian motorcycle assaults is increasing along the frontline as soldiers increasingly integrate them into assault tactics. They stated that the vehicles are 'no longer attacking along roads but mainly attacking through open fields and trying to bypass Ukrainian engineering barriers along the frontline'. Russia began using motorbikes last year, initially as a grassroots initiative among certain regiments faced with heavy losses from traditional infantry raids. The idea gained traction and their use has been formally integrated into the army's tactics, with some units now given specialised rider training. In April, Russia's ministry of defence released a video showing a paratrooper with a gun over his shoulder riding around a motocross track while explosions detonated around him. The ministry plans to equip more than half of its infantry forces with motorcycles, as well as other vehicles including quadbikes and buggies, according to leaked documents seen by Frontelligence Insight, a Ukrainian open-source intelligence agency. Russian forces are reportedly 'mainly using motorcycles as a form of transport for attacking infantry to support diversion, reconnaissance, infiltration, and flanking support missions', Frontelligence Insight reports. It also said that Russian motorcyclists operate in squads of six to eight motorcycles with one or two riders on each motorcycle, between six and 16 personnel in total.
The Independent
13-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Israel and Iran: How do they compare militarily?
Israeli strikes on Iran on Friday and Tehran's vows of reprisals have brought the two Middle East adversaries closer to an all-out war, which also threatens to draw in the United States, at least to some degree. So how do the militaries of Iran and Israel stack up against each other? Iran boasts a large standing force but also relies on proxies and undercover operations that have been severely disabled in recent months by U.S. and Israeli actions. Israel, meanwhile, relies on both subterfuge and robust regular ground and air forces that are apparently unmatched in the region. Though roughly equal in the number of troops, the two militaries bring strikingly different tactics and firepower. Where does Iran stand? On paper, Iran would seem to have an advantage in numbers, with 88 million people and a land area of 1.6 million square kilometers (618,000 square miles) compared to Israel's 9 million people and 22,000 square kilometers (8,500). Militarily however, those numbers mean little. Iran's troops are divided between the regular armed forces, generally commissioned with guarding Iran's borders and carrying out more conventional military tasks, and the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, including the elite Quds Force, the strategic missile command and the cyberforce. The regular forces command the bulk of the troops — around 600,000 men — and standard equipment, while the Revolutionary Guard has about 200,000 personnel split between various divisions. Along with Iran's proxies, its conventional forces are believed to have been heavily degraded by Israeli and U.S. military operations over the past year. Iran's military equipment is a hodge-podge, including some provided by the Soviet Union and others by the U.S. prior to the 1979 Islamic Revolution, along with more recent Russian additions. With an estimated 350 antiquated planes in its air force, it lags far behind Israel in both quantity and quality. Iran, however, does have the ability to produce a wide range of UAV's and similar equipment, typified by the Shahed attack drones it has sold to Russia in large numbers for use in the war in Ukraine. The security of its top commanders has been a recurring problem from Iran, with the head of the Revolutionary Guards Gen. Hossein Salami and Gen. Mohammad Bagheri, the chief of staff of Iran's armed forces, among those who killed in Friday's strikes in Tehran. Top nuclear scientists were also killed. Other senior commanders have been killed in recent strikes around the region. Iran's nuclear program has advanced in recent years, and it is believed to have developed enough uranium enriched to near-weapons grade levels to produce multiple nuclear weapons in a matter of months if it took the decision to do so. But Iran would need even more time to develop a missile or other means of weaponizing them. Israel does not appear inclined to take that chance, however, having already struck facilities manufacturing nuclear material and ballistic missiles. How does Israel compare? Israel's formidable land, sea and air forces are derived from both the latest U.S. and European technology as well as a robust domestic defense industry that can design, build and sustain a full range of armaments, allowing it to take on opponents on multiple fronts at the same time. For a small nation it also has a considerable supply of troops, with about 170,000 active duty forces and another 400,000 reserves. Though fewer than Iran, Israel's forces have been battle hardened by regional conflicts. One option for Iran's counterstrike may include hundreds of ballistic missiles targeting Israel, though how long that could be sustained is unclear. In October 2024, a massive Iranian missile assault on Israel caused only limited damage, partly because of U.S. help in shooting down Iranian missiles. That defense was made possible by Israel's multi-tiered missile defenses. The sophisticated system, developed over decades with considerable U.S. support, is capable of detecting incoming fire and deploying only if the projectile is headed toward a population center or sensitive military or civilian infrastructure. Israeli leaders say the system isn't 100% guaranteed, but credit it with preventing serious damage and countless casualties. Israel is widely believed to be the only nuclear-armed state in the Middle East, though it has never acknowledged having such weapons. Israel also has a steadfast ally in the United States, which has been key in previous conflicts and will likely be crucial in any that follow. The U.S. role The United States has distanced itself from the Israeli actions but could be a target of Iranian retaliation. Among the U.S. assets in the region are an aircraft carrier with about 60 fighters in the Arabian Sea, along with dozens of other jets at bases throughout the region — as well as thousands of troops. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that Israel took 'unilateral action against Iran,' warning Iran not to target U.S. forces in retaliation. In recent days, the U.S. began pulling some diplomats from Iraq's capital and offering voluntary evacuations for the families of U.S. troops in the wider Middle East. Israel already curtailed Iran's ability to fight back, having decimated Iranian proxies Hamas and Lebanon's Hezbollah and heavily bombed Iran's air defense systems. Ahead of Friday's strikes, Iran had vowed massive retaliation for any attack, not just against Israel but also U.S. bases in the region, with one official vowing to effectively drive the U.S. from the Middle East through the destruction of its military infrastructure. ___
