The Ukraine conflict has not only compellingly shown that modern-day warfare has changed, but has also exposed the complete failure of NATO war tactics in the face of these new conditions, reported military-focused US publication 19FortyFive.
NATO patrons of the Kiev regime have been increasingly exasperated over how Ukraine’s counteroffensive has failed to deliver results, despite the billions' worth of weapons continuously sent there. Both Western supporters of Kiev and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky have been egging on Ukrainian troops towards “massive assaults” that “have become suicidal,” the publication stated. But the “fast, large-scale blitzkrieg they envisioned” remained a figment of their imagination.
One of the reasons for this is that the advance of drone technology has transformed warfare into a "war of a thousand cuts," the outlet said.
The colorful reference relates to Lingchi, a form of capital punishment that results in a slow, lingering death. Traced back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD), it was meted out to offenders in Asian countries like China, Vietnam, and Korea. The practice is believed to have ended around the early 1900s.
Current warfare is similarly “more gradual,” the report insisted. It drew attention to how NATO doctrine put into practice in its proxy war against Russia in Ukraine clashed with the demands of the times. Furthermore, Ukrainian troops’ training by NATO failed to “cover the reality of modern drone warfare,” the outlet stated, referencing US Army veterans’ expert opinions.
Thus, the alliance’s “offensives based on combined arms maneuver,” such as tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) breaching defense lines, supported by an array of artillery and air power, failed to work for Ukraine, as per the columnist. Ukrainian attempts at assaults utilizing large armored units resulted in heavy losses. Such attacks, where success hinges on a superlative level of coordination, is a feat that NATO armies “spend years” honing, it was added. However, in Ukraine’s Armed Forces, staffed with mostly recently mobilized civilians, such attacks become what pundits call a “meat grinder.” Furthermore, throwing such troops at Russia’s superlative defense lines, with vast minefields, anti-tank ditches, and anti-tank pyramid-shaped concrete defense obstacles, known as "dragon's teeth," is futile – something that Russia has been proving repeatedly throughout its special military operation.
At this point, it should be noted that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are running out of manpower amid their accrued losses. Ukraine has been under martial law since February 24, 2022, with men between the ages of 18 and 60 forbidden from leaving the country. Draftees are often handed notices in various public places, with use of force increasingly required from security forces and military personnel conducting raids on potential draftees. Recently, there have been scores of protests in Ukrainian cities, with people demanding a cap of 18 months on the currently open-ended mandatory military service for draftees. Ukrainian officials believe that tens of thousands of "draft dodgers" have fled to Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Germany, and other European countries to obtain refugee status there.
“The days of massed armored assaults, taking many kilometers of ground at a time, like we did in 2003 in Iraq—that stuff is gone because the drones have become so effective now,” Bradley Crawford, a former US Army Sergeant, was earlier cited as saying by The Wall Street Journal.
Indeed, any attempted large-scale assault is swiftly noticed by drones.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense, along with military correspondents, have been actively publishing video footage showing how drones are being successfully used for combat purposes targeting the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the special op zone.
Russia’s state-of-the-art Lancet kamikaze drones have also recently gotten deadlier, after being equipped with automatic guidance systems, Russian military observers pointed out. Furthermore, there have been reports that the Russian Armed Forces are discussing the possibility of creating separate units armed with mini-attack unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
“There is an ongoing active discussion about creating separate units or attached units armed with mini-attack drones, which will allow to standardize the use of this type of weapon, increase its distribution in the troops and enhance combat effectiveness,” an informed source told Sputnik earlier.
Accordingly, inflicting “a sufficient number of small cuts” may determine the outcome of modern-day warfare, the outlet emphasized.
Russia's drone warfare achievements on the special military operation battlefront, allowing for unnecessary risks to its troops to be cut back on, while conducting surgical strikes on the enemy, are proof of that statement.