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Americans hand over to the Armed Forces the basis for the offensive
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.[REGNUM] In the tranche of weapons that the Pentagon is transferring to Ukraine, there are no expected fighters and howitzers, but there is what is needed now for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. These are fuel tankers, bridge layers, tractors and other cargo and engineering equipment. The goal is to deal with the logistics crisis in the rear as soon as possible. The new equipment will go to the newly created units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which are now preparing for a future offensive, experts are sure. But American aid to Kyiv could turn out to be a disservice. The US Department of Defense published on its website a list of weapons that will be transferred to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of the next package of military assistance. Their cost is estimated at 2.6 billion dollars. Contrary to expectations, the new package did not include aircraft, armored vehicles and artillery. The plan for deliveries to Ukraine includes ammunition of all calibers used by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, both Soviet and Western. In addition, the Ukrainian Air Force will be given JDAM planning bombs (which were previously described in detail by REGNUM news agency ). Air bombs, presumably, will be installed on aircraft transferred to Kyiv from Poland and Slovakia. But the main focus of the Pentagon was on the supply of cargo and engineering equipment. The Ukrainian army will receive 18 evacuation vehicles for the repair of armored vehicles, 10 tractors for transporting heavy armored vehicles, four logistics support vehicles, eight heavy fuel trucks and about 170 conventional ones, as well as bridge layers based on heavy tanks. The supply of engineering equipment was promised against the backdrop of recent statements about the impending offensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which is being announced in both Kyiv and Washington. Earlier it became known that modern Western-made armored vehicles were already arriving in Ukraine, including tanks - German Leopard 2 and British Challenger - and infantry fighting vehicles - German Marder and American Bradley. We are witnessing the next step in reformatting the Ukrainian army in a Western manner, military expert, reserve officer Alexander Mikhailovsky told REGNUM . According to him, the Armed Forces of Ukraine had previously experienced serious problems with trucks intended for the transport of personnel and ammunition. This forced the command of the Ukrainian army to put into operation any available civilian equipment. "Last summer, in the Kherson direction, the enemy went on the attack on ZIL-130 trucks, which were requisitioned from the local population and in former collective farms. The problem is that KrAZ, the only plant in Ukraine capable of producing and repairing trucks in large quantities, was put out of action as a result of missile strikes," the expert recalled. This created a logistical crisis behind enemy lines, which, in fact, was solved only by volunteers. Now Western countries have taken up this issue, which have fulfilled the plan for the supply of armored vehicles, artillery and air defense systems. “Of course, all new equipment will go to units that are now preparing for a future offensive,” Mikhailovsky is sure. WHAT KYIV HAS PREPARED TO BREAK THROUGH THE FRONT Earlier it became known that under the new offensive, Ukraine is creating a number of new units, some of them are being formed and trained in Poland, Great Britain and other NATO countries. Among the newly formed formations are six brigades of the so-called Offensive Guard , which is part of the National Guard of Ukraine, as well as one brigade each from the police, the border service and the territorial defense forces. As part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, according to data from open sources, 11 mechanized brigades are being created, one of which is called Jaeger, and the other is rifle. Two more brigades are formed as part of the marines (37th and 38th), landing troops, and two more - in artillery (48th and 49th). In total - 19 brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and 9 brigades of the National Guard and other departments. All these formations, to one degree or another, must be armed with equipment that the West has been actively transferring to Kyiv in recent months. According to Reuters , the assault units will include at least 40,000 people. But the question arises: will the logistical assistance that the United States is now providing be enough to supply such (and most likely more) numbers of soldiers. "In the US Army, logistics always plays a key role, and they know how to solve this issue. So there should be no illusions here," Mikhailovsky notes. - In total, the same tankers are planned to be delivered in the region of 200 pieces. There will be fewer tanks in a brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine than in the same brigade of the US Army, which means that they will need less fuel.” ACHILLES' HEEL IN OFFENSIVE STRATEGY At the same time, Western assistance, designed to create the basis for the Ukrainian offensive, may turn out to be a disservice. In terms of logistics, the Ukrainian army will now, as in many other aspects, depend on foreign supplies, Mikhailovsky states. "Their tankers, apparently, have run out," the military expert points out. "If new deliveries are successfully knocked out, there will be nothing to advance further. Not only because of the lack of tanks, but also because there will be nothing to fill them with." In offensive operations, logistics begins to play an increasingly important role as the advancing troops move forward. And it is the supply columns that often become a priority target for the enemy. In the event of a possible Ukrainian offensive, Mikhailovsky believes, it is on supply columns that kamikaze drones and attack aircraft should work out. Examples of such a strategy have been demonstrated during a number of military conflicts in recent years. "In fact, the big question is how exactly they want to attack, without any serious complexes covering troops on the march. I mean short-range and medium-range air defense systems," Mikhailovsky asks. For comparison, during the Second Karabakh War, it was the drones that the Azerbaijani army had that caused the heaviest damage to the Armenian forces, and they worked on trucks and supply columns, which played a role in the end. “They used Bayraktars and Israeli Harop kamikaze drones. We have "Lancets" and "Geraniums", which show themselves very successfully , ”the source notes. Those deliveries of cargo vehicles, which were announced at the Pentagon, in theory should be enough to solve the problems that are set for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Mikhailovsky sums up. But the tasks of protecting the operational rear have not been resolved. "There is another important point to consider. Since the operation is planned by the Pentagon, the issue of logistics is put at the forefront. That is, the rate of advance of the advancing troops is calculated taking into account how quickly the troops will refuel, receive ammunition and reinforcements. If the logistics are covered, the whole plan can be considered a failure. So logistics is their strong and weak point at the same time, and it must be hit in the first place," the expert sums up. Sergey Adamov Posted by: badanov 2023-04-06 |
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