Ukraine has become a testing ground for weapons and combat tactics

The war in Ukraine became a testing ground for the latest military developments, both Ukrainian and Western. CNN writes about this in a large analytical article.

It is noted that one of the most important innovations in the current war was the Ukrainian network target designation system for artillery, which allowed artillerymen to quickly transmit intelligence from drones and, no less important, to easily calculate the coordinates of a target to guide specific weapons on it.

“The targeting application is one of dozens of examples of innovations on the battlefield that Ukraine has invented in almost a year of war, often finding cheap solutions to expensive problems,” the publication writes.

Among the significant innovations that help Ukrainian soldiers on the battlefield are also cheap drones adapted for dropping grenades on enemy trenches, 3D printers for the production of scarce spare parts, converting ordinary pickup trucks into mobile missile launchers, etc.

“This kind of Ukrainian ingenuity impressed American officials, who highly appreciated Kyiv’s ability to find solutions to its needs on the battlefield that fill important tactical gaps left by larger and more sophisticated Western weapons,” the authors of the article note.

At the same time, the war in Ukraine has given the US and its allies a rare opportunity to test their own weapons in the conditions of modern full-scale warfare and to look at Russia’s tactics of using disposable strike drones.

“Ukraine is absolutely a weapons laboratory in every sense, because none of this equipment has ever been used in a war between two industrialized countries. These are combat tests in the real world,” said the publication’s interlocutor, who is familiar with Western intelligence.

Yes, the Americans were convinced of the effectiveness of their HIMARS installations, but also “learned valuable lessons” regarding the frequency of their maintenance. Howitzers M777 also proved to be a powerful weapon, but the wear of the barrels turned out to be too fast.

“One lesson the US can learn from this conflict is that towed artillery, such as the M777 howitzer system, may become a thing of the past. These systems are more difficult to move quickly to avoid return fire, and in a world of ubiquitous drones and surveillance it’s very difficult to hide from above these days,” said another expert.

The American defense company BAE Systems has already announced that it will strengthen the armored vehicles it produces to better protect them from drone strikes from above. This also became clear regarding the war in Ukraine.

Also, numerous representatives of American intelligence and the army are already confidently saying that the main priority for US defense contractors in the near future will be the development of cheap disposable kamikaze drones.

Supply of weapons to Ukraine

During the last month, a noticeable change in the supply of Western weapons has appeared – the supply of such weapons has been announced, which the West did not even want to talk about before.

So, in mid-December, the USA promised to hand over Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine. Ukraine will receive one battery from the USA and another from Germany.

A little later, it became known about Washington’s plans to supply Ukraine with 50 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles – one of the best vehicles in its class.

Already this week, Poland promised to transfer Leopard tanks to Ukraine, and Great Britain – Challenger tanks.