AKA “cannon fodder”.
It would take time to train them up, surely.
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True.
In rushed I mean that perhaps the timing envisioned by the planners did not adjust to Putin’s pressure. A mid January offencive may have allowed tank formations to deploy in assault line more effectively; or a late May/early June once the fields had dried up a bit.
But right at the beginning of the thaw is crazy.
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That’s the best description I have ever read - and I’m a staff college graduate.
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For memory Vladikavkaz is over near the Georgian border. That would hopefully mean other insurgents are crossing the border and targeting Russians
Would be nice to see it happen in a much larger scale and many Russian targets destroyed
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I’m starting to think this whole war can be boiled down to the fact that the majority of Russians are just pyromaniacs.
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it’s hard.
You can’t just take a half a platoon here and parts of sections there with other pl, partial tank troops, add a couple more and tell them to go fight.
It takes time for each pl, coy, troop know each other even before trying to work together.
Each reformed BTG is probably half as efficient as the original one.
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Add in they are probably deficient in some equipment, depending on their condition when they were reconstituted, lack of familiarity with the commanders at all levels, poor morale from the circumstances that led to them to be in this position, and I reckon it’s likely many of these combined units would be totally combat ineffective.
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Based on the first two weeks of the invasion there are also big question marks over the combined arms ability /training and tactics of the original BTG’s , let alone the composite ones.
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Thanks for detailed responses from both @elfm and @Benny40
Have not absorbed yet. Will respond further
L8R
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The big question mark was “how are they this bad?”. The overall poor performance of the Russian forces is a huge surprise to most military analysts. They’ve effectively de-fanged themselves as a serious global military power in front of the whole world. Yes, they still have nukes and still retain significant hitting power, but even the most pessimistic wouldn’t have forecast how poor their overall performance had been.
It may have looked different if the forces that attacked Kyiv had have been used in a mire concerted campsign to seize and hold the Donbass region. Maybe? But honestly, at this point, who can honestly say what their mission objectives are. And so much for their so-called reform of the army.
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I would have thought the writing was on the wall.
Less than stellar performance in Afghanistan, and various local rebellions eg Chechnya.
Bit parts in Syria without showing much conviction.
You couldn’t say the Russian armed forces performed a high level in living memory.
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Furthermore on the consolidation of BTG and returning them to the fray, the Russians are further depleting their stocks of combat experienced troops. (Even if their combat experience has not been all that successful.) It is a short term strategy.
Longer term, they would surely be better by using personnel from depleted BTG as a cadre to rebuild the formations around, so that newly trained units are leavened with a sprinkling of combat experienced soldiers.
Of course that requires both a recognition that you are in for the long haul, the mobilisation of enough manpower, and a functional training pipeline to work. Nothing seems to suggest that the Russian Army has any of those at present.
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Going full conscription will have negative domestic implications, and may mark the beginning of the end for the regime. Not to mention the devastating loss of life the conscripts will likely see
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Totally agree, I just find it astonishing that they appear to have been thoroughly incapable of learning from operational lessons, despite actually identifying that their armed forces needed significant reform and pouring in a squillion dollars to do so. I guess I’m applying a western-trained mindset (one of my postings was doing Army Lessons), but they had the experience, identified the lesson, implemented reform, and then - nothing. The Essington of military powers I guess. Promise the world, deliver fark all.
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and new self propelled artillery systems are getting faster and faster at setting up, firing a salvo and getting out of dodge before the shells land simultaneously on some poor bastard in a lightly armoured vehicle.
Looks like the Brits and yanks are leaning toward adopting the scandi designed Archer system which makes it look all a bit too easy
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