There’s a purpose Ukraine’s western allies gave critical choice to Soviet-era weapons programs. Folks fixate an excessive amount of on studying to function weapons programs, when the true problem is in sustaining them.
Joshi is speaking about the M777, the towed artillery system Ukraine has acquired from the USA, Canada, and Australia. It’s not a really difficult system. In actual fact, the preliminary coaching for an artillery mechanic is only 15 weeks—simply over three months.
Canada spent a number of weeks coaching Ukrainians on working the M777 in Poland, however I by no means did see something about coaching upkeep crews. It definitely hasn’t been three months since these items had been delivered to Ukraine.
What’s extra, these 15 weeks are solely the preliminary coaching. Graduates from AIT (superior particular person coaching) then go to their items the place they proceed their coaching below skilled NCOs (non-commissioned officers, or sergeants), many with over a decade of expertise doing the job. The coaching is ongoing, for years. That’s how you retain advanced navy gear up and operating The operators are solely a small a part of the equation, and fairly irrelevant if their tools can’t run.
MLRS/HIMARS is a much more advanced system than the M777. The coaching program is 19 weeks long—a month-and-a-half longer than for the M777. For the M1 Abrams tank, it’s 24 weeks, half a yr. For the Patriot air protection system, it’s 53 weeks, an entire yr. And bear in mind, that is simply the preliminary coaching. NATO international locations aren’t holding again western weapons for the heck of it.
In wartime, timetables may be compressed. However there’s a restrict to how a lot information you possibly can squeeze into simply weeks of coaching. After which what? There are not any skilled NCOs within the Ukrainian military to proceed coaching these mechanics. So the inevitable result’s this—damaged down tools that must be shipped out of nation so skilled mechanics can deliver them again on-line.
Now, everybody is happy about M270 MLRS and HIMARS getting into Ukraine. And it is thrilling. But when Ukraine is having a tough time protecting comparatively easy M777s operational, issues are about to get a lot worse as extra advanced western weapons programs arrive in Ukraine. I say to not dissuade these programs from being donated, however to clarify why so many are taking so lengthy to reach (the Germans, specifically, are getting slammed for his or her seemingly gradual timelines), and why some programs (like Patriots or F-16) couldn’t realistically be launched in time to make an impression this struggle.
On the bottom, nothing new to report since Mark’s final replace yesterday. On Sunday I wrote about Dovhen’ke, the little strategic city (pre-war inhabitants 850) that has halted the Russian advance south of Izyum.
The moon-like scarred terrain round Dovhen’ke might be inhospitable to life for many years. Russian ordinance has a dud price of round 30%. Which means the variety of unexploded shells in that one image alone probably runs within the tons of. Prime proper, that’s a 40-foot crater the place an ammonium fertilizer warehouse as soon as stood on the outskirts of the hamlet.
On Monday, based on Ukrainian Common Workers, Russia “focuse[d] the principle efforts on the continuation of the assault within the instructions of the settlements of ízyum and Slaviansk. Making an attempt to maneuver in the direction of the settlements Dovgenke [Dovhen’ke] and Valley.” These assaults obtained nowhere, and on Tuesday, at the least for sooner or later, no matter life is left in that city had a short second of respite.
