by Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
A stepped up influx of anti-armor weapons and winter combat gear for Ukrainians in the latest Pentagon support package suggests that, despite slow-moving progress and painstakingly small gains, Ukrainian counterattackers have sustained their intensity to remain on “offense.”
Ukrainian forces are gearing up for a more “aggressive” winter as they continue to advance into and re-claim areas taken by Russian invaders, a slow and dangerous process through which Ukraine has reclaimed roughly one-half of the ground Russian previously occupied.
Ukrainian progress with the counteroffensive has been slow moving due to the layers of Russian defenses including barbed wire, minefields and of course mechanized armed resistance, yet US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin believes the US and its multi-national group of Ukraine supporters remain optimistic and steadfast in their support for Ukraine’s effort.
“I think they are prepared for combat in the winter, and certainly they did a great job last year. This year, we expect for them to be, just based upon what the President has said, President Zelenskyy has said, for them to be even more aggressive. In this latest drawdown package that I just mentioned, we’ve included some winter gear as well,” Austin told reporters during a recent visit to Ukraine. They’ve taken back half the prog- — half the — the ground that the Russians originally occupied. I think that’s a pretty big deal.”
The latest Biden administration “drawdown” support package for Ukraine also includes the continued flow of anti-armor weapons such as TOW missiles, Javelins and Stinger anti-air weapons designed to enable small, lethal groups of dismounted units to attack and destroy Russian armored platforms. While clearly the arrival of larger platforms such as Abrams tanks, Bradleys and F-16s are having an impact on the ground for Ukrainians and they can enable counterattackers to breach Russian defenses, occupy and “hold” territory, there is still a critical need for small, mobile anti-armor weapons as well.
“If you look at the damage that they’ve (Ukrainians) created the Russians land forces overall, it’s significant, and it will take Russia quite a while to recover from that in order to create the kind of force that it had before this began,” Austin said.
The decision to send more anti-armor weapons does seem to indicate a continued Ukrainian resolve to remain aggressive, because while they require high-risk dismounted maneuvers away from armored protection, the use of smaller anti-armor weapons has remained effective against Russian formations. It represents a willingness to continue high-risk dismounted anti-armor attacks as a way to advance through Russian defenses. These tactics were used with great effect in a defensive capacity at the beginning of the war when invading Russian mechanized forces were stopped, disabled and destroyed by determined Ukrainian fighters carrying Javelins and Stingers. Now, it appears Ukrainians will also increasingly use these anti-armor weapons for offensive maneuvers to a greater extent as well.
Kris Osborn is the Military Affairs Editor of 19 FortyFive and President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
