In the first two months of the war in Ukraine, the United States learned a great deal about the shortcomings and capabilities of the Russian military, senior Pentagon officials told Congress on Tuesday.
However, they warned that Moscow was learning from its mistakes as the war entered a new phase and that it would determine what artillery and other weapons systems the United States would provide.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Council of Chiefs of Staff of the United States Armed Forces, General Mark Millie, told the Senate Subcommittee, which monitors government spending, that if Congress approves funding, things Ukraine has the most -critical need are anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft missiles, and surface-to-air missiles, which are fired from the shoulder. Mili also said that given the fact that the fighting is concentrated in Donbas, eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian forces need more tanks and mechanized vehicles than those supplied by the United States and other countries.
The coming weeks will be crucial, US officials said.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February, the United States had provided the Ukrainian military with weapons and equipment worth about $ 1 billion. In addition, they trained Ukrainian forces for years. After the invasion, the United States spent another $ 3.7 billion on weapons and other aid, with President Joe Biden’s administration asking Congress to approve an additional $ 33 billion in the military and other aid.
Some senators, including Patti Murray of Washington State, urged Austin and Millie whether the weapons reached the soldiers at the front or were diverted or stored. Austin said it was difficult to know, as there were no US troops in Ukraine to control the flow of weapons. However, he noted that US officials often spoke with their Ukrainian counterparts and stressed the need for accountability in the distribution of weapons.
Austin described Russia’s failures in the beginning, including the logistical difficulties, encountered almost immediately by Russian forces, and their difficulty in obtaining food, water, and other necessary supplies.
“Observing the development of events, we saw how they can not cope with logistics, how they initially made some bad assumptions, we saw how they failed to coordinate their air strikes with their ground maneuvers, a whole range of mistakes. I attribute this largely to lack. of lower-level leadership, “Austin said.
Leadership problems, he noted, led Russia to send generals to the front, where many were killed.
Austin said the United States expects some of these mistakes to be repeated amid escalating fighting in Donbas and southern Ukraine and Russia’s attempts to gain control of large areas and link Donbas to Crimea (the Black Sea peninsula Russia annexed in March 2014) across the coast of the Sea of Azov and Mariupol.
However, they will learn from their mistakes in the early stages of this battle. And we will see how they will start to deal better with logistics. We will also see how they will cope better with the coordination of fire. However, there are some things to be able to correct, “said the US Secretary of Defense.
Austin and Millie said Russia’s failure to train young commanders to make decisions had led to an overly hierarchical structure in the Russian military that was not as flexible and efficient as Ukrainian forces.
Millie pointed out that the United States and other Western countries have taught Ukrainian forces the principle of mission command and decentralized control and tactics that are much more appropriate in a dynamic conflict.
He added that the United States had “opened the channels”, had sent “a significant amount of intelligence” to Ukraine before the invasion, and had continued to provide information since the start of hostilities.
President Joe Biden, meanwhile, has nominated General Christopher Cavoli for the next top US general in Europe and commander-in-chief of NATO’s Allied forces. Cavoli is currently Head of US Army Command Europe and Africa. His nomination is yet to be considered by the Senate. If approved, he will succeed Air Force General Todd Walters.
