Anticipating A Russian Attack, The Ukrainian Army Trained Its Tank Crews To Fight Like Artillery

The tank corps wasn't prepared for the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine. Russian brigades with their thousands of T-72s and T-80s were no match for the Ukrainian army's two tank brigades and 10 mechanized brigades.

The Ukrainians were able to learn quickly. Russian brigades were faced with a bigger and better-equipped Ukrainian tank corps.

In a new study for the Royal United Services Institute in London, analysts explained the evolution of the Ukrainian tank corps. The Ukrainians doubled their armored force structure with the addition of T-64s, T-80s, and T-72s.

The Ukrainian tanks practiced firing their guns at high angles in order to extend their range. The technique blurs the line between tanks and guns.

After the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian armored corps expanded to six tank brigades, 13 mechanized brigades, five air assault brigades and two marine brigades.

The Russian armored corps was larger and more advanced. Some of the latest T-90s were included in the 2,800 tanks that the Russian invaders had.

It turned out that the mismatch didn't matter. Russian and Ukrainian doctrine doesn't rely on armor to destroy armor, so analysts didn't expect a lot of tank-on-tank combat. Tanks help to pin down and isolated enemy troops so that they can't deliver the blow.

If one army has more tanks than the other, that doesn't mean anything. How well each army uses its tanks is more important than anything else.

By the year 2022, the Ukrainian army almost matched the Russian invasion force with gun for gun. At the beginning of the conflict, the difference in numbers between Russian and Ukrainian weaponry was not significant.

The Russian army had 2,433 pieces and the Ukrainian army had 1,668 pieces. The Ukrainians were able to deploy virtually all of their big guns, whereas the Russians were not. Russia still needs to keep some forces along its borders.

The Ukrainians went to war earlier this year with as many pieces of weaponry as the invaders had, and with enough modern tanks to fix the invaders so they could hit them.

The Ukrainian armed forces trained their tanker to fight. The RUSI analysts wrote that the U Air Force changed traditional approaches and developed techniques for indirect fire. That is, shooting high at targets that are far away. Normally, like artillery does.

High-explosive projectiles are used for this task. The use of guidance devices is required.

It was possible to achieve high accuracy up to six miles. It is three times farther than a tank gun shoots. The Ukrainian methods reduced the amount of time it took to calculate fire corrections.

The value of this technique is that it allows tanks to concentrate fire over a wide area while they can maneuver without the protection and screening needed by Artillery pieces.

In a pinch, Ukraine's tanks can do the job of shelling more efficiently. The range of a purpose-built howitzer doesn't match the range of a tank. In places where nearby armored battalions are needed for protection, armored battalions are able to protect themselves.

These results speak for themselves. The Russians increased their war on Ukraine this year with more equipment. The Russian attack was blunted by the Ukrainians and they retaliated.