Wolfgang Elms / Keystone / DPA
Ukrainian fighters are increasingly receiving advanced and high-tech weapons from abroad. However, its operation and maintenance is not so easy.
More than 100 days after Russia invaded Ukraine, pledges from the West to supply Ukraine with heavy-precision weapons began to take shape. This would enable Ukrainian soldiers to better defend themselves against Russian attacks, which destroy entire cities with long-range artillery.
Great Britain announced on Monday that it will send several M270 multiple rocket launchers with a range of up to 80 kilometers to Ukraine. According to a report in El Pais newspaper, Spain also wants to deliver German Leopard 2 A4 battle tanks and anti-aircraft missiles to the country. The United States had announced a few days ago the delivery of long-range weapons. Germany wants to deliver seven Panzerhaubitz 2000s from the Bundeswehr stockpile to Ukraine. Even heavy equipment such as anti-aircraft tanks is no longer a taboo.
Training delays publishing on the site
But no one in the Ukrainian army knows how to use it. Training Ukrainian soldiers in the use of high-tech equipment became a major obstacle, which significantly delayed their deployment on the ground. According to the plans of the British government, training of the missile launch system planned for Ukraine is scheduled to take place in Great Britain. Training on tanks from Spain will take place first in Latvia and later in Spain. On May 11, training of Ukrainian soldiers on tank-mounted howitzers began in Germany. It is due to be completed about 40 days later in June, Tagesspiegel reported.
However, some high-end hardware is already in use on site – and causing problems there. Over a month ago, for example, the Dmytro Pysanka artillery unit secured a high-tech range finder from the West that uses laser technology to measure distances. If the kaleidoscope reads the numbers and lines correctly, it provides the information needed to calculate an accurate target.
User manual via translation software
“It’s like getting an iPhone 13 and just being able to make calls,” complains Dmytro Pysanka in the New York Times. Some soldiers managed to get the device working but then went elsewhere, leaving the unit with a useless piece of technology. “I tried to learn how to use it by reading the manual in English and using Google Translate to understand it,” Pisanka told the US newspaper.
The dilemma highlights the problems associated with Ukraine’s demands for Western high-tech weapons and equipment: whether it’s anti-tank missiles, howitzers, or satellite-guided missiles – Ukrainian forces must know how to use them. This does not work without proper training, which sometimes takes months due to the technology required.
Maintenance is also important. “The Ukrainians are keen to use Western equipment, but training is required to maintain it,” Michael Kaufman, director of Russian studies at CNA, a research institute in Arlington, Virginia, told the New York Times. Analysts say that if the weapons were provided without adequate training, there could be the same disaster that occurred in Afghanistan, where the United States supplied the Afghan military with equipment that could not be maintained without massive logistical support.
Last but not least, the delivery of such high-tech weapons is not without risks, writes Wirtschaftswoche. Military experts fear that a howitzer could fall into the hands of the Russians in 2000. This would give the aggressor some kind of building instruction and he could make similar weapons.
