As Ukrainian Defenses Collapse, What Can US Patriots Learn From The Conflict?

By Brandon Smith

In my article ‘Russia Is About To Overrun Ukraine’s Defenses – Why Are There No Peace Negotiations’ published in May, I outlined my reasons for predicting a near term collapse of Ukrainian front line defenses and a sweeping territory grab by Russian forces. Since the early months of the war my primary argument has been that Ukraine is trying to hide steep declines in manpower, and that this ruse would eventually be exposed. Bottom line? Wars are won by men, not by DARPA technology and suitcases of fiat cash.

A year ago mainstream analysts said Ukrainians troops (with NATO’s help) would soon destroy the Russian military and party on the beaches of Crimea. Today, the establishment admits manpower shortages are a reality and they admit Russia is overrunning Ukraine’s defensive positions all over the front. Soon, Russia will control the entirety of the Donbas region and beyond using attrition warfare.

The “experts” have no idea what they’re talking about, or, they’re lying to the public on purpose. Either way their opinions are not to be trusted.

As a student of history (and of military tactics) I can only relate to you what I see with an objective eye. I’m not in Ukraine and not on the front lines looking from both sides (and neither are the experts). I’m not privy to special intel and I don’t have access to the war rooms in Kyiv or the Kremlin (and neither are the experts). My goal here is NOT to break down a play-by-play of the war, I only hope to point out the greater truths being uncovered as the situation unfolds.

The kind of war we are seeing in Ukraine has not been fought by a western military since Korea. When it comes to industrial scale attrition warfare there are NO REAL EXPERTS in the western world still working at the Department of Defense. They don’t exist.

It is here that I want to begin because there are many patriots in the US preparing for what we believe will be widespread internal and external conflagration – Regional wars in multiple nations as well as rebellions here at home. What do the events in Ukraine teach us about the future of war? What classic assumptions have been debunked and what are the odds of success in the new strategic world? Let’s get started…

Maneuver Warfare Is Dying

The core emphasis of maneuver warfare is the use of initiative and surprise; the fast coordination of units to envelop the enemy before he realizes what is happening. It relies on shock and awe to demoralize, the idea being that the enemy can be defeated by chasing him down and using superior technology to render his defensive positions useless (the doctrine of the Vietnam War). It’s hard to say if these tactics ever really worked, but what we know now is that they will not work in future wars.

NATO doctrine in particular is proving to be quite useless. It relies too heavily on minimizing losses to highly trained officers. All maneuver warfare requires finely tuned tactics combined with technological know-how. Once experienced officers are shot down replacing them is difficult. Where Russia might be able to sustain hundreds-of-thousands of casualties, western armies are often broken by a fraction of those losses.

US patriots would do well to remember this. An enemy using maneuver doctrine loses when his best trained soldiers and officers are dead and he cannot coordinate fast attacks. An enemy using attrition doctrine loses when he is required to rush into an attack. Losing resources will force him to rush.

Drones Have Changed Everything

A big game changer is drones: Small cheap air surveillance with 4K cameras that are difficult to counter. Both Russia and NATO are quickly learning the threat these devices represent on the battlefields of Ukraine, and no, I’m not talking about the exploding FPV drones that chase down soldiers. I suspect most of those videos are fake anyway.

The real danger is in constant air based surveillance, 24/7, around the clock, always watching. Maneuver warfare requires the swift relocation of larger units without the enemy being aware; with cheap drones this is no longer possible. All large scale troop movements can be predicted and countered using nothing more than a handful of $3000 toys.

This is why Russia shifted quickly into attrition tactics. Now, they push their front line forward a few hundred yards at a time instead of trying to gain miles of territory in wild offensives. The DoD thinks maneuver tactics are still viable, but in order to successfully maneuver without the enemy’s knowledge you must fully control the skies. With drones, no one controls the skies anymore. It’s a free-for-all.

Infrastructure And Resource Devastation Is More Important Than Killing The Enemy

In 2022 during the Russian pull back many pro-Ukraine pundits cheered, proclaiming the war would soon be over. I warned in multiple articles that Russia was not retreating from the battle, only establishing a more solid front. I also predicted that Russia would immediately begin systematic bombardment of Ukraine’s utility grids. This is exactly what happened less than a month later.

I don’t think many in the west are aware of the level of destruction that has been dealt to Ukraine’s infrastructure. The majority of the country is without power for large parts of the day and the situation is only getting worse. Their water resources are limited at best. Only the grids serving major cities like Kyiv are afforded repair, and these repairs are a band-aid.

Patriots already plan for grid own scenarios, but they should also recognize the value of infrastructure attacks on an enemy that relies heavily on conventional logistics. Ukraine might be brought down, not by invading troops but by failing electricity and lack of clean water.

Smaller, Faster And More Discreet – The Future Of Combat

Interestingly, commanders in Ukraine on both sides are beginning to rely more and more on small units with a limited footprint. The name of the game in war today is “small signature” deployments. This is the use of squads to reduce visual and thermal signature and prevent targeting by drones or artillery. In other words, massive conventional armies are turning to guerrilla tactics as a way to survive and achieve successful strikes on defensive positions.

I could actually foresee an era when wars are ONLY fought using small teams of soldiers, supported by a host of drones and long range ordnance. Tanks are mostly useless now. Traditional air power is being slowly negated. Battalion sized movements are impossible without being quickly countered and even platoon sized elements are identified before they ever reach their destination.

Instead of moving in big groups that are easily targeted the Russians in particular are relying on a flurry of small unit attacks over a wide area using fast transportation (like motorcycles). They hit numerous targets along hundreds of miles of the front, forcing the Ukrainians to stretch out their defenses and resources. This is usually the way in which guerrillas fight; now everyone is doing it.

The Time Of The Guerrilla Is At Hand

The events in Ukraine showcase the many weaknesses of conventional armies.  American patriots have been told for decades that any attempt to defend ourselves against an authoritarian government backed by a technologically advanced military machine is pointless. Our “AR15s can’t do anything against an F-16,” right?

We are now discovering the opposite is true. F-16’s are useless to Ukraine. What their soldiers want more than anything right now is more training for recruits, more thermal and night vision devices, more drones, better optics for their rifles and better gear for front line fighters. Jets and tanks are a novelty.

With the proliferation of cheap drones, for the first time ever civilian defense groups now have the ability to put eyes (and advanced weapons) in the sky. They can track larger enemy elements and prevent surprise attacks that anti-insurgent forces rely on. That is to say, guerrillas will still have the element of surprise but traditional forces will not.

Going Underground – The Return Of The Tunnel Rats

Americans first encountered intricate underground defenses in the Pacific Theater during WWII (Okinawa being the most impressive example). We saw them again in North Korea and yet again in Vietnam. In Ukraine the method is starting to become more common.

I would argue that future wars will be launched mainly from underground installations and tunnel systems. Drones rely on exploiting three-dimensional movement and are useless in enclosed spaces. This is a method that patriots need to adopt. Tunnel building will be a mainstay for decades to come.

Every Aspect Of War Will Now Be Televised

As long as the internet is a functional part of everyday life wars will now be recorded on an intimate scale never seen before. Every battle, every tiny movement or firefight, every win and every loss and every casualty will be documented. This means that web-based propaganda will become integral to any war effort.

In other words, governments will seek to implant fake news and fake video footage everywhere. The goal will be to make the fantasy indiscernible from fact and confuse the public on what is actually happening. This condition is brutally apparent in the Ukraine war where at least half the population of the west still thinks Ukraine is “winning.” The more duped the population, the easier it will be to convince them to support ongoing operations and even conscription.

The information war will become more important that the actual war. Patriots will have to understand how to deconstruct propaganda as much as they will have to know how to shoot.

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