Researching capabilities for urban ops & asymmetric war. PhD in repressive COIN. Schooled in then-defensive 🇬🇧 army, 🇴🇲 & Cold War. Critiques to refine.
How do militaries avoid future urban war repeating the strategic disaster of 1st Fallujah? Pleased our monograph analysing media reporting of 6 battles, with recommendations, published by EuroISME today. Research at Macquarie & Charles Sturt Universities.
@WarintheFuture
As you say, nothing new. The Soviets had two battalions of tele-tanks in the Winter War of 1939, which helped breach the Mannerheim line. They even had rudimentary 'TV' by 1941. Stalin's execution of Vladimir Bekauri & his engineers ended the capability.
Troops seem relaxed about safety angles! Difficult to draw tactical observations from context free clips, but this does reinforce the observation that urban training areas, with a couple of honourable exceptions, don't replicate the combat environment.
@Mr_Andrew_Fox
Huge agree, Andrew. This is compounded by the fact that , absent personal contacts, there are virtually no reliable unclassified sources of truth (& UK reliance on US product may occasionally threaten even that). We have to triangulate from the InfoOps product of both sides.
Urbanistas take note. Thermobaric munition launchers are key to urban TTP in both 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳. Both have dedicated unit for employing them in close combat, but far easier to train a soldier to be competent in one than competent in CQB.
@JaysonGeroux
@INTELonIRAN
Depending on who you consider the attackers, the early stages of the 1937 Battle of Shanghai saw wide directed counter-attacks as did Dachang. Similarly early (Oct) Khorramshahr 1980 saw the Pasandran check the Iraqis who were pushed back by probably spontaneous Iraninan actions.
@LtCatra
Gurkha gate guard at the 🇴🇲 Zeek Special Forces Camp to Sultan Qaboos. "Yes, your majesty, I know exactly who you are but my orders are not to let anybody inside without an ID card - so you may not pass"
.....duty officer let HM in - who promptly promoted the soldier.
@daly_eddie
@JaysonGeroux
@INTELonIRAN
Urban stay behind is an old tactic, used against an incautious enemy - but it is high risk, so more common in martydom cultures. Small groups may be trapped & rapidly eliminated, while larger ones are more likely to be discovered in hiding & are then massed & very vulnerable.
It is astounding to see how far Singapore is ahead of most militaries in urban training infrastructure - noting also the massive (Bn Level) live fire complex they have built at Shoalwater Bay in Australia.
Why are they able to decide and act at scale and others don't?
@FromKulak
Wow. I relish your contesting, but this is going off the reservation.
I've been to Bergen-Belsen. A partners mother was in Auschwitz. I've talked to unrepentant Nazis who lamented not finishing the job. It's about as 'proven' as it can be.
@mlcombatives
@malsaafin
That's not an argument for genocide (it might be one against what some definitions call genocide), rather it seems to be an argument against creating another generation even readier to embrace martyrdom to destroy Israel.
An underappreciated capability for urban warfare. Esp. with UAV & guided munitions the Tyulpan gives 🇷🇺 commanders an assured capability to stand off, swiftly & systemically collapse buildings & destroy strong points, without Western-like dependence on air superiority & weather.
Video of 2S4 Tyulpan 240mm heavy mortars from the Western Military District's 45th High-Power Artillery Brigade conducting a live-fire exercise in Tambov with Orlan-10 UAVs. 5/
@Tendar
It really just speaks volumes about the poor training or education of Russian technicians. There are many, many ways to sabotage an aircraft with minimal signature, some irreversibly, including with household materials.
Photo illustrates the long forgotten feature that made the rubble-agile Churchill chassis ideal for urban combat. The side hatches allowed covered dismounting - mainly from AVRE - Sappers to hand place demolition charges - later infantry dismounting the Kangaroo HAPC version.
Urbanistas. Some of the 🇺🇦/🇷🇺 participants are re-learning that for room/bunker clearing you may need more HE blast effect than the standard grenade. Past learning is suggested by widely (re) introducing satchel charges (4lb+) & concussion grenades from ~1917 & ~1943 (8oz fill).
@GravitysRa1nbow
This may be wrong. This may even be distorted by Agitprop: it reflects some Russian commentary. However, it is pretty much the first article of its kind that examines the Russians as rational actors without partisan bias. It deserves deconstruction, not ad hominem.
A reminder that competent urban warfare is a machine & explosive munition enabled slog through broken buildings and rubble. 'Room clearing' is a good foundation for drills, but if you just train for 'SF style' room to room CQB you risk a trajectory to a bloody attritional fight
@johnrobb
has been challenging us to reflect on the deeper drivers of societal, and thus military unravelling since Brave New War. What he writes is uncomfortable. That's why it is worth reading.
US forces being surrounded in Kabul is a military blunder but it isn't discussed.
We fought a war over WMDs that didn't exist, but nobody was held accountable.
95% of PPE production was outsourced to China (etc.), so we didn't have enough when COVID arrived. Crickets.
cont.
@LanceForman
@sentdefender
No. The ICRC can operate only with the agreement & invitation of the parties to the conflict. The nature of much of their work is not public. They pursue agreements, compromises & least worst outcomes with those engaged in brutal lethal struggles. They are not IHL police.
@Tatarigami_UA
Thank you for sharing this fascinating document - it would be great to have an English (or machine readable) version . I don't read Russian, but I can see enduring features such as Troika & coveraging - but also oddities such as allocation of D30 to the detachment.
@thinkdefence
Most commentators are missing one of the huge advantages of CVR-T. It can breach into, manoeuvre through, hide in and fight from buildings.
@SpencerGuard
As John says, wall breaching for movement is a basic defensive preparation in buildings. However, few armies actually practise it in training (& its hard work), so when they get to fight an unexpected urban battle, like the Filipinos in Marawi, they get surprised by 'rat holes'.
Urban warfare. Could we do better if we have to? Will war in Ukraine prompt Western armies to develop new capabilities to avoid/reduce the default to 'fighting by bombardment'?
The current issue that 🇮🇪 is experiencing with 🇷🇺 naval exercises is a good example of the consequences of a policy of weak armed neutrality (as is a now-weak 🇸🇪 considering joining NATO). This is relevant to those who commend neutrality for 🇭🇲.
Ireland can neither detect nor deter Russian naval activity off its coastline - including operations involving nuclear-powered submarines, a potential threat to transatlantic subsea cables. A question - if we can’t/won’t do we need to be in an alliance where others can do so?
IDF destroyed a major Hamas compound today. In the video you can see the combined assault with armour and infantry. No casualties on IDF side during this battle.
'War Crimes': a cautionary thread.
1/13) The term war crime is being indiscriminately used, not only by politicians who are evidently poorly advised but by senior military commentators and NGO who should know better.
@Mr_Andrew_Fox
🤔Thank you for the clear statement of your position. From afar, and as someone who applauds your work and thinking, I'm puzzled that, as a student of communication, you don't concieve it as being read as anything but pro-Israel in an everyday sense (which is totally defensible).
@TimothyDSnyder
I understand the political or moral point you are making, but from a survey design perspective the question should minimise framing if you seek validity. We actually want to identify all perspectives. In war it may be far more important to understand opponents than supporters.
@ichbinilya
@Jack_Watling
The report is inept on IHL & protected structures/persons. It failed to focus on how a commanders reasonable belief there are military objects or combatants in populated areas may make their engagement & collateral lawful. That is true whether you are shelling Donetsk or Kyiv.
1/19 Explainer thread
Soviet urban warfare doctrine.
🇷🇺, & prob 🇺🇦 doctrine is anchored in the Great Patriotic War concepts that emerged at Stalingrad in 1943 & were refined in the 'battle lab' of the drive West, especially in the city battles between the Dnieper & the Oder.
Russian military social media is not mere propaganda - often being surprisingly candid about own failings, and reflects that they are (re)learning rapidly. This 'grab' describes Ukranian use of COTS camera in defending buildings.
'Piering' - an example for those who don't know the term.
Piering is an unrecognised issue for both tracked & wheeled AFV moving amongst rubble and within buildings on urban terrain - because Western armies have no/few suitable training areas to practise (driving or unpiering)
Another gem for my Urbanista colleagues. The direct assault of buildings with AFV largely faded out of training and then memory as MBT became exquisite with fragile fittings and sensitive barrel alignment. Yes, you can do it in training at minimal risk [trail a tow cable].
@rgpoulussen
It is a demonstration of the principle & technique of applying lead and firing ahead of aircraft. A model aircraft on a pole or string is moved briskly and the firer has to 'fire' well ahead of the model in order for the stream (representing bullets) to strike the model.
How did Hamas cross the obstace barriers? Here is a breach training video (from Telegram). Note the use of bangalore torpedoes at the beginning and subsequently carefully fabricated linear shaped charges tailored to different target types.
@rgpoulussen
The instructor is using an aiming disc. It has an aperture in the centre where the soldier aims. The instructor is checking that the rifle is properly held to naturally point at the target, the breathing cycle is correct and the trigger is squeezed gently & followed through.
Urbanistas. To develop sound urban capability, we need a challenging training enemy that does not mirror our paradigms. To provide this, I wrote the Olvanan urban warfare for the (5-eyes, US TRADOC-led) Decisive Action Training Environment (DATE).
@McFaul
Who else has argued taxpaying = culpability?
"The American people are the ones who pay the taxes which fund the planes that bomb us in Afghanistan, the tanks that strike and destroy our homes in Palestine, the armies which occupy our lands..." OBL
Urbanistas. Here is some valuable thinking about armoured urban raiding from Singapore. Worth noting they are probably 'leading the charge' worldwide with investment in all arms urban training capability (the facility is in Australia).
@ChasAHKnight
@ElbridgeColby
1. It is a raid, as SG’s goal in forward defence is to destroy the EN will to fight — not the desire to hold onto Putrajaya.
2. The SAF invested in Leopard 2SGs, Hunter AFVs, Bionix 2s & Broncos to conduct a raid, past the Mersing line — that the SAF must hold for a long time.
Check out the Practitioners Annotated Bibliography on Urban Warfare. "This annotated collection is for those who will fight the next war - and those who support, train and equip them.
#ReadyNowFutureReady
Head to:
@DefenceHQ
@Dr_R_D
@NZDefenceForce
@DefenceU
Legitimate 🇳🇿 warriors. Watch how the Mãori handles his Mere. During the recent
@AARCAusArmy
NZ Wars Staff Ride we learned Taiaha could beat 🇬🇧 bayonets ⬇️.
Assaults of artillery-protective Pã forced the 🇬🇧 into 'CQB' in trenches where Mãori prevailed.
Much discussion about Russian 'tank canopies' in the last year. Here is a brief perspective from their side - because we need to triangulate. Noting that almost any material from either side may involve InfoOps, this is still interesting.
For 13 years, Birdie gave our family loyalty, love, and joy. Running with us on Mount Cootha, splashing in the surf, bouncing herself on the trampoline: always smiling. Today, her pack fed her those favourite treats, then gathered around & cuddled her as we said goodbye.
@DrRadchenko
Yes, Russia has been egregious, but this is contemporary urban war. Can you name an urban battle with a prepared, determined defender that has not involved massive bombardment by the attacker? In 1944/5, there were alternative capabilities (flame & large direct fire). No longer.
OK, this is InfoOps, but yet it shows an armoured sappers war. Reshaping the battlefield with Blades & HE to neutralise & dislocate IED & ambush positions. Overwatch from cover.
@Ninja998998
Let's not get too wrapped about whether there are better ways to take on tanks. This is outstanding confidence training and demonstrates an army that is considering the problems of Urban combat and then building facilities to train for it.
BMP-T Not new footage but shows the use of smoke dischargers. Russian sources claim they are performing well (Mandy Rice-Davies caveat applies), but the ability to engage through obscurants is a very significant advantage & particularly promising against light anti armour teams.
Like most of my generation, I was shot at, shelled, mortared, rocketed, hit by an IED and near missed by a suicide bomber over my career.
But these horrendous FPV drones so prevalent in Ukraine now are a whole new level of terrifyingly fear inducing. 👇
Urbanistas. Useful footage. Mariupol. Edited for IO effect, so view critically: shows some detail & nature of urban fighting & suggests TTP. Clip from doco which appears to be blocked
Excellent overview of IDF capabilities, although it does not cover the Engineer Corps & their multitude of specialised AFV & Subterranean elements. Their use of both UGV systems & dogs is substantial & mature, though not very visible.
I see a lot of underestimating/overestimating of Israel’s military so I did this thread on IDF’s current/future…imho Israel isn’t “weak” but it has nowhere near the capacity required (in troops & kit) for a genuine regional war….they won’t take Cairo or Istanbul or Tehran
@un_a_valeable
This is an excellent HAPC (copying the IDF). Those who decry front arc dismounting have not studied urban warfare - it is a brilliant feature (first approximated by Churchill AVRE) allowing precise delivery of assault troops INTO urban objectives. Here's why that's possible ⬇️
Urbanistas. The IDF has the world's best tactical capabilities for urban operations. So far, that is evident. What do you make of 🇮🇱 InfoOps? Has IDF media become complacent from communicating to uncritical audiences, or are they trying to sell a bad message? ...or is this fine?
Urbanistas, this is significant. Not the dependence on the God of War, rather the assertion that trained TTPs were ineffective. We could dismiss this as deceptive or justifying failure, except that there is pre-war footage showing training as described.
We still do it that way.
A.Khodakovsky woke up to realisation the only "working" tactic of Russian forces is destroying everything they see, admitting to "consequences" of their actions in Mariupol that led to huge well-documented losses from a much smaller garrison. Wants the same treatment of Vuhledar.
The future of War Is increasingly Urban. Not just because our asymmetric adversaries have chosen to fight us there, but because we will have to go there to survive when fighting peer adversaries.
Tanks, artillery in the open, absolutely no camouflage. Easy targets. We are already seeing this quickly transition to the urban terrain in these areas where advanced military ISR and strike capabilities are degraded. It is something to watch very closely.
#urbanwarfare
@Tatarigami_UA
Thank you. This is as much an information war as a kinetic one. Any open source figure is likely to be dis/mis information. Some sources will probably eventually be proven approximately correct
@SpencerGuard
I half seriously wonder if we should include not just rhetorical skills but stand up comedy in leadership courses? Pres Zelenski has proved a master of communicating with influence & fine judgement. Going to the front is not just a personal risk, but a national one. Real courage.
From Telegram, purportedly hand thermobaric grenades (models?). RGT-27S has a rectangular shape & is intended for use in trenches, on slopes, & due to the magnetic element against unarmored vehicles. Cylindrical RGT-27S2 is designed for use in confined spaces.
@nicholadrummond
Is yours not a rhetorical question? Boxer is an excellent self-deploying platform, but you, of all people, must know that it cannot go where a L400-3 (or an M113) can. If I'm mistaken, let's have some sand, bog, rubble & steep soft-soil slope traverse Boxer footage please?
@3BrigadeTSV
Great to see combined arms fire and manoeuvre being practised assaulting a substantial trench system - lots of excellent preparatory work evident!
@JaysonGeroux
@SpencerGuard
I'd put it more dynamically.
John is leading.
He saw a need, stepped out from an analytic identity, took the risk, and gave the Ukranians his best shot 80% solution immediately - and is now iteratively refining it. Kudos.
@Mr_Andrew_Fox
Thank you Andrew, this is a clear summary of a rational pro-🇮🇱 position in a conflict not amenable to rationality. It highlights why the struggle will likely continue & provide a dangerous (to us) rallying point for Islamism across the world & opportunity for 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳.
NATO & Co largely abandoned smoke capability except for artillery & AFV dischargers and even then rarely practice manouvre in screens. 🇷🇺 has kept developing these tools and this aerosol system is worth looking at.
3) Aerosol smokescreen cover in visible and infrared bands for air defense assets and the defended area.
Equipment used -
OPFOR: Takhion, Zastava, Orlan-10 UAVs.
Defenders: EW Pole-21, Zhitel', Svet-KU; thermo-smoke TDA-3; radar P-19 Dunai, Niobiy, AD Tor-M1
@Mr_Andrew_Fox
Andrew, you appear, after consideration, taken a partisan position. To your credit, you explain and don't conceal that. Sharing casualty imagery is a vexed issue, especially since Hamas appears to have used atrocity brilliantly to provoke anger: as indeed your own posts indicate.
@TimothyDSnyder
@MikeLogan_5
@bellingcat
The careful bellingcat report is an important OS examination of GVC, and reveals who is involved in targeting. So far it does not reveal what was targeted. Let's wait for the evidence before we move beyond 'possible war crimes'. Eventual prosecution demands thourogh steps now.
@general_ben
Sir, history is built with a contest of perspectives. I disagree with Max Hastings on occasion, but your use of "once-famous" seems ad hominem. This is a thought-provoking piece about 🇪🇺 attitudes that merits specific reply - not least because recognition must precede countering.
@WarintheFuture
Trench combat at any time since the 1890's might have appeared like this. What is unprecedented is that drones have allowed close combat to be seen in all its messy brutality, confusion, error, courage, fear, honour, paralysis, perfidy & blood - that which veterans rarely convey.
@Mr_Andrew_Fox
Your perspective is valuable Andrew, but why are you astonished? The shifting Overton window on attitudes to Palestinians is surely a predictable response to the antagonising effect of IDF operations? "Terrorism only works when you do what the terrorist wants" (Fromkin 1975).
1/3 Urban dilemmas. 🇺🇦 leaders face difficult decisions in cities. While accepting the civilian cost & waging protracted urban defence may succeed or force a Pyrrhic victory on 🇷🇺, most urban battles are decisive defeats for defenders with greater losses than on open terrain.
@DuendeenF
@SpencerGuard
I saw comment from a Russian military commentator early in the war say that all war is about economics, and this is no exception.
@Stu_Lyle
@kingsbury_ollie
Stu you are being too courteous. This is the third recent '🇬🇧 Army' clip showing poor TTP. As others have pointed out, soldiers do adsorb this stuff - with malign consequences. Perhaps it is time for
@kingsbury_ollie
to have a quiet word with Army Public Affairs? (Please 🙏).
OK Urban folks, this is significant. An army running a trial that gets AFV back inside structures to support the urban fight. Another technique that troops have regularly reinvented & forgotten since 1918 - with the honourable exception of Bundeswehr 1980's doctrine.
@rgpoulussen
Yes, it is a device for demonstrating and practising aim off for engaging aircraft. The target model plane was sometimes on a wire and sometimes on a stick.Also used for demonstrating theory of MG fire on rising, falling and flat ground at different ranges from the gun.
Hailing Urbanistas! This is great. We might differ on the proposed design, but
@jedpc
creating a graphic for Twitter is an excellent way to prompt capability thinking and conversations. (Nod to the ex USMC 🇨🇦 chap who earlier suggested something similar for their Leopard 1s)
@ChasAHKnight
@Stu_Lyle
@SpencerGuard
Which is why, and forgive my terrible MS Paint skilz, we should be turning the Challenger 2's into something like this - offer something specific and special to our allies. Yes its missing an APS, my drawing / cut and paste was not up to adding one..... :-)
@Tatarigami_UA
The use of lacrimating or riot control agents is prohibited in interstate war. Both parties appear to have used them in Ukraine. One of the reasons for maintaining that this is a Special Military Operation may be to deny that this is interstate war?
Applaud 🇺🇦 courage, but let's curb the naive enthusiasm for killing people doing their duty that's creeping into twitter. It seems that 🇷🇺 has so far chosen to sparingly use its firepower designed for exactly this type of fight. This is what it does where heroic resistance is met
@BO3673
Beg to differ, there was a reason we kept these till the late 80's: there were plenty of veterans around who knew that 'toy' entrenching tools don't do the job in a peer on peer war.
It is a fair indication of confidence in capability if you are prepare to show your training to the public. Thanks to
@karl_rieder
s advice I have just observed a 🇨🇭 Army open day. The invite said it was a Company, but I stopped counting at 60 AFV.
Too soon to assess reports of actions by the Egyptian military, but the contention in Arabic (use translate) suggests that this is a phenomenon of substance?
Egyptian/Saudi TV is now demanding that Egyptian society mobilize to back the EAF in a response aka the scenario that was once unthinkable is actually quite likely & this is the beginning of a “rally around the flag” phase aka it’s over….Camp David is done.
@Seveerity
It is an OG-7, a recoilless NON Rocket propelled grenade for the RPG-7 launcher & equivalent - (AR-7V Bulgarian analogue on the left shows its configuration well). A lot more bang than Western 40mm, useful for stripping doors & windows or tree burst above enemy in close country.
A reminder that 🇷🇺/🇺🇦 is at least 50% Info Ops & both sides are playing to win. It does not really matter which side is making this film - or if it is 'double bluff'. Consume critically (ask who benefits & how?) & remember 'pro faction A' messaging may come from 'faction B'.