According to "Military," retired U.S. Major Daniel L. Davis wrote that although the U.S. military is well-equipped and boasts being "number one," it is actually completely unprepared for modern warfare, especially the new combat models that have emerged on the Ukraine battlefield.

The article mentioned that just at the beginning of this month, the Ukrainian military even publicly mocked the latest version of the U.S. "Tank Platoon Operations Manual," stating that these articles were completely detached from battlefield reality and far removed from real warfare.

Davis said that the U.S. military still lives in the old mindset of the Iraq War, obsessed with deterrence strikes and quick victories, but has completely failed to realize that modern warfare has entered a stage dominated by drones.

He used the Ukraine conflict as an example, emphasizing that in the current situation where drones have changed the battlefield, the U.S. military's theoretical system, equipment structure, personnel training, and operational concepts have almost not adapted. If it gets involved in a conflict of similar scale, the consequences would be very serious.

Ukraine Battlefield

Over the past three and a half years, the Ukraine battlefield has completely overturned the U.S. military's existing concepts.

Davis recalled that during the 1991 Desert Storm operation, he himself had participated in a typical armored assault - large-scale tank formations combined with fire suppression, advancing dozens of kilometers in one go.

But in today's Ukraine battlefield, doing so would be pure suicide.

The reason is simple: drones have changed everything.

Both sides in the Russia-Ukraine war have deployed a large number of drones, and they are diverse in types and have strong coordination capabilities.

Frontline soldiers told him that even if you just stick your head out of the trench to eat a meal or go to the bathroom, you could be locked down by reconnaissance drones within minutes, followed by FPV drones carrying explosives directly attacking.

Now, drones are roughly divided into four categories: low-altitude high-speed FPV suicide drones, bomb-carrying strike drones, missile carrier drones, and reconnaissance drones responsible for guiding firepower.

It is their combination that has completely changed the logic of ground operations - the golden age of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and armored breakthroughs is gone forever.

Russia has even had to introduce a large number of motorcycles to improve front-line mobility. Motorcycles are "meat wrapped in iron" and, in theory, their safety is completely inferior to armored vehicles, but due to their speed and small target size, they are easier to avoid drone attacks, thus improving their survival ability on the battlefield to some extent.

In contrast, the U.S. new "Tank Platoon Operations Manual" is still teaching commanders how to concentrate armored forces for breakthroughs. This is considered absurd by Ukrainians, and is nothing more than empty talk.

Ukraine Battlefield

Davis pointed out that the root of the problem in the United States lies in the concept.

The U.S. military is still addicted to traditional warfare methods of deterrence strikes, emphasizing high mobility, deep penetration, and overwhelming firepower, but this model doesn't work at all in the high-intensity consumption wars with widespread drones.

Russia also made the same mistake in the initial stages of its special military operation, and it took nearly two years to completely adjust its tactics - first using large-scale artillery, glide bombs, and reconnaissance drones to tear open a breach, then using FPV drones to suppress defenses, and finally sending infantry to seize positions.

In contrast, the U.S. military only realized the seriousness of the issue now, and the Pentagon's response is still extremely slow.

For example, the great role of drones was already fully demonstrated in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but the United States did not start large-scale research until recently.

More ironically, although the U.S. military has released a large number of reports and research documents about "future warfare," trying to summarize the experience of the Ukraine conflict, the gap between paper summaries and actual combat is huge.

Davis believes that if the Pentagon really takes the drone revolution seriously, it will not just write reports, but should immediately adjust operational doctrines, weapon systems, and training systems.

Ukraine Battlefield

The article finally warned that the United States must make a thorough transformation immediately, otherwise it may pay a heavy price in the future.

First, the U.S. military must update its operational concepts, fully absorb the lessons learned from the Ukraine battlefield, and recognize the new pattern dominated by drones, electronic warfare, and long-range firepower.

Second, the equipment system must be restructured, shifting from relying solely on large platforms to a more unmanned, distributed, and highly flexible model.

Additionally, soldier training, organizational structure, and even the battlefield command system need to be redesigned to ensure survival and operational efficiency in high-intensity consumption wars.

But Davis believes that, based on the Pentagon's current performance, the United States is far from being prepared for such a transformation.

After all, the United States has been accustomed to asymmetric warfare, directly pushing through with technological advantages.

But in fact, even this style of warfare, which is against the weak, has not achieved much success, otherwise the Taliban would not have driven the U.S. out of Afghanistan.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7543850086879511055/

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