Slow down, you're moving too fast!
The Ukrainians are being instructed to pick their shots - that seemed to me to be relevant to this discussion about doctrine.
Ukraine needs to learn ‘Western way’ of fighting, says Ben Wallace
Defence Secretary calls on Kyiv to use weapons more sparingly as concerns grow about dwindling munitions stocks
ByDominic Nicholls, ASSOCIATE EDITOR and
Maighna Nanu15 February 2023 • 7:28pm
Ben Wallace in a moment of mirth with Guido Crosetto, the Italian defence minister, at the Nato meeting CREDIT: Reuters/Johanna Geron
Ukraine must be trained in the “Western way” of ammunition usage in order to
conserve dwindling stocks, the Defence Secretary has said.
Ben Wallace warned that Kyiv’s troops
could run out of ammunition unless they used them more sparingly or employed precision munitions.
He spoke at
the Nato headquarters in Brussels as defence ministers from the 30-nation alliance met to discuss how best to help Ukraine repel
Vladimir Putin’s illegal invasion, which will shortly enter its second year.
Mr Wallace said: “The Russian, or the Soviet, way of fighting is very ammunition heavy [with] massive artillery barrages. That’s never how we have organised ourselves to fight in the West and
in Nato.
“Ukraine uses huge amounts of ammunition to defend itself, partly that’s
why we’re training them to fight in a Western way.
“If they can be very accurate in their use of artillery instead of having to use hundreds of shells to pin down a Russian unit, they can only use two or three because they can see exactly where the shot falls.”
He told Times Radio: “So if we can do both, we can make sure that they are much more effective on the ground. And at the same time, we can make sure that we address
our own shortfalls at home.”
Concerns grew that Kyiv’s troops could run out of ammunition unless they used them more evenly CREDIT: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
Ukraine’s armed forces are thought to be firing about 6,000 artillery rounds a day,
faster than the West can resupply them, and around a third of the scale being used by Russia.
Lloyd Austin, the US defence secretary, said that several
Western nations were pressing to train Ukraine in tactics that would reduce its reliance on artillery shells.
Bastian Giegerich, the
director of defence and military analysis at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said that European nations currently have the capacity to produce about 300,000 heavy artillery rounds of 155mm calibre a year.
“Most industry sources think they could ramp up relatively quickly [this year] by about 50 per cent,” he told The Telegraph.
However, he cautioned “anything beyond that will take longer”, meaning
Ukraine needs supplies of ammunition from outside Europe and to transition onto more accurate munitions such as the Excalibur GPS-guided artillery round, in order to repel Moscow’s troops.
Ukraine’s state arms producer said that it had launched joint production of artillery shells with a central European Nato member, but refused to identify the country, adding that it plans to develop and produce other arms and military hardware with allies.
Ukroboronprom said it began producing 120mm mortar rounds, ammunition that is in high demand for the war effort.
Ukrainian troops made use of this French 120mm rifled-towed mortar on the front line on Wednesday CREDIT: Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
Natalia Sad, the company’s spokesman, said: “The emergence of this shell is the first product of our joint co-operation with a country from the [NATO] alliance. It will not end with shells. We will soon show you other products produced with partner countries.”
Ms Sad added that companies were working around the clock
to produce ammunition and keep supplies flowing, and that Ukroboronprom increased production on different types of military equipment by five to eight times last year compared with 2021.
Meanwhile, Mr Wallace said that vital military supplies would soon be sent from the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU), a pool of funding to finance
lethal and non-lethal equipment and training, direct from industry.
The first package from the IFU, valued at roughly £200 million with
funds drawn from the UK, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, will include artillery ammunition, tank spares, drones and electronic warfare and air defence systems.
The Defence Secretary said that the equipment package “will provide a significant capability boost for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and will support their ability to defend their country”.
He added: “The UK-led International Fund for Ukraine demonstrates the commitment of the UK and our Allies to ensure Ukraine receives vital military aid necessary to defend against
Russia’s illegal invasion.”
On Tuesday,
Germany said it would reopen production lines for 35mm ammunition used by its Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, 32 of which have been sent by Berlin, out of a promised 37.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, next to one of his country’s Gepard anti-aircraft guns CREDIT: Morris MacMatzen/Getty Images
Although an old system designed for the Cold War, the German Gepards have shown they are excellent at shooting down the low and slow-flying Iranian-made Shahed 136 drones, used by Russia to attack Ukraine’s power plants and other national infrastructure.
For months, Germany has lobbied Switzerland to approve exports to Ukraine of stockpiles of Gepard ammunition, which was manufactured there by a subsidiary of Rheinmetall, the German defence company.
Boris Pistorius, Germany’s defence minister, said that with the new contracts “we will now start our own production of Gepard ammunition at Rheinmetall without delay”.
“The negotiations with Switzerland took time,” he said. “In the end, we were of the opinion that it is better to go our own way faster so as not to be dependent on them.”
A Ministry of Defence spokesman said: “We continue to place orders to replace ammunition given to Ukraine and have an extra £560 million from the Treasury to increase stockpiles.”
Also on Wednesday, Russia claimed it had broken through two fortified Ukrainian defence lines on the eastern front near Luhansk, although no details were given and the claims could not be independently verified.
