Two questions:
1. How is Ukraine recently participating in mock battles with us when they have the real thing going on?
2. If this were a real thing, would we really "show our hand" for the whole world to see?
This was from the Wall Street Journal, which I personally respect as a news organization...
The Setup: The simulated battles took place during the Combined Resolve exercises at a U.S. military training center in Hohenfels, Germany. Approximately 3,500 to 3,700 U.S. troops—primarily from the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division—were tasked with attacking a ground position.
The Defeat: The defensive position was reinforced by Ukrainian drone operators from the 412th "Nemesis" Regiment of Ukraine's Unmanned Systems Forces. The battle-hardened Ukrainian pilots used reconnaissance drones to immediately spot the heavy U.S. M1A2 Abrams tanks and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, which gave away their positions by kicking up heavy dust.
The "Re-Spawns": FPV (first-person view) and explosive-dropping drones eliminated the American heavy armor so quickly that exercise officials had to repeatedly "resurrect" or "re-spawn" the U.S. vehicles so the two-week drill could actually continue.[/quote]
Did the article provide the "simulation parameters" of the simulated battle? Did it include our UAS's?[/quote]
We should always take those kinds of reports with a grain of salt. Often, these war games are not apples to apples. They are hamstringing one side or the other trying to gleen specific information that will help down the road.
For instance, Europeans like to crow that the typhoon beat the f22. And it did. When the F22 was required to fight with so many limitation, it wasn't really fighting as an f22 at all. They had to handicap the f22 very heavily to give the typhoon a chance. It's happened a bunch of times and will happen again and again. I've never understood why so many latch on to shit like that and take it for the gospel. It's like they want someone to better than the US at anything and everything. I'm not sticking my head in the sand, we aren't perfect, but when it comes to war, there are none better, including Ukraine.
So take it with a grain of salt. We don't know the limitations or parameters the US troops were fighting under, nor those of the UK military. I can promise you one thing. Whatever lessons were taken from that exercise by the US, will severely change the outcome in real battle.
