Ukraine has become a laboratory for the US to verify which weapons are truly valuable in a 21st-century war and which are obsolete, according to CNN, citing a source familiar with Western intelligence.
It’s “a weapons lab in every sense because none of that equipment was used in a war between two industrialized nations,” the source said. And he added that “it’s a real-world combat test.”
Some advanced systems the US has provided to Ukraine, such as the Switchblade 300 drone or a missile designed to target enemy radar, have proved less effective than expected on the battlefield, according to a recent British study Experts and a senior US military operations officer The Matter.
In contrast, the Himar M142 multiple rocket launcher has shown impressive performance, although valuable lessons have been learned about the maintenance and repair required with such heavy use of such systems.
The United States is studying the conflict closely to also understand how a war between two modern nations might be waged in the 21st century.
One lesson Washington can learn from this conflict, according to the operations officer consulted by CNN, is that towed artillery like the M777 howitzer may be a thing of the past. According to this source, moving quickly to avoid return fire and hiding in a world of ubiquitous drones and aerial surveillance is harder.