There is a very simple reason no BTG was seen at the start of the war. As I understand it, in peacetime the BTG is supposed to have all of it's equipment, and a limited number of Officers and technical specialists, all who are "contractors" or "full time" military. The point is, these are people who have committed to several years to learn the required skills. Roughly half of the BTG manpower, 200-250 men, is simple infantry and truck drivers who are normally "conscripts". Russia has limitation that conscripts are not LEGALLY ALLOWED to serve outside of the country. Conscripts are men who have been "drafted" at the start of the war. Since this "limited military operation" was not a declared war, not an "official" war there were no conscripts at the start of the operation. That meant that the BTGs went to war at half strength.
In part the lack of conscripts to fill out the BTGs was responsible for the 60 mile convoy to Kiev. There was no infantry to protect the flanks of the convoy from infantry with anti-tank missiles.
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It also can have another interesting impact in combat situations. If the russian command wants to CYA he can refuse to advance against even small Ukrainian blocking force. Doctrine says you need a 3:1 advantage to attack an enemy. A blocking force as small as 80-90 men could be enough to prevent a nominal "BTG" from advancing. While they would have 200-250 men to run the vehicles and technical equipment, they would have little or no infantry to protect the equipment from enemy infantry attack.
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Putin has been twisting russian laws into pretzels and rewriting them to make this war work. Since it is not an officially declared law he could not conscript more men. So he came up with the label "mobilizing". They are still really conscripts, but ... they are not treated as well as the "normal" twice yearly intakes of conscripts.
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So at the start of the war, the "BTGs" were chewed up and now they are playing catchup trying to replace men and equipment lost at the start. That is why he is now talking about a "pause" or even "peace". It would give him time to train the new conscripts and move them into places they are needed.
Just working at the level of theory, I've been thinking company-level combined arms groups are the future for some time. Mostly because the bigger a formation gets the easier it is to spot and target.
I'm gratified to see that my purely analytic approach is coming up with a similar org structure as working professionals. I suspect having artillery integrated at the company level won't work though, aside from mortars. Maybe have a battery explicitly tasked with supporting each line unit but not directly integrated with it since the logistics needs are so different?
Russian BTGs couldn't work right because of the way the Russian army personnel system appears to. Sounds like both sides are moving towards smaller formations, just like I thought would happen in any major ground fight like this, because of drone surveillance and network connections.
War never changes, but certain parameters sure flex from era to era.
Basic operating principle going forward, I think, is that you need to have the most capabilities packaged into the smallest independent units. But decentralized logistics, probably drone based, are gonna be crucial for resupply. Wonder if Ukraine can reboot the way it does its organization in time to counterattack against whatever Russia tries in the next few weeks before the mud season.
There is a very simple reason no BTG was seen at the start of the war. As I understand it, in peacetime the BTG is supposed to have all of it's equipment, and a limited number of Officers and technical specialists, all who are "contractors" or "full time" military. The point is, these are people who have committed to several years to learn the required skills. Roughly half of the BTG manpower, 200-250 men, is simple infantry and truck drivers who are normally "conscripts". Russia has limitation that conscripts are not LEGALLY ALLOWED to serve outside of the country. Conscripts are men who have been "drafted" at the start of the war. Since this "limited military operation" was not a declared war, not an "official" war there were no conscripts at the start of the operation. That meant that the BTGs went to war at half strength.
In part the lack of conscripts to fill out the BTGs was responsible for the 60 mile convoy to Kiev. There was no infantry to protect the flanks of the convoy from infantry with anti-tank missiles.
.
It also can have another interesting impact in combat situations. If the russian command wants to CYA he can refuse to advance against even small Ukrainian blocking force. Doctrine says you need a 3:1 advantage to attack an enemy. A blocking force as small as 80-90 men could be enough to prevent a nominal "BTG" from advancing. While they would have 200-250 men to run the vehicles and technical equipment, they would have little or no infantry to protect the equipment from enemy infantry attack.
.
Putin has been twisting russian laws into pretzels and rewriting them to make this war work. Since it is not an officially declared law he could not conscript more men. So he came up with the label "mobilizing". They are still really conscripts, but ... they are not treated as well as the "normal" twice yearly intakes of conscripts.
.
So at the start of the war, the "BTGs" were chewed up and now they are playing catchup trying to replace men and equipment lost at the start. That is why he is now talking about a "pause" or even "peace". It would give him time to train the new conscripts and move them into places they are needed.
Just working at the level of theory, I've been thinking company-level combined arms groups are the future for some time. Mostly because the bigger a formation gets the easier it is to spot and target.
I'm gratified to see that my purely analytic approach is coming up with a similar org structure as working professionals. I suspect having artillery integrated at the company level won't work though, aside from mortars. Maybe have a battery explicitly tasked with supporting each line unit but not directly integrated with it since the logistics needs are so different?
Russian BTGs couldn't work right because of the way the Russian army personnel system appears to. Sounds like both sides are moving towards smaller formations, just like I thought would happen in any major ground fight like this, because of drone surveillance and network connections.
War never changes, but certain parameters sure flex from era to era.
Basic operating principle going forward, I think, is that you need to have the most capabilities packaged into the smallest independent units. But decentralized logistics, probably drone based, are gonna be crucial for resupply. Wonder if Ukraine can reboot the way it does its organization in time to counterattack against whatever Russia tries in the next few weeks before the mud season.