Western armies are training Ukrainian troops war with Russia cannot rely on the usual cycle of periodically updated manuals because battlefield lessons change too quickly, a NATO commander told Business Insider.
Norway does leading multinational courses for Ukrainian troops at Jomsborg camp, a purpose-built camp in eastern Poland, as part of Operation Legio. The training needs constant updates on the tactics and weapons that work on the rapidly changing battlefield, Brigadier General Atle Molde, the commander of Task Force Legio, told Business Insider.
“You can’t do that based on bureaucratic training manuals that are issued once a year or things like that,” Molde said. “It’s just too slow.”
The work happening in Poland “all boils down to the fact that it is relevant to saving lives and helping the Ukrainians win this war,” he said. That means training must be as accurate as possible on the battlefield, wherever weapons and tactics evolve and become obsolete much faster than Western armies are used to.
The tactics and technology that work best on the battlefield are changing at a rapid pace that Western allies are not accustomed to. Fermin Torrano/Anadolu via Getty Images
Operation Legio aims to transfer Western doctrine and best practices to Ukrainian soldiers, who can then combine it with their hard-won battlefield knowledge. To do that effectively, trainers try to do that recreating reality of the battle as much as possible, including the terrain, technology and tactics.
The challenge is that the battlefield is changing rapidly. Ukrainian soldiers say tactics change every week, and cutting-edge battlefield technology could become outdated in a matter of weeks.
That makes the Ukrainian experience, and not the training manuals, crucial to keeping the training current. Instructors listen to and integrate feedback from experienced Ukrainian soldiers, and Ukrainian instructors and leaders are also present.
Major John, the S3 Operations Officer responsible for synchronizing the overall training operation, said Camp Jomsborg is defined “as a Ukrainian training center.”
If the Ukrainians tell their instructors that their forces will no longer do anything, the training will change, Molde said.
Molde said it is critical that training keeps pace with the battlefield. “You have to adapt to the situation, otherwise you become irrelevant,” he said.
If “the training is not relevant, more Ukrainians will die,” Molde added. The current war has already caused significant losses on both sides.
Jørgen, a Norwegian army instructor for Legio’s platoon leader course, told Business Insider that “we are making a lot of changes, and we are trying to evaluate this day by day, and we are bringing the flexibility to be able to change tomorrow or tonight.”
The Ukrainians also regularly update their own training, according to very tight timelines. Drone school leaders previously told Business Insider that they have to constantly update the lessons they teach, sometimes every other week.
War technology is “advancing at a very rapid pace,” said Tetyana, a Ukrainian veteran who goes by the nickname “Ruda” and heads R&D for the Dronarium drone school. This means the school “must be very quick in our ability to adapt.”
The rapid changes on the battlefield mean that the type of technology that is relevant The changes are also happening quickly, complicating Operation Legio’s efforts to best reflect the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in January that success in the war depends on who is “the fastest” in applying and adapting technology.
Ukrainian technology companies work at this speed and the need for constant adjustment in mind.
For example, Ukrainian drone and weapons maker Frontline Robotics told Business Insider that there are twenty changes to its products per month, while the CEO of Ukrainian arms maker Ark Robotics said the company constantly receives requests for updates from soldiers.
Companies stay up to date by messaging and FaceTiming soldiers, but also by sending employees into dangerous positions near the fighting to test and make changes.
Ukraine’s experiences have been a wake-up call for NATO, with the West worried its militaries cannot adapt their tactics and technology just as quickly as Ukraine does.
NATO said in July that “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has highlighted how quickly warfare is evolving – with innovation cycles of years compressed into months.” The alliance said that “innovation on the battlefield is happening faster than ever.”
Admiral Pierre Vandier, NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, said in May that “adaptation is perhaps the most important lesson” from Ukraine.
