Anticipating A Russian Attack, The Ukrainian Army Trained Its Tank Crews To Fight Like Artillery

Analysts Mykhaylo Zabrodskyi, Jack Watling, Oleksandr Danylyuk and Nick Reynolds explained the Ukrainian tank corps’ evolution in a new study for the Royal United Services Institute in London. Besides more than doubling their armored force structure, the Ukrainians improved their T-64s, added T-80s and T-72s and developed new tactics for the tanks’ three-person crews. Most importantly, Ukrainian tank crews practiced firing their 125-millimeter guns at high angles in order to extend the guns’ range. “This technique blurs the line between tanks and artillery,” Zabrodskyi, Watling, Danylyuk and Reynolds wrote.