Militaries in wars need the capability to maneuver, fight close, and fight far. Ukraine is relegated to the close fight, which is Russia's strength, although I must say they are generally poor at fighting battles. I am concerned about Ukraine's ability to continue fighting due to funding and perhaps Russia's ability to wear down the smaller Ukrainian military. I will use Desert Storm as an example of warfare and thought perhaps you might like to read a small piece of military history pertaining to that war. I myself like military history, although saying I am an amateur military historian is embellishing what I know.
The capability to fight deep is an important component of warfare. I will use Desert Storm for example. The US Air Force caused severe attrition to the logistics, combat power, and morale of the Iraqi Army Divisions in the desert. We took a lot of fight out of those units. The Iraqi divisions were postured with their combat power to the South, Southeast, and the East. The Iraqi Republican Guard Divisions which was their Center of Gravity or the "true strength" were situated North of the regular divisions.
The Western flank of the Iraqi Desert was unguarded because the Iraqis did not think the US Army could maneuver and traverse hundreds of miles of open desert with efficacy. Arab militaries often used pronounced wadis and roads to navigate. However, the US had handheld GPS units for accurate navigation. The US plussed up Infantry Divisions with M1 tanks. Several of the Infantry and Armor Divisions skirted the Western flank and maneuvered West to make contact with the Iraqi Divisions. Then the swept to the East to engage the enemy. The Iraqis were completely taken by surprise as many of their combat vehicles were in fighting positions oriented to the South and East. Fighting positions are large dug in holes not much wider than the vehicles. Therefore, shooting in a Westerly direction was impactable. The vehicles could only shoot in one direction. There fires were also masked by their vehicles in a line formation oriented from the East to West.
The US had 3,000 M1 tanks in the war. The optics and target acquisition of the M1 tanks were far superior to the Iraqi tanks. The tank crews used thermal imaging that helped acquire targets at night. Using thermal imaging at night illuminates enemy vehicles well because the vehicles have a different heat signature than the surroundings. We owned the night, had far greater range, and accuracy. Some of the Iraqi units became cognizant of the start of battles when their vehicles were being destroyed. They had no clue they were about to be attacked. Desert Storm was perfect for our new weapons systems. The flat terrain gave the US the opportunity to use the superior accuracy and ranges of the new weapons.
The vaunted Republican Guard had 5 divisions and were considered the Center of Gravity for the Iraqi military. Our M1 tanks and Bardleys attacked them with ferocity which the Iraqis could not match and retreated. So, let's look at the Iraqi perspective. All Iraqi Divisions were getting their butts kicked to include the Republican Guard Divisions. The US military was able to disrupt the Iraqi plans in the defense. The "true strength" of the Iraqi Army got their butts kicked. US Army Divisions were eventually postured on the flanks and rear of the Iraqis. It was complete chaos which was created because the US had the weapons and weapons systems to conduct the close and deep fights. Unfortunately, Ukraine lacks the general capability to conduct the deep strikes and hit strategic targets. They are generally relegated to the close fight which the Russian military is designed for.
