Early on in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, leaders in the U.S. and Europe were surprised by Ukraine’s defense and Russia’s military performance. Now, it appears that Russian Federation troops are taping tree branches to tanks as camouflage.
Mike Jason, a retired U.S. Army armor officer who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said it is a move that “smacks of desperation,” according to The Washington Post.
While Jason said pine saplings are better than nothing he believes it indicates the unit lacks basic camouflage skills or a lack of equipment. He said U.S. military procedure is to shroud tanks in lightweight camouflage netting.
In other instances, Russian troops in Ukraine have used straw and swaths of carpeting to conceal tanks and other armored vehicles. Jason said this could be an attempt to reduce or distort heat signatures from the vehicles. U.S.-manufactured Javelin missiles lock on to their targets via heat signatures.
According to the Post, analysts have said the Russians have a surprising “lack of sophistication for such an advanced military,” and that some commanders were unprepared. Russian troops began an invasion of Ukraine around a month ago.
However, Russian troops should be versed in camouflaging their vehicles as there is evidence they have done so in past military exercises, according to The Post.
“As recently as 2018, Russian state media touted its military’s advanced camouflage prototypes, which it said were capable of duplicating environmental surroundings,” the outlet said.
“So far, the war has been [characterized] not least by the unexpectedly poor performance of the Russian armed forces,” said the European Council on Foreign Relations, a pan-European think tank, earlier this month. “This can be partly explained by inadequate operational plans based on wishful political thinking and an underestimation of Ukrainians’ determination to resist.”
A U.S. Department of Defense official said the department “believes that the Russians haven’t properly planned and executed their logistics and sustainment efforts,” as of March 11.
According to the BBC, the Russian military has been plagued by misguided assumptions, losses, low morale and supply issues since the invasion began. An apparent lack of modern camouflage netting is another example of tactical missteps by the Russians, said the Post.
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