The Russian-Ukrainian war radically changed the rules of the modern battlefield in terms of logistics. A drone operator’s dream, it created an environment in which supply trucks and warehouses were overwhelmed by an almost endless stream of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and long-range munitions. For the first time since World War II, US Army logisticians must contemplate a bleak future in which being behind the front lines will no longer protect them from enemy bombardment.
Secure Back Zone Assumption Fails
Captain Stephanie Torres, an experienced logistics officer, told Defence News and in an article for Army Sustainment magazine that the assumption that logistics operations are conducted in the secure rear area is no longer valid.
Equal Threat: “Support troops are being targeted with the same precision and lethality as manoeuvre troops,” Torres said, noting the swarms of drones that have turned the Ukrainian battlefield into a vast zone of destruction stretching 32 kilometres or more beyond the front line.
Russian Tactics: Russian forces repeatedly ambushed Ukrainian supply units and destroyed logistical elements through coordinated UAV surveillance and rapid sensor-to-shooter strikes.
Logistics as the Art of Survival
In this new environment, supply units must think and act like combat units to survive. Torres listed measures that are vital for logistics units:
Concealment and Deception: Support troops should receive not only the technical details of material distribution, but also survival training, move in manoeuvre formations and plan deception and concealment.
Signature Minimisation: Sustainability nodes must reduce their electromagnetic and physical signatures in order to survive in an environment full of sensors. This means minimising radio transmissions, using camouflage and decoys, limiting the number of tents and using low-signature platforms to deliver supplies.
Transition to Distributed and Autonomous Systems
Torres argued that the Army logistics system must evolve from fixed and vulnerable centres to distributed, autonomous nodes that send mobile support teams that “relocate frequently, adapt quickly and are compatible with manoeuvre formations”. Supply convoys should be timed to coincide with times when the chances of detection by enemy ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance) are low.
A Question of Priority: Despite the fact that vehicles used against UAVs, such as machine guns and jammers, will be scarce and often prioritised for manoeuvring troops, Torres noted the importance of logistics: “If logistics fails, the lifespan of our operations is extended. We cannot rule out the possibility of survival of the sustainers.”
Lessons from the Commercial World: Lean Logistics
Torres, who has an MBA, said the military could learn from the commercial world, particularly from decentralised fulfilment and just-in-time logistics practices used by companies such as Amazon.
Lean: In tactical operations, these principles translate into lean logistics. In contested environments, leaner footprints encourage agility, and agility increases the chances of survival.
Avoiding Excess Inventory: Torres argued that excess inventory stored in undefended warehouses near the front line had become a burden, and that instead unneeded supplies should be returned every day.
