The smoldering ruins of Mariupol testify to how long, hard and bloody urban battles can go.. To succeed against a trained defender, you invariably have to resort to bombing and brutal close combat.. Holding back firepower only prolongs the fight and makes it bloodier, with more military and civilian casualties.. This ethical dilemma and the arithmetic inadequacy that allows the modern mobile army to successfully fight in large cities against superior enemy forces may explain why Western forces avoid preparing for this kind of combat.. And this despite the fact that the need for specialized equipment was evident during battles like those for Fallujah in Iraq in 2004.. Ukraine is a wake-up call, writes Dr. Charles Knight, who is a senior fellow at the University of New South Wales and a lecturer in terrorism, asymmetric conflict and urban operations at Charles Sturt University, for The Economist.

Can Western armies use new technology to reduce their reliance on not only devastating artillery and airstrikes, but limited stockpiles of precision-guided munitions For several years now, Western armies have been using or testing not only drones, but also robotic platforms, thermal imaging systems for aiming, and related specialized equipment.. Also in China and Russia, with the latter testing unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) in combat in Syria.. UGV technology is no more mature than flying machines in 1914, but in the hands of savvy soldiers they bring an advantage that Western professional armies could probably keep and develop..

Powerful factors are moving warfare to urban agglomerations: global urbanization, the political importance of cities, their role as communication centers, and conflicts between their populations. All this increases the likelihood of fighting in cities and complicates the war itself in urban areas.. In addition, some combatants seek human shields by operating near civilians.. While surveillance systems are becoming more adept at spotting targets in the natural environment, urban areas can still provide much-needed camouflage and cover.. The widespread adoption of drones only increases the value of such an environment..

In Ukraine, soldiers now instinctively scan the sky before exiting buildings.. But little has changed in the new urban warfare, neither the deadly street fighting and the widespread threat from the surrounding buildings, nor the proximity of enemies, nor the danger at the entrance to the building.. Any hallway, room, or staircase can hide an explosive trap or a lurking enemy. The formula for success in such an environment has also not changed..

During the 1848 uprising in Milan, Austrian soldiers were knocked out by revolutionaries with rifled muskets from the upper windows of buildings.. To be successful, the Austrians needed soldiers to raise their cannons and provide fire cover for defended buildings while others punched holes in the walls to get out of the fire, but the soldiers of the Austro-Hungarian army did not resort to such tactics and were forced to retreat with losses.. Such urban tactics are forgotten and rediscovered every few decades.. When jihadists took over Marawi in the Philippines in 2017, Philippine armored vehicles sent in response were destroyed by rocket-propelled grenades fired from above.. Soldiers advancing on foot were stopped by sniper fire and then blown up with improvised explosive devices. Filipinos have learned. Before the city was recaptured, it took months of punching holes in buildings, erecting walls on fire-ridden roads, and systematically blowing up every part of every building with artillery or aerial bombs..

The first urban battles in Ukraine seem to have taken a similar form.. Defenders ambush attackers in and around buildings. The Russian army suffered heavy losses if it tried to advance without a preliminary massive bombardment.. They had to hit not only their next target, but also any buildings from which the defenders could shoot. As in the trenches during World War I, this shelling ceases as the attackers attempt to charge the dazed defenders before they can get out of their underground bunkers.. But even if they succeed, the artillery of the defenders joins the fight and prevents the attackers from strengthening or using their advance..

This pattern explains the slow progress in urban battles.. One solution is to use robots. In the Winter War with Finland 1939-40. The Soviet Union fielded a battalion of primitive radio-controlled " These UGVs played a key role in breaking through the Finnish defensive line, but the development of this technology stopped after Stalin's purges and the German invasion of the Soviet Union.. In contrast, during World War II, the Germans developed wired and radio-controlled armored engineering vehicles to deliver large explosive high-explosive charges.. They played an important role in the destruction of the Soviet defense of Sevastopol.

However, such UGVs had to be controlled from a distance by operators who could not normally see obstacles in front of the vehicle.. This was overcome in the 1970s with the help of bomb-busting robots with cameras.. In Iraq in the 2000s, US forces quickly adapted to these various small reconnaissance UGVs.. Today there are vehicles that are maneuverable, armored and armed cannons that can hit a doorway at a distance of 2 km, as long as the operator remains in cover.. These robots will change tactics, moving ahead of the soldiers, searching and shooting.

Another approach is " In Western armies, the use of smoke to cover urban maneuvers was once widespread, but declined in the 1980s due to concerns about the use of toxic chemicals.. However, thermal goggles can see through certain types of smoke clouds, and " Simple rockets with parachutes (to minimize the risk to civilians when they fall) can cover entire street areas with smoke. Accordingly, equipped soldiers will have an advantage.

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Synergy of smoke technology and UGVs opens up tactical possibilities. Outdoors, smoke obscures moving soldiers, reducing the need for fire suppression.. UGVs can control attacks by stealthily engulfing opponents and clearing safe paths for infantry. If an enemy surrounded in this way does not retreat or hide underground, the advantage of his " Defenders will see poorly, and bright infrared images in goggles will point attackers to targets.

This tactic offers a leap forward in urban warfare for which armies are currently ill-prepared.. They reduce reliance on bombing and the subsequent moral and political risks that come with civilian casualties.. In addition, robotics allows the numerically superior Western armies to better counter the enemies..

Mastering such a battle will be very difficult, it will require enterprising and technically competent soldiers with a high level of training.. However, this accurately describes Western professional armies and it will be difficult for the armies of their opponents to compare with them..

Earlier it was reported that Kherson could be liberated from the occupiers without fighting: the expert made a forecast. The Armed Forces of Ukraine are ready for the battle for the city, but now the defenders must create conditions under which the Russian troops will not be able to resist.