As Ukraine nears the fourth 12 months of full-scale struggle with Russia, it’s launching a serious military reform geared toward bettering its effectivity and group on the battlefield.
"We’d like the corps system," President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned on Feb. 3, including: "At present we mentioned approaches to the appointment of corps commanders: these needs to be the best-trained, most promising officers with fight expertise and fashionable considering."
"The military have to be fashionable."
The Ukrainian military presently operates largely beneath a brigade-level system. In accordance with Zelensky, there are greater than 100 brigades, every of which is subordinated to operational-tactical teams (OTU), that are topic to operational-strategic command (OSUV), and operational instructions (OK).
In accordance with specialists talking to the Kyiv Unbiased, this has created an unwieldy administration system that results in poor coordination, as every OTU or OSUV might have dozens of brigades beneath its command.
John Hardie, deputy director of the Russia Program on the Basis for Protection of Democracies, instructed the Kyiv Unbiased that OTUs and OSUVs are momentary our bodies, so their commanders have no idea their brigades in addition to a everlasting corps commander would.
A associated downside is that battalions from one brigade are sometimes scattered throughout totally different elements of the entrance and hooked up to different brigades, undermining unit cohesion, he added.
Hardie additionally mentioned micromanagement is one other downside of this technique, as there have been circumstances of interfering commanders with out data of an entire or up-to-date image of the scenario on the bottom.
Drawing on the expertise of NATO companions, Ukraine plans to implement a corps system as an alternative of a brigade one, searching for to enhance cohesion.
What's the distinction between brigade and corps techniques?
A corps is a military formation consists of a number of brigades fairly than dozens, and consists of varied branches of the forces and assist items.
The upcoming reform will add the corps degree to the military construction, which might be organizationally above the brigades. The Ukrainian army command plans to create 20 corps, Ukrainian media outlet Censor.internet reported, citing undisclosed sources.
"It can enable for extra environment friendly employment of land fight forces and a extra environment friendly hyperlink between the tactical and Common Workers."
Mick Ryan, a retired Australian Military Main-Common mentioned a corps often has solely three to seven brigades at its disposal, which permits commanders to raised give attention to their troops, and distributes the administration load extra effectively.
"(The transition to the corps) will enable them simply to get their arms across the brigades, have some brigades planning for operations, some brigades conducting operations, some brigades resting from operations," Ryan mentioned.
"It can enable for extra environment friendly employment of land fight forces and a extra environment friendly hyperlink between the tactical and Common Workers," he added.
Ryan mentioned the transition to the corps system can also be a part of the Ukrainian military's adaptation to NATO requirements and separation from its Soviet heritage.
But, the newly created corps might be totally different from these deployed by the U.Ok. and the U.S. through the Chilly Struggle, as there have been "profound adjustments" in expertise since Nineteen Nineties, he mentioned.
"The West ought to look on with some curiosity as a result of the truth is, in addition to the People, most Western army organizations are brigade-centric organizations," Ryan mentioned.
The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek
Does Ukraine already area any corps?
There are presently 5 corps within the Ukrainian Armed Forces — the ninth, tenth, and eleventh corps of the Floor Forces, the Speedy Response Corps within the Air Assault Forces, and the Marine Corps within the Navy.
"Ukraine presently has some military corps, however they're mainly corps in title solely. Their items are sometimes scattered to totally different elements of the entrance line, and the corps lack many corps-echelon assist items," Hardie mentioned.
"Even in cases the place a number of items from a corps have operated alongside each other, akin to through the 2023 counteroffensive, the corps commanders didn't train command and management, and at any price, the items lacked enough cohesion to operate collectively as corps," Hardie added.
Viktor Kevliuk, a retired Ukrainian army officer and protection knowledgeable, instructed the Kyiv Unbiased that the previous efficiency of present corps needs to be a trigger for concern.
"In 2023, the ninth and tenth corps failed within the offensive in Zaporizhzhia Oblast. In 2024, the seventh corps surrendered Vuhledar after which Kurakhove," he mentioned.
"In 2025, we nonetheless consider that the corps (system) is a panacea for all ailments."
Will the corps reform work?
In accordance with Kevliuk, the change to a corps system gained't handle different elementary points with Ukraine's military, not least its important manpower scarcity, and struggles to replenish infantry gaps left by heavy losses in battle-hardened brigades.
He added that corps instructions are prone to be shaped by those that "didn’t handle the OTUs."
"It’s tough to vary the command system. The principle downside is to get commanders to vary their administration type," Kevliuk mentioned, including: "Different issues are to make the headquarters work together horizontally and to offer the technical gear to command."
"At finest, the transition could have no influence. However we should always count on a deterioration within the command (of the items)," he concluded.
The Kyiv IndependentTim Mak
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