· by jmkorhonen.fi ·1d ago · view on bsky.app ↗

Sotaan varautuminen | Sotilaslähteet kritisoivat varusmiesten koulutusta: ”Ei mahdollisuutta päästä elävinä asemiin” (hs.fi)

HS:lle puhuneet upseerit arvostelevat droonikalustoa, taistelumenetelmiä ja asenteita. Maavoimien koulutuspäällikkö kertoo kuulevansa kritiikistä nyt ensimmäistä kertaa.

Several Finnish #Defence Force officers criticise FDF #conscript training as outdated: the #military is incorporating lessons from #Ukraine far too slowly. They blame conservative attitudes, problems with training #drones and the shortness of conscript training period. 1/ www.hs.fi/tutkiva/art-...

#conscript #defence #drones #military #ukraine

2 comments — live from bluesky

Janne M. Korhonen · 5 · 1d ago

Particular criticism is levelled against basic combat techniques (TTPs for Americans) taught to infantry and mechanised units. For example, one critic says that an infantry company trained right now would not only be ineffective in attack, but that its men wouldn't even reach enemy positions alive.

Janne M. Korhonen · 5 · 1d ago

Criticism is also raised against conservative attitudes of many officers: too many believe that forests, cold winters or some other reasons mean that drones wouldn't work in Finland. Others believe that drone countermeasures will be soon so effective that drone threat diminishes or even disappears.

Janne M. Korhonen · 4 · 1d ago

Furthermore, there probably wouldn't be time to un-learn and relearn tactics if FDF had to be mobilised. In particular, the most important "tip of the spear" units that are mobilised first can't count on having enough time to retrain thoroughly before they have to engage the invaders.

Janne M. Korhonen · 5 · 1d ago

In addition, FDF is not currently planning to set up larger drone units, let alone uncrewed vehicles branch like Ukraine. Drones remain (for the most part) company assets - at the lowest levels in hierarchy. And the (too few) "Parrot" drones in use are already outdated.

Janne M. Korhonen · 4 · 1d ago

Parrots are many times more expensive than drones Ukraine currently uses, their range is limited and batteries drain completely in cold weather, and their thermal camera "sucks balls," as one critic puts it. And (of course!) rules and regulations prohibit modifications and experimentation.

Janne M. Korhonen · 4 · 1d ago

Safety regulations also make it impossible to properly train FPV drone pilots (and infantry opposing them), as FPV drones cannot be flown towards a person. These limitations of available drones and how they can be used may be partly responsible for dismissive attitudes mentioned above.

Janne M. Korhonen · 7 · 1d ago

On a positive note, the critics also say that FDF trains many fundamental things very well, such as digging in, dispersion, camouflage, mine warfare and fortifications. The critics are anonymous (and IMHO for a good reason), but FDF chief of training agrees that criticism is "partially" justified.

Janne M. Korhonen · 8 · 1d ago

Personal opinion: big part of the problem is that FDF is first and foremost an organisation focused on mass production of 20 000-21 000 adequately trained citizen soldiers per year - and refresher exercises for reservists on top of that. Changing the curriculum is inevitably slow.

Osma A 🇫🇮🇺🇦 · 3 · 1d ago

Yes. FDF is organizationally hostile to development and expect to only scale what others have developed. While that might "work" (but late) for technology, it does not work for tactics and strategy, which must be in constant evolution.

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Marsanges · 2 · 1d ago

Is it not also very difficult to teach warfare with drones when means and tactics change as fast as they do, and real practice (active war) needed to build skill?

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heepst · 1 · 1d ago

There may have been reason to think so a couple of years ago - a densely forested area or lakeland isn't ideal for fiber-optic drones for example - but we're well past that point in the development of drone technology. Thermal imaging is also standard now so you can't even hide in the bushes.

Taavi Tossavainen · 2 · 1d ago

Unpopular opinion outside the overton window: Very real possibility war gets fully automatized in a way this won't matter in five years, but then ofcourse there will be new challenges. Scary part is drone+AI tech will soon/eventually erode out natural defenses to basically non-existent levels.