Craters on the Antonovsky Bridge over the Dnieper River as a result of poorly weaponeered rocket strikes – minimum damage and quickly fixable. Instead, open-source intelligence (OSINT) showed huge numbers of Russian armour moving unchallenged. Employed correctly, Special Observers could have monitored this key terrain and directed rocket artillery to strike assembly areas prior to crossing the Dnieper River. During this offensive, Russia (successfully) relied upon the Nova Khakovka and Antonovskiy bridges and as few as five ferry crossing points, to cross the Dnieper River and re-enforce its defensive lines. If Special Observers had been forward mounted during the Kherson offensive in late 2022, for example, their specialist skills in covert surveillance and targeting expertise would have made AFU artillery and rocket strikes more deadly. This would allow them to control fires in depth during the initial stages of any conflict, protect vital ground, and disrupt enemy momentum. Rise of the Rocket Launcher argued that the British Army should forward mount Special Observers during rising tensions into high-risk environments. There are compelling arguments stemming from Ukraine for fewer humans and more technology. You can never replace the person in the loop… In these battles, striking Russian air defence and electronic warfare systems with long range rockets allowed for the use of organic uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) to control and accurately deliver close support artillery.
The shaping of an ‘anti-climactic’ close fight allowed the manoeuvre arms to mount various successful counter-offensives, seen in both the Kharkiv and Kherson oblasts. The Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) have correctly employed the gifted British M270 and American HIMARS rocket launchers in the deep battle. This article updates the core arguments presented with observations from Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has validated the argument for re-focusing the British Army’s around a core of rocket launchers. The premise of the argument was that the future of conventional warfare would be rocket centred and rely heavily on the use of rocket artillery to deliver decisive blows in the deep battle. It’s been over a year since the release of ‘ Rise of the Rocket Launcher: End of the Armored Division’.
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