March 20, 2026: The primary Russian combat technique was quickly overcoming shortcomings that only became obvious once they were under fire. For example, Russian troops entered combat in 2022 with an improvised, under fire, tactical radio network. On paper Russia was supposed to have a modern tactical radio system, but in reality, corruption in the military-industrial complex prevented that from happening. For a while the Russians used black-market Starlink systems until the Ukrainians complained to SpaceX and the Russian Starlink access was turned off. This left Russian units operating without radios to coordinate, organize or carry out attacks or defensive operations. Russian troops are still trying to improvise their way out of this mess.

There were other problems, like a lack of coordination between air force bombing attacks and Russian troops on the ground. Before taking off, pilots would be briefed on potential targets. Pilots marked their maps and went off seeking targets to bomb. Sometimes Russian troops had mo0ved into the target area and got hit by their own aircraft. This sort of thing only occurred in the first year or so of the war. Once drones became the prominent weapon for both sides, aircraft were no longer used for tactical bombing operations.

Drones are the major military development of the Ukraine War. Most NATO nations are scrambling to adapt their armed forces to drone warfare. The NATO nations that border Russia or Ukraine are the most eager to do this. NATO members farthest from Ukraine, like the United States are having a difficult time implementing the lessons of drone warfare. The Americans have one advantage. The U.S. Army has developed a rapid way of noting new combat techniques used by the enemy, and getting that information, along with successful ways to cope with the enemy practices, back to units preparing to fight in some future war. This is done when each combat unit, headed for combat, gets a month of training. There is always emphasis on how the enemy is currently fighting. The training is carried out with troops using lasers attached to their weapons, and laser detectors attached to their clothing. Thus, if they are hit by the enemy, they know they are out of the fight. In addition, each soldier carries a transponder, which records their position throughout the exercise. After each training exercise, the instructors can show where everyone was, and point out who was not where they were supposed to be. These post-exercise briefings are often the most valuable part of the training, since it's what you don't know, or do right, that is most likely to get you killed. These training exercises also use American troops dressed and trained to operate like the enemy. There are also civilians, who speak the language of the combat zone the troops are headed for, and trained to do role playing exercises with the troops, to give them a realistic taste of what they will be facing for a year.

For the infantry, it's not enough to know your own combat techniques. The more you know about how the enemy operates, the easier it is to negate their techniques and defeat them. In the last century, armies have sought to distribute knowledge of enemy techniques to their own troops as quickly as possible, especially to new troops or units entering combat for the first time. Currently, the U.S. Army and Marines gather data on enemy techniques and get it distributed very quickly, using Internet tools the troops are comfortable with. But the information also goes back to the United States, and other areas where U.S. combat troops are stationed, so everyone can stay current. Thus, if a Taliban unit employs a new combat technique, they have to assume that all American and NATO troops in Afghanistan will know about that trick within days, if not hours. In effect, the foreign troops have better knowledge of how the various Taliban contingents fight, than the Taliban themselves who don't have as effective a system for passing around combat knowledge. Ukrainians with combat experience and proficiency in conducting drone operations are als0 passing on that information and experiences to their NATO supporters.