Organization of the Independent Helicopter Detachment, Armed Forces of Ukraine

Organization of the Independent Helicopter Detachment, Armed Forces of Ukraine - TO&E No. 2/228 from 26 October 2003. 

Independent helicopter detachments of the UAF were formed for the peacekeeping service in Balkans and Africa. 

Air Assault Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, training OOBs, 2018

 

Airborne Brigade, Air Assault Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, training OOB, 2018.

BMD/BMP-armed 25th Airborne Brigade.

Air Assault Brigade, Air Assault Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, training OOB, 2018.

BTR-armed 79th, 80th and 95th Brigades.

Compare it with OOB of the same brigade some 10 years before, which I've posted previously - airmobility is replaced with more combat power of armor and tanks.

Battle of the Philippine Sea - can you afford your battle plan?

Battle of the Philippine Sea 80 years ago (19–20 June 1944) wrecked carrier aviation of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Much was told about qualitative and quantitative superiority of the US Navy in this battle. Indeed, those were a factor in battle. 

Less is told about battle tactics of the opposing commanders.

Spruance’s tactics of “wait and see” was unimaginative. But he could afford it, after all IJN simply had to come to Saipan to save IJA garrison, where USN was waiting in force.

Ozawa’s tactics of outranging the enemy and aiming not for sinking the enemy carriers, but for eliminating their flying decks, was very bold and novel. But could he afford it?

To find the enemy at great distance Ozawa needed good reconnaissance crews. Which he didn’t have. As a result a lot of his force was simply wasted due to errors of recce crews.

To eliminate many US carriers’ flying deck at once, IJN strike groups were ordered to spread into many targets – failing to hit a single US carrier.  BTW, much-praised US fighters failed to intercept a single attack against US CVs.

After the defeat Ozawa bemoaned, that his force was of poor quality and was unable to fulfill his bold plans. That’s true. But isn’t it commander’s duty to make plans according to the actual quality of his force and not some fantasies?

Airborne Brigade, Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, organization c.2010

OOB of BMD-armed airborne brigade. 

UAF had only one such brigade - 25th Airborne Brigade, formed in 1993.

Seems its organization and armament changed little between at least 2003 (if not 1993) and 2015. 

When lawyers decide on warship building

 When lawyers decide on warship building.

"Akagi" postcard from https://www.oldtokyo.com/

Based on her early photo without turrets.

See the upper hangar has open sides? Why is this? After all, wet surrounding is not the best place to store aircraft.

The reason for this is LEGAL. At postcard’s bottom is an official displacement of "Akagi" – 26500 tons. Within the limits of Washington Naval Treaty. What if your ship is going to be above the treaty limits? – You remove walls of upper hangar and declare hangar not a part of the hull, but upper deck with rain cover in from of the flying deck. Such arrangement does not count against ship’s displacement.

I’d really like to know the name of the lawyer, who came up with this idea.

This arrangement wouldn’t last long. It turned out no Washington Naval Treaty member was eager to make a fuss over some minor treaty violations, so in a year sides of upper hangar were plated to ensure proper aircraft storage (see 1930 photo below).

Some more photos and postcards of "Akagi" in 3-flying deck configuration:

Airmobile Brigade, Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, organization c.2007-2012

Interesting attempt to combine airmobile helicopter-borne infantry and helicopters in one brigade. As in other countries, such arrangement proved unsuccessful, because even better armed armies haven't got enough helicopters for this.

There was only one such brigade the Ukrainian Armed Forces - 79th Airmobile Brigade (Mykolaiv), formed in 2007 from the 79th Airmobile Regiment and the 11th Army Aviation Regiment. 

In 2012 Army Aviation Regiment was removed from the brigade. To keep the brigade status, new airmobile battalion was formed.

At the same time the 80th Airmobile Regiment (Lviv) had similar composition, but without Army Aviation Regiment.

Mechanized Brigade, Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, training OOB, 2018.

 Mechanized Brigade, Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, training OOB, 2018.

This is how ideal brigade looked in the eyes of Ukrainian generals in 2018. Note the whooping number of UAVs - 6. It was considered quite impressive by then standards.