The big lesson one NATO military is taking away from its work with Ukrainian troops is: Don't get stuck in this kind of war
Ukraine is fighting a war that's largely static and heavily attritional, with Norwegian military officials saying it's not the kind of fight they can get stuck in.
Dmytro Smolienko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images Norway's military is picking up modern warfare lessons as it trains Ukrainian soldiers.
One key lesson: Prepare to avoid the kind of static, attritional war Ukraine is fighting.
Learning from Ukraine is helping Norway think about how to keep its forces moving.
One of the big lessons that NATO member Norway has learned from training Ukraine to fight Russia's invasion is that it cannot afford to get bogged down in this sort of war, its officers say.
NATO is worried about Russian aggression and the possibility of further armed conflict , and the alliance has been significantly increasing its defense investments while trying to learn from Ukraine.
The big lesson for Norway's armed forces is that they need to prepare to prevent any conflict from turning into the kind of slog playing out in Ukraine, military officials heading up Operation Legio, the multinational, Norway-led training effort for Ukrainian soldiers , told Business Insider.
Maj.
John, the S3 Operations Officer in charge of synchronizing the overall training operation, said, "I think the most important thing for Norway as a small nation is to avoid getting into that situation where we are now, with static, attritional warfare." "So we are looking for solutions for how to maintain maneuverability," he told Business Insider at Camp Jomsborg, the purpose-built training site in NATO ally Poland, where the training takes place.
The goal, John explained, is that "we can move, be dynamic." Deep defenses and drone cover have made it hard for either side to mass forces and surprise the other.
ROMAN PILIPEY/AFP via Getty Images Russia likely cannot sustain another deeply attritional fight, " losing 35,000 people a month ," John said, that figure aligning with estimated losses in Ukraine.
But Norway, as a much smaller country with five million people, "won't exist as a nation for a very long period if that was to happen to us.
So I think maybe to avoid getting into that situation is the key thing for us." Brigadier Atle Molde, the commander overseeing Task Force Legio, told Business Insider that "the most important lesson learned is: Don't end up in a situation where Ukraine has to fight for their survival for years and years and years, taking thousands and thousands of casualties.
Be prepared." That means being prepared on a whole-society level.
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