A senior US Army General has raised concerns over the military capabilities that Russia is gaining as a result of its protracted conflict in Ukraine. The General has warned that the lessons learned on the battlefield are enabling the Russian armed forces to adapt and modernize, potentially posing a major threat to NATO.
Lieutenant General Charles Costanza, commander of the US Army’s V Corps stationed in Poland, expressed these concerns during an interview on October 22.
As the alliance closely monitors the evolving dynamics on its eastern borders, the general said that NATO needs to carefully assess Russia’s changing military strategies and how it is adjusting to confront Western-trained and Western-equipped forces.
When asked about the threat posed by Russia’s military, Costanza challenged the assumption that it would take years for Russia to rebuild its forces after suffering massive casualties.
“I think there’s a view that Russia is going to take three to 10 years to reconstitute, and I think that we need to look at that a little differently,” he said.
Despite open-source reports indicating 600,000 casualties suffered by Russian forces in the two-and-a-half-year-long war, Costanza noted that Russia’s ground forces have actually grown in size.
“They may not be as well trained, but they’re bigger,” he added, noting that Russia’s industrial and mobilization bases have shifted to a wartime footing.
This extensive mobilization, he explained, has enabled the Kremlin to continue fielding a large army despite heavy losses. More significantly, Costanza pointed out that Russia is adapting to the challenges of fighting a Western-backed Ukraine.
“They’re learning how to defeat those capabilities and those systems… They’re modernizing their force based on the lessons that they’re learning.”
He also noted that Russia’s modernization efforts extend beyond personnel and strategy. The country is updating its military equipment and evolving its tactics to counter Western military doctrines, which could pose a long-term challenge to NATO forces.
The general further stressed that Russia’s adaptation to modern warfare is particularly concerning for NATO’s Eastern European allies, who share borders with Russia and are directly in the path of potential future conflicts.
“They [Russia] know they’re fighting Western-trained and -equipped forces. And so, as they modernize based on the lessons that they’re learning — not just their equipment, but how they fight — they’re really sharpening their ability to fight us in the future. And I think that’s something we need to be concerned about,” he said.
Russia Leveraging NATO Equipment Vulnerabilities To Develop New Weapons
On October 23, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said that Moscow is actively analyzing the vulnerabilities of NATO equipment captured during the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and leveraging this knowledge to develop new weapons.
Minister Andrei Belousov said that this systematic examination of seized NATO technology will continue as part of a broader strategy to enhance military capabilities.
He added that identifying the weaknesses of this equipment is crucial for the creation of advanced weaponry.
This statement was made following a defense meeting in Minsk, where he reiterated the commitment to forming a unified defense strategy to ensure the military security of the Union State, comprising both Russia and Belarus.
However, the Defense Minister did not specify which captured equipment is being studied or adapted for new weapon systems in Russia.
Meanwhile, Retired Russian Colonel Anatoly Matviychuk, a military expert, commented on October 23 about the limitations of Western military technology that has been extensively supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He noted that many Western-made weapons have proven inadequate for a range of combat missions. He criticized Western manufacturers for focusing on the ergonomic and comfort aspects of their equipment rather than its operational effectiveness in warfare.
This oversight has become evident in the Ukrainian conflict, where the supplied equipment has struggled to meet the demands of combat scenarios.
Moreover, previous reports have indicated that Russia has been transferring captured NATO weapons to Iran, where it is believed that Tehran will attempt to reverse-engineer these systems. This development could have significant implications for regional security dynamics.
In this context, US Army General Charles Costanza has pointed out the concerning exchange of military knowledge among nations. He pointed out that Russia’s lessons learned in Ukraine are being shared with countries like China and Iran, indicating a growing nexus of military cooperation that could enhance their collective capabilities.
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