Why Russian troops are attacking on motorbikes
THE LATEST film in the “Mad Max” series, released in May, is a motorhead’s fantasy, teeming with warlords who ride through a post-apocalyptic desert on choppers, Harley Davidsons and dirt bikes. The tactics are improbable, and the violence is extreme. Yet in recent months something not dissimilar has been happening in Ukraine. For much of the war Russia has attacked using conventional “combined-arms” tactics: troops advance in armoured vehicles, supported by tanks and artillery, then dismount to fight on foot for the last few hundred metres. But since April some Russian troops have been attacking on motorbikes. Why?
It is not simply that the Russians are running out of armoured vehicles. Their losses have been heavy: analysts at Oryx, a Dutch open-source intelligence site, believe that Russia has lost around 4,400 such vehicles. Older models are now seen more frequently in battle, and satellite images show that vast numbers have been removed from open-air depots. But there are thought to be about 3,800 remaining.
The motorbikes are there to solve another problem: new conditions. Unlike at the start of the war, their troops are now under constant surveillance from Ukrainian drones. That means the defenders can spot any moving vehicle when it is still several kilometres from its target. A group of large vehicles moving together is more conspicuous, and usually comes under attack within minutes of assembling.
In using bikes, the Russians seem to be favouring speed over armour. Infantry ride into battle on dirt bikes or Desertcross 1000-3 All-Terrain Vehicles: sometimes described as military golf buggies, these Chinese vehicles can carry four people swiftly over rough terrain. The journey is usually less than 10km. The bikers travel in small columns, often of four or five vehicles. They ride right up to Ukrainian trenches before dismounting.
As well as being faster, light vehicles are less vulnerable than heavy ones in Ukrainian minefields, which have blown up scores of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles. Their smaller footprint lessens their chances of hitting an anti-tank mine. And even if they do, they are less likely to detonate it; such munitions typically require 300kg of pressure to trigger.
Bike-borne attacks are still risky for the Russians. They do sometimes set off mines, as several gruesome videos on social media show. Bikers are also vulnerable to artillery and small-arms fire. A recent Ukrainian video shows at least 20 smashed bikes that took part in a failed assault near Vuhledar, a town in Donetsk. But motorbike assaults, though highly dangerous for the attackers, may lead to fewer Russian casualties than the waves of infantry that the Ukrainians call “meat assaults”.
When the attackers have the advantage of surprise, or the defenders have been worn down by previous attacks, a high-speed bike assault may capture some ground. But so far, they seem to have achieved relatively little—and unlike conventional assaults using armoured vehicles, they have no chance of making a big breakthrough. Once they’ve lost the advantage of surprise the bikers cannot mount up again and advance farther. The combined-arms approach may no longer be working—Russia’s infantry assaults are another divergence from that conventional model. But tactics that look like action-movie stunts may not be the answer.■