Earlier this month approximately 160 American Soldiers with the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team headquarters company deployed to Ukraine as Task Force Juvigny and assumed responsibility of the Joint Multinational Training Group – Ukraine at the Combat Training Center – Yavoriv.

TF Juvigny consists of Soldiers from several units across the Wisconsin Army National Guard; each of the Major Subordinate Commands; Joint Force Headquarters and the 32nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team. They were selected for their unique skills and expertise in a variety of disciplines.

“No nation can confront today’s challenges alone,” said Col. John Oakley, Task Force Juvigny’s commander. He added that, “the more capable and interoperable our militaries are, the better positioned we will be as a community to achieve our common goals of security, stability, and peace.”

Task Force Juvigny, along with NATO allies: Canada, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Lithuania, and Poland are in Ukraine to aid and support Armed Forces Ukraine’s training abilities along with increasing NATO interoperability with Ukraine.

“Our main goal is NATO interoperability,” said Sgt. 1st Class Brandon McKaig, a company mentor to mortars and artillery, and explained that one of the “challenges has been with equipment interoperability, but our Ukrainian partners overcome this challenge by being very competent and capable.”

“We’ve also been working a lot with our British counterpart and learning from him,” said Sgt. 1st Class Kirsten Schultz, an operations battalion advisor, and stated that “there’s more than one way to skin an apple and I’m learning a lot about how to better plan, or plan different, for missions back home in Wisconsin.”

“My Ukrainian counterpart has been very knowledgeable and competent,” said Cpt. Phil Cluphf, a sustainment and logistics brigade advisor, “and he brings a lot of Ukrainian Army experience in logistics and supply to the training center.”

The JMTG-U mission is part of an ongoing effort to contribute to Ukraine’s long-term military reform and to help improve Ukraine’s internal defense capabilities and training capacity. Task Force Juvigny, along with our NATO allies, works with our Ukrainian partners to advise on the training center, cadre, and institutional level development.

“I have been blown away by how professional they [Armed Forces of Ukraine] have been,” said McKaig, and added “I’m enjoying my time here; I think the job I am doing here is important and one of the biggest things is just building confidence and rapport with the Ukrainian units.”

“It’s going really well here,” said Schultz about working with Ukrainian military units, and continued, “every day is a learning experience, and each day I’m learning how to be a better advisor.”

“I’m looking for how I can help, and in my experiences thus far the Ukrainians seem grateful for our presence here and welcoming of our suggestions,” said Cluphf.

“We look forward to learning new skills and perspectives,” said Oakley. “We are ready to share our knowledge and training expertise while growing our strategic partnership.”

The Indian Army has recently announced its plan to procure 198 Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicle (WH AFV) reconnaissance and support (R & Sp) for its wheeled reconnaissance and support battalions. The vehicles are meant for replacing the army’s ageing Soviet origin BRDM combat reconnaissance patrol vehicles. The requirement came out in a Request for Information (RFI) issued for procuring these equipment, the vendor should be capable to supply the entire quantity of vehicles within 4 yrs of the signing of the contract. The Request for Proposal (RFP) for the project is tentatively scheduled for issue by July 2020.

The Indian Army plans to use these Wheeled Armoured Fighting Vehicles in the plain sectors of Punjab and Rajasthan. It wants that these AFVs should be able to operate in not only developed areas in this region, but in riverine terrain as well. The wheeled AFV should be provided with high mobility, adequate armour protection and armament configuration, suitable to destroy enemy tanks and undertake local protection. The vehicles should be able to move both on-road and cross country with speeds 80 Kmph and should have a reverse speed 20 Kmph on road. They should have a minimum cruising range of 500 Km on-road and 250 Km in cross country. The vehicles should also be amphibious with a floatation speed of 10 Kmph in static water and a capability to negotiate current speed up to 3 Knots. The Wh AFV vehicles are to be air-transportable by Indian Air Force’s strategic military transport aircraft such as Ilyushin Il-76 and C-17 Globemaster III.

The WHAFV vehicles should be armed with two twin anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) launchers with a provision of internal stowage of eight additional missiles. A man-portable version of the ATGM launcher should also be available for dismounted troops to fire the same missile. The main gun on the vehicle should be a 30mm cannon with a 7.62mm Coaxial Machine Gun. A Remote Controlled Weapon Station (RCWS) is preferred for the turret. An internal storage of 500 rounds of 30 mm ammunition and 2000 rounds of 7.62 mm ammunition should be available on the vehicle. An integral Active & Passive Protection System to effectively counter attacks from ATGM, Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) and KE ammunition should be provided.