Oct 2, 2026 

The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Operation Vivaldi features several solutions that could be studied by modern armies. These primarily concern the troop command and control system, the use of small air defense systems, ground-based robotic systems, remotely controlled armored vehicles, and unit coordination. This was discussed on the TV channel.FREEDOM spoke with Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman and military analyst Alexander Musienko.

According to him, one of the key factors was the management system and the command’s understanding of its own capabilities.

“When the commander (this is no longer just a corps, but also the Center Group of Forces), Brigadier General Andriy Biletsky, has troops, essentially brigades and units, reporting to him, he understands what reserves he has, who he’s counting on, how trained these soldiers are, and what weapons they have. And he plans the operation based on this,” Musienko noted.

Musienko singled out the use of small air defense systems. He said their use allowed Ukrainian units to limit Russian drone reconnaissance capabilities.

“For infantry or robotic systems to advance, the enemy needs to lose awareness, lose their sight, and prevent reconnaissance using drones. And they managed to neutralize quite a few Russian drones—reconnaissance and attack—,” explained a Ukrainian serviceman.

He noted that this created conditions for the advancement of Ukrainian forces and the implementation of an offensive strategy.

“This made it possible to advance, it made it possible to implement an offensive strategy, because the enemy didn’t understand, didn’t know what was happening. They continued to draw maps showing that they controlled the territory,” the military analyst added.

He named the use of ground-based robotic systems as another important element of Operation Vivaldi. According to Musienko, the Third Assault Brigade had previously been actively developing this component.

“The Third Assault Brigade had a developed ground robotic component. They created companies and battalions of various types—shock troops, which carried out position-holding missions, assault operations, evacuation missions, and so on. It worked,” Musienko said.

According to him, remotely controlled armored personnel carriers were also effectively used during Vivaldi, effectively transforming them into large robotic complexes.

“We understand that we have armored vehicles, but using them is quite risky because the enemy can hit them with either artillery fire or a drone. Therefore, the remote control modules worked. And these armored personnel carriers were, so to speak, large robotic systems, unmanned vehicles. That also worked,” the Ukrainian serviceman emphasized.

In addition, he highlighted information restraint and the coordinated actions of Ukrainian units among the factors contributing to the operation’s success.

“Information about offensive operations wasn’t disseminated. Some people mentioned it, but there wasn’t much information hype. That also helped. And the units’ actions were quite well coordinated. There was good coordination, communication, and command. All of this produced results,” the military analyst explained.

At the same time, he believes that the operation could still demonstrate new solutions that the military will further study.

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces’ Operation Vivaldi is still ongoing, so I think we’ll still see interesting aspects that can definitely be studied,” concluded Alexander Musienko.