Combined Arms Manoeuvre and how it could be used in Ukraine

Western tanks, including 14 Challenger 2s from the UK,  Abrams from the US and Leopard 2s from Germany, are to begin being sent to Ukraine to aid its fight against Russia's invasion.

It is hoped the battle tanks will play a pivotal role for Kyiv in helping to repel an expected spring offensive by Moscow.

For the Ukrainian tank advances to be effective, they need to use Combined Arms Manoeuvre – but what does this mean?

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Dr Patrick Bury, a defence and security expert at the University of Bath, says: "Combined arms is about punching through and seizing ground, the synchronisation of fire, manoeuvre and communication".

A combined arms battle group is made up of "tanks, maybe a squadron of 14 or so", armoured infantry fighting vehicles to support them, artillery firepower, infantry and air support.

It will be complete with its own integrated supply and maintenance.

These elements all "work together, in unison, in synchronicity to achieve the effect they want to do".

Dr Bury gives the example that "the tanks follow on after the artillery barrage, they suppress the enemy while the armoured infantry fighting vehicles close with and kill them".

He likens a combined arms battlegroup to an orchestra or rock band, where "everybody's got the thing that they do".

"The crucial thing is that they know what the other people are doing and they know the timing of when they have to do their bit.

"A combined arms manoeuvre is like that, at scale and with more moving parts, in a field, to lethal effect."

He emphasises that communication is key for "synchronising it, planning it" and then making sure, "because no plan survives contact with the enemy and everything changes", you can talk and change the plan.

"You don't manoeuvre, you don't expose yourself, until you've got a firm foot on the ground, either like artillery coming in or something hammering the enemy to keep their heads down while the next thing moves," the defence expert says.

Combined arms has been effectively used by the Ukrainians. "That's what we saw in Kharkiv offensive, Ukrainian armoured brigade getting around behind the Russian lines and taking vast swathes of territory really quickly," he added.