Russia’s vast stockpiles of Soviet-era military hardware are being depleted faster than Russian industry can work to replace them. The answer? Civilian vehicles, motorcycles, and (in at least one instance) golf carts.

It is likely that Ukraine’s claims to have destroyed 10,000 Russian tanks in the nearly three-year-long war are an exaggeration. Yet Western analysts and independent observers still believe the losses have been in the high thousands, and Moscow will likely face an attrition rate that it can’t overcome.

That means later this year, Russia will have to increasingly rely on lighter vehicles, including small trucks and passenger vehicles. The Defence-Blog reported on Wednesday that the Kremlin may be forced to employ “dune buggies and even golf carts.”

That isn’t pure hyperbole.

As David Axe wrote for Forbes.com last July, Russian forces carried out an assault that included five “golf carts laden with infantry.” The results were to be expected: “Ukrainian forces blasted the flimsy all-terrain vehicles, halting the attack and likely inflicting heavy casualties on the Russians.”

It wasn’t a one-off event, and it followed a similar attack that should have seemed like “a bad idea” when Russia launched an assault that included motorcycles, ATVs, and dune buggies. As military analyst Steve Brown wrote for the Kyiv Post, the hope may have been that “speed” would allow the “Mad Max” style attack to catch the defenders by surprise, but that was not the case.

Russia Doesn’t Have Any Good Options

The best option for the Kremlin would be to end the war, even as it has gained momentum in recent months. The simple reason is that the vast stockpiles of Soviet-era military hardware—including tanks, armored vehicles, and artillery—are being depleted faster than Russian industry can work to replace it.

Moscow has refurbished many of its older tanks and sent them to the front lines—including less capable tanks, such as the T-80, and platforms well past their prime, such as the T-62 and T-54/55 series tanks. Even as the Kremlin has sought to increase production for newer main battle tanks (MBTs), it seems unlikely that it can keep up with the losses.

Moreover, those stockpiles will likely have been depleted so significantly that it could take a generation for Russia to recover. In the short term, however, it will require that it rely on those “alternative” forms of transportation. But even then, it may not be employed in the best ways possible.

“The grim truth is that just as in its meat grinder assaults, the more Russian soldiers ride into battle on motorcycles, the more Russian soldiers die while riding into battle on motorcycles,” Brown explained.

Lightning Assaults Do Work—If Planned Well

This doesn’t mean that speed and surprise can’t be used accordingly.

Thanks to German propaganda, history misremembers the Polish lancers charging German tanks at the start of World War II. That never happened, at least not the way it was stated to have occurred.

The 18th Lancer Regiment of the Pomorska Cavalry Brigade did charge German positions in literally the early hours of the war, catching a small German force by surprise. But then German armored cars arrived and forced the Polish troops to retreat. Had those armored cars not arrived and had German (and Italian) propaganda not been so quick, history could remember that it was the Germans who were sent scrambling by the lancers! However, famed German tank commander General Heinz Guderian was the first to exaggerate the encounter and what the Poles attempted.

The truth is also that the Poles were equipped with anti-tank rifles that were more than adequate to take out German armor of the day. Yet, it is unclear if the Russians in Ukraine are being provided with anything resembling adequate weapons to get the job done. Instead, they are rushing into action in vehicles ill-suited to the mission.

This isn’t to say that the “Mad Max” approach is entirely “mad.”

Ukraine’s forces are also employing fast-moving dune buggies—but they are outfitted with anti-tank rocket launchers. And instead of charging fortified positions, the Ukrainians are hunting down Russian tanks in hit and run raids. The question is whether Russia can learn from its adversary or instead will simply charge again, as Lord Tennyson put it, “into the jaws of death.”

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].

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