How Ukraine's Air Assault Forces Assign Combat Roles

(MENAFN- UkrinForm) Major Volodymyr Baiduzhyi, head of the training and laboratory support group at the 199th Training Center of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces, said this in an interview with Ukrinfor.

“Age and physical capabilities matter when selecting a military specialty, while the instructors' approach varies significantly depending on the stage of training,” Baiduzhyi said.

According to him, during basic military training, instructors try to adapt the workload to individual recruits so that everyone acquires the necessary minimum of skills or reaches the maximum of what they are capable of.

“Specialized training requires a completely different approach. Age, physical capabilities and previous civilian experience become critically important. For example, a 50-year-old welder is unlikely to become an effective UAV operator, as learning new technological skills becomes more difficult with age. Such a person is also no longer suited for reconnaissance, where endurance and physical fitness play the primary role,” the officer added.

Baiduzhyi noted that the main goal of basic military training is to turn recruits into versatile infantry soldiers who are proficient in basic weapons and can operate alongside the military equipment used by the Air Assault Forces.

“We have all the main types of both crew-served and small arms used by the Air Assault Forces. We train service members to operate both Soviet-era equipment and modern equipment made in Ukraine and abroad. They learn to operate ground equipment and how to properly deploy from it,” the officer explained.

According to Baiduzhyi, basic weapons include an assault rifle, either an AK-74 (the 1974 Kalashnikov assault rifle – ed.) or a foreign-made rifle. Recruits train with various types of weapons, but each has a primary weapon that they study more intensively and may later receive in their combat brigade.

Everyone also learns to use grenade launchers, including single-use launchers, Carl Gustaf and RPG-7 systems, as well as machine guns. A recruit may not become a grenade launcher operator or machine gunner, but they must understand what these weapons are and how to use them, the officer noted.

Read also: Ukrainian troops training in Poland with French instructors

Baiduzhyi added that recruits also have the opportunity to train on FPV drone simulators and operate various unmanned systems. This does not mean everyone will become a UAV operator, but they should understand how these systems work.

“After completing specialized training, a service member will consolidate the skills they have acquired and become well versed in the type of weaponry they will subsequently operate on a permanent basis,” the officer concluded.

As reported by Ukrinform, the Armed Forces of Ukraine currently have the greatest need for service members aged 23–45.

Photo: 199th Training Center of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces

MENAFN14092026000193011044ID1111661804