Lessons learned and experiment results used the smart (cheap) way

There are several not-so-friendly words for people who think they cannot learn yb looking at what others do or others say. So obviously, in a world of about 7 billion people and only a tenth of them being in the 'Western' world, NATO etc. - there's necessarily a lot of progress being made elsewhere, or just stupidities being avoided elsewhere.


I remember (from Jim Storr's book) that the Indian army division staffs are still supposedly as (relatively) lean and (relatively) quick as the British were in WW2 - and thus quicker than the current mobile bureaucracies of the UK's army, for example.

The Russians tend to sometimes arrive at similar if not identical solutions to certain problems, at other times they follow another route.


Again and again I've heard that there's little to no good innovation to be expected in Russia, China, India and many other non-Western places, but military history and military technology history supports my view that such an attitude is probably not going to survive contact with the enemy.

Compare the surprises that the Finns, Japanese and the -by the 30's supposedly backwardly- Russians had ready for the WW2 era.


This extends into organisational and doctrinal differences, albeit these are more difficult to spot.


I propose thus to use this thread to collect what SWC individuals have learned about such non-Western alternative approaches. Even if they suspect it's only a rumour (just mention it for disclosure if you're really unsure).


*going to be surprised if a "let's learn from the rest of the world thread is going to work in an anglophone setting*



I already mentioned the Indian staff size and add some hardware that differs conceptually from Western equipment

Russia BMP-T fire support AFV
Russia BMD-4 (airborne IFV)
Russia 9K720 'Iskander' (conventional SRB(PG)M)
Russia TOS-1A Buratino (brute force short range MLRS)
Russia T-50/PAK FA fighter with more emphasis on agility than F-22

PRC DF-21D medium range ballistic anti-ship missile
PRC QLB-06 35mm auto grenade rifles

This hardware appears to reveal different 'philosophies' of employment, albeit I still don't quite get the BMP-T rationale.


The Sri Lankan final offensive against the Tamil Tigers is another difference, we already discussed this one in detail, though.