{"id":24360,"date":"2022-06-13T20:40:32","date_gmt":"2022-06-13T20:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2022\/06\/13\/russia-ukraine-war-is-teaching-the-pentagon-a-lesson-about-the-pacific\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:26:17","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:26:17","slug":"russia-ukraine-war-is-teaching-the-pentagon-a-lesson-about-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/pentagon\/2022\/06\/13\/russia-ukraine-war-is-teaching-the-pentagon-a-lesson-about-the-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia-Ukraine war is teaching the Pentagon a lesson about the Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2015 Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine<\/a> is making clear to the U.S. Department of Defense that it must get logistics and sustainment right in the Pacific theater, the Pentagon\u2019s No. 2 civilian said Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia\u2019s logistics and sustainment failures during its three-month-old invasion of Ukraine are a \u201cvery hard lesson\u201d for Moscow, and the U.S. as well, U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks <\/a>said at a DefenseOne event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Russians are operating on their own border, and yet we saw [their] substantial logistics challenges. For the United States to be effective in the Pacific, we already have a significant logistics challenge [to overcome], worsened by the reliance that we have on fuel,\u201d Hicks said. \u201cMaking sure we understand how to go after that logistics challenge is one lesson that we can extrapolate, if you will, from what we see today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine almost immediately faced challenges with logistics and difficulties getting food, water and supplies to troops. It failed in its early objective of taking Kyiv and occupying a large swath of Ukraine, and has now concentrated most its forces in eastern Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hicks on Monday praised U.S. \u201clogistics and information sharing\u201d in coordinating allies to arm and equip Ukrainian forces. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin<\/a> is set this week to convene a third meeting of the U.S.-led Ukraine contact group, which has more than 40 member nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beyond concerns about contested logistics, Hicks there\u2019s a \u201cstrong business case\u201d for the Pentagon\u2019s efforts to adopt electric vehicles as the car industry moves in that direction. While \u201cnot an overnight issue,\u201d DoD is motivated at a strategic level to \u201cfree that tether to fossil fuel.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a lot we can do to move the system, and when we do that we\u2019re going to help ourselves with that combat credibility, particularly in places like the Pacific where the logistics lines are very long,\u201d Hicks said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t