Ukraine’s 8th Corps announced that they pioneered a new system that takes the wait out of destroying the Russians. It’s called Target Hub and it purports to turn the detect-identify-decide-engage-assess pipeline into a “digital service.”
Here’s how it works. A scout or drone operator gets visual on an enemy target, feeding that information into the Delta battle management system. Delta immediately outputs which friendly units are available to hit that target. A command can then quickly be transmitted to that unit to strike.
Delta’s Target Hub module eliminates the need for writing a target report, passing it up the command chain, then waiting for the decision. According to the 8th Corps, the wait sometimes took up to three days, giving the target ample time to reposition.
“As it is now: the principle is as simple as an online taxi service: we see a ‘client’ — we assign the nearest available ‘car’ — we get the enemy a ride to the afterlife. All within minutes,” the 8th Corps wrote in a statement.
The system also keeps multiple units from trying to take out the same target, wasting time and ammo in the process. It may soon spread to other units across the front line.
“Other units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already shown interest in the experience of the 8th Corps, and we are ready to become a base for scaling this technology to all of Ukraine’s defense forces,” the 8th wrote.
‘A few minutes to pray’
The 8th Corps’ Kursk Grouping was the first to test out the Target Hub system, which was tested over two months of combat in the North-Slobozhanske axis in partnership with the Defense Ministry, with feedback from warfighters.
As the latest refinement of Ukraine’s Delta system, it appears to help resolve a problem that still plagues the Ukrainian armed forces: the Soviet hangover of top-down decisionmaking and insufficient delegation.
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Multiple military insiders have previously told Euromaidan Press that the military can be top-heavy, with lower-level officers concerned about being punished for going against a higher-up commander. The three-day waiting period to strike enemy targets is consistent with this critique.
In spite of this, the Ukrainian military is very spread out, with each brigade often left to its own devices.
If Delta’s Target Hub module works as well as the 8th Corps claims and it can be scaled across the armed forces, it can make the Ukrainians much more nimble in responding to threats, increasing pressure on the Russians, provided there’s a friendly unit in place, with enough drones or shells to strike the enemy target.
“It significantly simplifies fire coordination both within one unit and between neighboring brigades,” the 8th wrote. “And thanks to a single digital ecosystem, it reduces the risk of data loss or human error.”
“The occupiers no longer have three days while we coordinate the papers. They only have a few minutes to pray.”
