The Search for Game-Changers in Ukraine

摘要

Since Russia began their invasion on 24 February 2022, there has been a continued tendency on social media and in the press to hype up many Western weapons supplied to Ukraine, often after seeing limited footage of their employment in narrow tactical scenarios. This has often resulted in the fetishisation or even canonisation of weapon systems in the public sphere -see 'Saint JAVELIN', 'Saint NLAW, 'Saint Stinger', along with songs honouring the BAYRAKTAR TB2 UAV and HIMARS rocket artillery system. However, despite the undeniable effectiveness of most of these systems in their roles, much of the initial hype around them as battlefield game-changers has gradually dissipated as the war failed to end, and the public imagination's search for the next wunderwaffe continued.