01/10/2023 08:00 (updated: 01/10/2023 08:09)
Ria Novosti
"Russians will not be happy now." NATO assistance to Kiev reached a new levelMOSCOW, January 10 - RIA Novosti, Andrey Kots. At the very beginning of the year, the NATO bloc sharply raised the stakes in the confrontation with Russia - several countries of the alliance promised heavy armored vehicles to Kiev at once. While we are talking about infantry fighting vehicles, self-propelled artillery mounts and wheeled tanks. But some are already thinking of handing over the samples even more seriously.
Desert Storm VeteranThe White House issued Ukraine another, so far the largest tranche of $3.75 billion. Kiev will receive 100 M113 tracked armored personnel carriers, about 200 off-road wheeled vehicles, 36 towed howitzers of 105 mm caliber, ammunition of various calibers, equipment and supplies.
The list also includes 50 BMP M2 Bradley with ammunition. Western armored vehicles of this level have not yet appeared in the conflict zone.
The M2 Bradley entered service with the US Army in 1981 and is still the main workhorse of the US Army. Used in many campaigns. It has established itself as quite reliable, formidable and protected, capable of working around the clock. Carries six paratroopers, is armed with a 25mm automatic cannon, a machine gun, and an integrated TOW ATGM, thanks to which the M2 has earned a reputation as an armored vehicle destroyer. During Desert Storm, the Bradleys burned more Iraqi tanks than the Abrams.
It is known that the Ukrainians will be allocated 50 BMPs in the M2A2 ODS modification. It was put on wheels in the 1990s, taking into account the experience of the Iraqi campaign. The most important element of the upgrade is the FBCB2 (Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below) combat information and control system, which allows you to exchange intelligence information with satellites and all combat units with such devices. FBCB2 shows on the computer display the location of friendly and enemy forces with reference to the terrain.
Of course, 50 machines with CIUS will not turn the Armed Forces of Ukraine into a network-centric army. However, the Americans will be able to see live how their weapons oppose the Russian. If the experience is recognized as successful, the US will sharply increase supplies without much damage to its own defense capability. More than two thousand M2 of early modifications are idle at the storage bases.
From Berlin and ParisGermany announced new deliveries. Berlin has pledged to provide the Armed Forces with 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles in the first quarter. This decision caused strong criticism in the Bundestag. CDU deputy Henning Otte said that now "the Bundeswehr will have to empty their storage facilities, and the equipment is already in poor condition."
They also recalled the recent scandal with the latest Puma infantry fighting vehicles, a significant part of which turned out to be incapable of combat.
Marder was put into service in 1970, but the vehicle was baptized by fire only in 2009-2011 in Afghanistan. The soldiers of the Bundeswehr appreciate it for its good security, high firepower of the 20 mm anti-tank gun and the Milan ATGM.
It was not specified which option the Armed Forces would send, but it is unlikely that it will be the last one. The most modern Marder A5 and Marder A5A1 in the German army is a little over a hundred. And the A3 and A4 versions are over thirty years old. However, the A3 also confidently withstands a head-on burst with armor-piercing ones from the 30-mm BMP-2 cannon, so you definitely shouldn’t discount it.
The French, in turn, want to share light wheeled tanks AMX-10RC. These armored vehicles with a tank turret and a 105-millimeter gun, put into service in 1981, fought in many hot spots. The power of the gun is enough to deal not only with light armored vehicles, but also with more protected targets. A 6x6 wheel arrangement, high suspension and a 300-horsepower engine allow you to quickly change positions on the battlefield.
"High tech options"NATO is ready to go even further by expanding the range of transferred weapons. New samples can be brought to Ukraine in the second half of the year, says Igor Korotchenko, director of the Center for Analysis of the World Arms Trade (TsAMTO).
"The supply of equipment is synchronized with the training of personnel," he explains. The military-industrial complex is to replace the losses of NATO countries."
They are already talking about tanks with might and main - although six months ago this possibility was categorically denied. The Wall Street Journal writes that Poland is ready to send its own German-made Leopard 2 MBTs to Ukraine. Now Warsaw is hastily replacing the fleet of German cars with American and South Korean ones. True, they constantly look back at the actions of the allies.
Apparently, go-ahead is also expected in Helsinki. The authorities of Finland, which has not yet joined the North Atlantic bloc, have already stated that if other countries send tanks to Kiev, then they will not stand aside, giving at least 30 Leopard 2 units.
And on Monday, the Sky News channel reported that the UK was thinking about the transfer of Challenger 2 tanks. As for the Abrams, Washington is still silent.
Deliveries of heavy armored vehicles by the West can significantly complicate the Russian army's combat missions. If earlier the superiority in tank technology was on the side of Moscow, then NATO vehicles will bring parity closer. However, the volume of deliveries, as before, depends on the situation at the front.
https://ria.ru/20230110/postavki-1843724277.html
Home
Latest images
Register
Log in
Alexander Lapin has been appointed chief of the Ground Forces of the RF Armed Forces — Readovka source
Up to 20 Ukrainian personnel, 1 armoured fighting vehicle, and 4 motor vehicles have been eliminated.
In total, 370 airplanes and 200 helicopters, 2,866 unmanned aerial vehicles, 400 air defence missile systems, 7,465 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 975 fighting vehicles equipped with MLRS, 3,802 field artillery cannons and mortars, as well as 7,992 units of special military equipment have been destroyed during the special military operation.
)