[REGNUM] On the eve of the next meeting of the Rammstein Group, several NATO countries announced the supply of light armored vehicles to Ukraine. The aid parties include new vehicles that have to be taken from the armies of the alliance states, since the old models already delivered have shown extremely low survivability in combat conditions.
The governments of the United States, Germany and a number of other states have announced the delivery of new batches of armored vehicles to Ukraine. It has been officially confirmed that the Ukrainian army will receive 50 and 40 Bradley and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, respectively. Also, photos of Canadian -made LAV ACSV Super Bison armored personnel carriers , already in the possession of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, appeared on the network. Probably, the American Stryker armored personnel carriers will also be included in the new supply package.
The very fact of deliveries is not news. However, the new package is accompanied by scandals in the press. The German magazine Spiegel claims that Germany will have to take the Marder BMP from its own reserve to meet the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in armored vehicles, although the Bundeswehr is already facing a serious shortage of armored vehicles.
According to experts, NATO is forced, to its detriment, to supply modern armored vehicles due to the fact that equipment from previous deliveries has shown its vulnerability in modern warfare.
Supplied in the amount of several hundred M113 armored personnel carriers, the development of which began back in the 1960s, almost did not show themselves on the battlefield. According to the Lostarmour service, which records the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine based on photos / videos from open sources, the loss of nine such vehicles and 17 YPR-765 vehicles (Dutch modification M113) was confirmed.
According to experts, the limited use of these machines is due to the fact that they were designed for wars of the 20th century and do not meet modern requirements. The vehicle is extremely vulnerable due to its high hull, which is a convenient target for operators of anti-tank missile systems and other manual means of combating armored vehicles. Another disadvantage of American armored vehicles, which experts call, is narrow tracked tracks, which either get stuck in muddy conditions or fail when it gets cold: clods of earth clog into the tracks, freeze, and the car temporarily fails.
The VAB armored vehicles delivered from France also face similar problems. According to lostarmour, five such vehicles have already been lost during the hostilities.
According to experts, armored vehicles of this class were originally developed for military-police or peacekeeping operations, mainly in African countries. They are not intended for use in real combat operations and make their way even from a heavy machine gun.
These vehicles, like the M133, are also not designed for off-road driving and quickly fail in the field. Their use in conditions where the enemy has large-caliber artillery, tanks and anti-tank weapons can be compared with the use of police water cannons or tear gas in military operations.
British AT-105 Saxon armored cars can be attributed to the same “failed” deliveries , among the problems of which one can also include insufficient armor and, in general, moral obsolescence.
Experts suggest that the armed forces of the NATO countries, when planning military operations, did not, in principle, assume all the realities of military operations in Ukraine. This led to the fact that most of the NATO deliveries almost do not participate in the winter company - they have to fight on Soviet armored vehicles.
Will the supply of more modern American-style equipment solve the situation? It is highly doubtful.
In the case of the American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, experts call the same problems that the M113 vehicles have. This is a high narrow body and the severity of the machine. Despite the presence of a large number of on-board electronics, Bradley showed their worst side during the conduct of hostilities in Yemen.
Most of the vehicles shot down in the course of this company, due to their design, became prey for operators of Soviet-made anti-tank missile systems and received a missile hit on the side or under the turret. As a result, the United States put pressure on Saudi Arabia, demanding that they remove cars from the war zone and not cast a shadow on the American military-industrial complex.
It can be stated that the command of the NATO countries as a whole correctly assesses the weaknesses of its equipment, which is sent to Ukraine, however, even the supply of armored vehicles from the armies of the member states of the alliance will not change the situation.
Military equipment produced by NATO countries was developed taking into account the realities of local conflicts in the Middle East and Africa. This applies to the military products of the leading countries of the alliance - the United States, France and Great Britain.
Therefore, you should not expect that the same Bradley, Marder or Stryker will radically change the situation on the battlefield.
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