Vehicles of the doomed infantry
In the article " They don't look at a rusty tank in the trucks " (see "HBO" from 04/22/12) the question was considered what kind of heavy equipment of Soviet and Eastern European production the West can supply to Ukraine. It also said that if it comes to the supply of Western heavy equipment, it is easiest to transfer armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles to the Ukrainian army. They are easier for personnel to master, and there are a lot of cars of this class in the West.
It can be assumed (partly this is already confirmed in practice) that light armored vehicles (including MRAR class cars) and old "classic" armored personnel carriers will be the first to go to Ukraine.
On the basis of armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles, a lot of auxiliary vehicles (KSM, engineering, medical, etc.) are being created. Here we do not touch them: we take into account only the "actual armored personnel carriers" and their combat variants – carriers of mortars or anti-tank missile systems (ATGMs) . Anti-aircraft missile systems on the APC chassis were separately considered in the article " Is there a cloudless sky over the whole of Ukraine? " (see "HBO" from 03.06.22).
WESTERN CLASSICS
The most common classic armored personnel carrier not only in the West, but also in the world remains the American M113, which participated in the Vietnam War. In the USA there are (almost all in storage) up to 9 thousand M113A2/3, up to 1.7 thousand M125 and M106 self-propelled mortars and up to 2170 carriers of the Tow M901 ATGM on the M113 chassis.
Up to 2,380 M113s (including auxiliary vehicles) can remain in storage of the Bundeswehr. The Canadian Army has 300 upgraded M113 MTVL/TLAV and possibly up to 700 M113 early modifications in service and in storage. Approximately 400 M113AS4 and 21 self-propelled mortars based on it are in service with the Australian Ground Forces.
In Norway, approximately 430 M113s are in service and in storage, including 97 NM142 (carriers of the Tow ATGM). Up to 367 M113s of several modifications, including 56 carriers of the Tow ATGM, are available in Denmark. Lithuania has 270 M113 and 42 self-propelled mortars based on them. Switzerland has over 600 M113s and vehicles based on them, but it is not going to transfer weapons to Ukraine yet. Spain has 400 M113s and at least 600 self-propelled mortars and ATGMs based on them. Portugal has up to 254 M113s, at least 80 self–propelled mortars and ATGMs based on them. The Bulgarian army has 30 M113s in service, the same number is in storage in Macedonia.
Turkey and Greece are constantly preparing to fight among themselves, so they are reluctant to share weapons (especially Greece), but they have a lot of M113s. Greece has 1,384 of them, as well as 167 M106 self-propelled mortars and 330 carriers of the Tow M901 ATGM. Turkey has up to 2,534 M113s, 300 self-propelled mortars and 156 M901s.
In Holland and Belgium, the YPR-765 armored personnel carrier was created on the basis of the M113, in Italy – the VCC-1 and VCC-2 armored personnel carriers. Now in Holland there are up to 480 YPR-765 and up to 50 M113 in service and in storage, in Belgium (only in storage) – up to 83 and up to 232, respectively. The Italian army has up to 2,225 M113 and VSS-1/2, up to 420 self-propelled mortars, up to 270 M901.
So, in total, the West has up to 28.4 thousand M113 and its combat derivatives. A lot of them have actually already been disposed of or are only suitable for spare parts, the owners are not ready to give up on others yet. Nevertheless, 3-4 thousand "boxes" can move to Ukraine.
The American army has about 2.8 thousand armored vehicles (or light armored personnel carriers) M1117, which are used mainly in the military police. Of these cars, 1200 are now being transferred to Greece. Another 500 such APCs (called TARV) are available in Canada, 17 in Bulgaria. Their "close relatives" are the V-150 and V-200, which in the amount of about 120 vehicles are in service with the Portuguese army (including 20 self-propelled mortars). 124 V-150s are available from the Turkish police.
The Pirana family of Swiss armored personnel carriers, which has been developing since the 1970s, is extremely popular. Based on it, a number of machines have been created in Canada and the USA. Switzerland itself has about 400 "Piranhas" of early modifications, but it is not going to give them to Ukraine. The old modifications (mainly Pirana-3) are also in service and/or in storage of the armies of Belgium (101), Denmark (up to 87), Spain (30), Romania (31), Canada (up to 190 own variants of Cougar and Grizzly and up to 200 Coyote"). The US Marine Corps has up to 392 LAV-25 armored personnel carriers (its own version of the early Pirana), as well as up to 50 self-propelled mortars and up to 95 Tow ATGM carriers on their base. The Australian Army is armed with 175 similar ASLAV armored personnel carriers.
Since the 1960s and 1970s, British tracked armored personnel carriers "Trogen" and wheeled "Saxon", a family of tracked combat vehicles CVR (T), French armored personnel carriers VAB and German "Fuchs", Italian "Fiat-6614/6616" have been in service. Now the British army has in service and in storage up to 1,150 "Trowgens" and upgraded armored personnel carriers "Bulldog", about 400 "Saxons", about 600 armored personnel carriers "Spartan" and up to 300 BRM "Simiter" from the CVR (T) family. Up to 120 "Spartans" and "Simiters" have Latvia, up to 300 "Spartans" are stored in Belgium. Back in 2014, Britain handed over 75 "Saxons" to Ukraine, of which at least seven have been lost to date.
The French army has up to 3.5 thousand. combat versions of the VAB armored personnel carrier, including up to 400 self-propelled ATGMs. About 120 more such APCs are in service with the National Guard of Cyprus, including 18 carriers of the ATGM "Hot". The Bundeswehr is armed with 359 Fuchs, 128 more such armored personnel carriers are in the US Army, 24 are in the Dutch army. The Italian army and police still have about 170 "Fiats".
In the 1960s and 1980s, other classic armored personnel carriers were created. In Spain, there are about 500 domestic BMR-600 armored personnel carriers in service and in storage, including about 90 self-propelled mortars and ATGM carriers. In Sweden, 172 tracked Pbv302 armored personnel carriers remain in service. Finnish armored personnel carriers of the 180th and 200th series are in service in Finland (635 units), in the Netherlands (5), in Norway (32), in Sweden (203), in Estonia (132). Austria itself has the Austrian 4K-4F (317), as well as (under the name "Leonidas") Greece (491), Cyprus (up to 197) and Macedonia (nine). Yugoslav wheeled armored personnel carriers of the VV family have Croatia (90), Slovenia (up to 44 in storage, 24 ATGM carriers in service), Cyprus (8). Macedonia has extremely outdated German TM-170 armored personnel carriers (115 units). The National Guard of Cyprus is equipped with such exotics as Brazilian armored vehicles HER-3 (36 vehicles, including 24 carriers of the ATGM "Milan") and HER-9 (126).
The youngest classic armored personnel carrier is the Italian Puma, now there are up to 450 of them in the Italian Ground Forces.
LIGHTWEIGHT
Armored vehicles based on conventional trucks became the first class of armored vehicles in history. They appeared on the fields of the First World War, and before tanks. But during the Second World War, they began to be replaced by specialized armored personnel carriers.
Armored vehicles also acquired an increasingly narrow specialization: reconnaissance vehicles not designed to transport infantry, or vehicles for police and anti-guerrilla operations. This class of cars experienced a kind of rebirth in the era of universal insanity on the "fight against terrorism".
In France, up to 1,612 VBL M-11 armored vehicles and up to 1,183 PVP are in service and in storage, Greece has another 243 VBLs, Portugal has 37 (including six carriers of the Milan ATGM). The Dutch-German armored car "Fennek" is in service only in these two countries – 197 in Germany, 387 in the Netherlands (including 39 self-propelled mortars and 48 carriers of the Spike ATGM). There are about 600 German armored cars "Dingo" in the Bundeswehr, 157 in Belgium, 19 in Norway, 21 in the Czech Republic, 78 in Austria. Besides the Swiss army (up to 450 vehicles), the armies of Germany (629) and Denmark (up to 125) are equipped with Swiss armored cars "Eagle". You can also mention the Spanish VEC-3562 BRM (up to 300 in service and in storage).
Turkish armored cars are very popular in the world now, although mostly outside the collective West. The Turkish army is armed with almost 2 thousand vehicles of its own production: 752 "Cobra", 649 "Bricks", 370 "Acrep". In addition, Macedonia has the only "Cobra", Slovenia has 10.
The Italian armored car LMV is even more popular. In the Italian Armed Forces until 1945 (including 21 carriers of the Spike ATGM). The UK has 395 LMVs (under the name "Panther"), Belgium has 440, Norway has 169, Spain has 183, Austria has 172, the Czech Republic has 124, Slovakia and Croatia have 10 each, Albania has eight.
A separate area of development of armored vehicles are vehicles of the MRAP class (mine resistant ambush protected – "protected from mines and ambush attacks"). They were first created in South Africa in the late 1970s and early 1980s and adapted to local conditions and the nature of the wars waged by Pretoria. To protect against mine explosions, vehicles of this class have a large clearance and a V-shaped bottom, which reduces the effect of the blast wave. These vehicles, as a rule, are based on commercial trucks or jeeps, do not have built-in weapons (or carry a single machine gun).
During the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, almost 30 thousand memoirs of six types were manufactured in the USA, of which three (RG-31, RG-33, "Cougar") are of South African origin. Currently, 2,347 RG-31s, up to 1,679 RG-33s, up to 3019 Cougar, as well as up to 6,355 M-ATV, up to 1,262 Cayman, up to 6,130 MAHRGO are in service and in storage of the US Armed Forces – that is, up to 20.8 thousand armored vehicles in total. The actual number of combat-ready vehicles may be significantly less.
Many Western countries have cars of these types. In the UK – up to 732 "Cougars" (in three versions: up to 439 "Mastiff", 168 "Ridgeback", 125 "Wolfhound"). Denmark has six Cougars, Latvia has eight, Slovenia has seven. The Romanian army has 59 MACHS and two Cougars, the Polish – 44 M-ATV, 29 MACHS, 40 Cougars, the Albanian - 40 MACHS, the Croatian - 162 M-ATV, 30 MACHS, 20 RG-33, the Spanish – 84 RG-31, the Canadian – up to 74 RG-31.
The West has a certain number of memoirs produced in their "historical homeland" – in South Africa. These are 380 RG-32M armored vehicles from Sweden, 47 from Finland and seven from Slovakia, seven Mamba cars from Estonia.
Own memoirs were created in the UK (399 Foxhanud armored vehicles) and Australia (621 Bushmaster, including 58 self-propelled mortars). "Bushmasters" are also in service with the Dutch army (up to 60 vehicles). Australia has already handed over to Ukraine up to 40 Bushmasters, of which at least one has been lost.
UKRAINIAN PERSPECTIVE
Even before the outbreak of hostilities, the military-industrial complex of Ukraine could only marginally meet the needs of its armed forces. Now it is almost destroyed, all hope for lend-lease. The possibilities of which seem almost limitless: the listed "light armor" in the West has, according to maximum estimates, more than 78 thousand units! Even if only a tenth of them reach Ukraine (this is quite realistic), it will allow for a long time to make up for losses in equipment and form new motorized infantry formations.
However, all the listed armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles are vehicles rather than combat systems, their stability in modern combined–arms combat is very low, they cannot make a turning point in the course of hostilities. But if there are a lot of cars, and the loss of personnel does not matter, then the loss of the cars themselves does not matter either. But you can prolong the conflict for a long time.
Alexander Khramchikhin
Alexander Anatolyevich Khramchikhin is an independent military expert.