Heavy American armored vehicles will begin to arrive for equipping the APU The head of the White House Joe Biden confirmed that the United States is considering the possibility of supplying M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to the armed forces of Ukraine.
In turn, French President Emmanuel Macron promised to deliver AMX-10RC wheeled tanks to Kiev.
The M2 Bradley BMP entered service with the US Army in 1981. In total, the US military-industrial complex manufactured 9753 infantry fighting vehicles of all modifications (in this regard, the US certainly has something to pass on to Ukrainians). IFVs of this type were used by the US Ground Forces in the wars in the Persian Gulf, Iraq and Afghanistan.
The machine was created in the second half of the 1970s, taking into account the experience of combat use of the BMP-1 and the features of the German BMP Marder. The main task assigned to the developers was to offer the US Ground Forces a significantly better armored vehicle compared to the M113 armored personnel carrier.
In many ways, it succeeded - the 32-ton M2 Bradley is a well-armed and protected IFV, which has proven itself very well during the numerous wars and conflicts that the United States has waged over the past decades. The American infantry fighting vehicle significantly surpasses the domestic BMP-1 and BMP-2 in its tactical and technical characteristics. For example, shells from 30 mm guns of Russian infantry fighting vehicles do not penetrate the frontal projection of the M2 Bradley. The only thing that can compete with an American armored vehicle is the BMP-3 with its 100-mm cannon.
However, do not think that the meetings of American and Russian armored vehicles will turn exclusively into a fire confrontation. After all, armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles are mainly a means of delivering infantry to the line of contact and only sometimes - as a means of fire support for tanks. But any attacks by light armored vehicles together with tanks in the so-called unified armored order result in heavy losses for IFVs and armored personnel carriers.
However, a very natural question arises - when will the M2 Bradley BMP appear in the necessary quantities on the equipment of the AFU units and units? Under the most optimistic scenario, this will most likely happen no earlier than April-May 2023. In this plan, it is necessary to take into account the necessary time to prepare the AFU personnel for operation and combat use of the M2 Bradley and the deployment of an appropriate technical support system.
Most likely, the M2 BMP will be delivered to Ukraine from the presence of the US Ground Forces at the bases for storing weapons and equipment on the continental part of America, and most likely in the M2A2/ M3A2 and M2A2 ODS variants. It is unlikely that the Ukrainian motorized infantry will receive the latest variants of the Bradley - type M2A4.
The production of the M2A2 / M3A2 modification, recall, began in 1988. The level of protection of the Bradley BMP in this variant was significantly increased due to more advanced passive and dynamic protection from armor-piercing sub-caliber shells of the 30 mm 2A42 cannon - the main armament of the BMP-2 and from RPG-7 grenades.
Modifications of the ODS /ODS-E (Operation Desert Storm / Operation Desert Storm - Engineer) were created taking into account the combat experience gained during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. The changes mainly concerned the electronics of the BMP.
In terms of the supply of light armored vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron is not far behind the head of the White House Joe Biden. He promised Vladimir Zelensky to hand over AMX-10RC wheeled tanks to the APU.
The AMX-10 RC wheeled tanks were developed by Satory Military Vehicles, a joint venture of Groupement des Industries de l'Armée de Terre (then became the core of the new Nexter company) and Renault Group and are intended to be a reconnaissance vehicle capable of also fighting enemy armored vehicles. Type of armor - aluminum alloy, rolled, bulletproof.
Serial production of the AMX-10RC was carried out from 1976 to 1994. A total of 457 armored vehicles of this type were built. 337 of them entered service with the French army, which used them in Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and a number of peacekeeping operations. That is, it is quite possible that a significant part of these wheeled tanks will be transferred to Ukraine, especially since the French are changing the AMX-10RC for more advanced armored weapons.
The abbreviation RC stands for Roues-Canon ("Cannon on wheels"). The 16.6-ton machine is equipped with a smooth-bore 105-mm F2 gun placed in a rotating turret and a 7.62 mm twin NF1 machine gun. The crew of the AMX-10RC consists of four people.
After deliveries to the armed forces of Ukraine of American M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and French AMX-10RC wheeled tanks, we should expect the transfer to Kiev and German Marder infantry fighting vehicles, and then the Leopard 2 main battle tanks. Berlin in this regard expected only a signal from the United States and other NATO member states and, it seems, this go-ahead in Germany. we waited.
As the newspaper wrote earlier .Ru", after the APU supplies the advanced Patriot anti-aircraft missile system, nothing looks impossible anymore. That is, the United States is no longer afraid of the loss of critical technologies in Ukraine.
Mikhail Khodarenok
