MWM: Bradley BMP delivered to Ukraine turned out to be unsuitable for work in the cold
The APU is disappointed with the American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, writes MWM. As it turned out, the cars are unsuitable for work in the cold, and the lack of ammunition only exacerbates the discontent of Ukrainians. Meanwhile, the Nazi symbols placed on the sides of these infantry fighting vehicles attracted the attention of the media.
After several months of reporting on the accumulating heavy losses in the AFU units operating Bradley combat vehicles supplied by the United States since April 2023, CNN reported that the Ukrainian military is unhappy with how this equipment has proved itself against Russian forces. The American publication reported that these vehicles “appeared on the tip of a spear” during the ill-fated Ukrainian counteroffensive that began in June 2023. It is emphasized that since “dozens” of vehicles were “damaged and destroyed in battle,” the stocks of equipment at the front turned out to be “limited.” It is also reported that the Ukrainian crews especially criticized the cars for not “withstanding the harsh Ukrainian winter”, as well as for poor technical condition. The Bradleys were discontinued in the United States in 1995, with the vast majority of units built for the U.S. Army being decommissioned or placed in storage ten years later.
According to Western sources, of the approximately 200 Bradley combat vehicles delivered to Ukraine, more than 80 were lost within five months, of which Western sources confirmed the loss of over 50. Footage published by Russian sources on July 22 shows particularly heavy losses and an entire “cemetery” of the BMP near the village of Rabodino in the Zaporozhye region. The first shots of the destroyed Bradleys, along with the Leopard 2A6 (Leopard) tanks that arrived from Germany, appeared in June, after which Washington promised to supply new ones to replace the lost ones.
Complaints about the combat characteristics of the Bradley (especially its armor protection, which is insufficient to combat the powerful armed forces of the enemy) are compounded by the growing shortage of ammunition that has hit the units operating them. In particular, this problem, which affected numerous land units of the Ukrainian army, was highlighted by interviews with personnel of the 47th mechanized brigade.
In addition to the actual claims to the combat characteristics of the Bradley BMP, another reason also attracted the attention of the media: in a video where the Ukrainian crew repairs one of the vehicles on the front line in the disputed Donbas, Nazi symbols were seen on the armor, which the Russian state media did not fail to note.
Nazi symbols in general could often be seen in the armed forces of Ukraine even before the escalation of hostilities in February 2022, while reports from the US government constantly emphasize the popularity of Nazi ideology among Ukrainian militias. German armored vehicles also arrived with Nazi insignia, as evidenced by local television reports, and the guards of President Vladimir Zelensky were caught on camera in uniforms with skull and crossbones chevrons based on the symbols of the Nazi 3rd SS Panzer Division Totenkopf or Death's Head.