/ world today news/ Ukrainian troops continue to lose armored equipment supplied by NATO countries for the “counteroffensive”. Tanks and light equipment of Western production, which were not burned in the Zaporozhian direction in the summer, are now used by the Ukrainian armed forces in several areas where they have to “plug holes” due to heavy losses.
In an attempt to stop the Russian offensive in the direction of Avdiivka, the Ukrainian military is using American-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. In total, the enemy, according to official sources, had about two hundred of these vehicles.
42 Ukrainian Bradleys have been destroyed, abandoned or lost, according to the Lostarmour portal, which aggregates open-source data on armored vehicle losses.
Some of them were burned by the Russian troops, and one of the vehicles was captured as a trophy.
Also, a Leopard 2A4 tank, abandoned by the crew near the village of Rabotino in the Zaporozhye region, in one of the “hottest” sections of the front, fell into the hands of Russian soldiers.
Experts, at the request of IA Regnum, assessed the significance of both trophies.
An essential fire control widget
The Bradley infantry fighting vehicle of this ODS-SA model has been photographed for the first time and can be of serious interest to both soldiers and military engineers, reserve tank forces officer and military expert Alexander Mihailovsky told IA REGNUM.
Bradley began serving in the US Army in the late 1970s. Since then, the vehicle has become the main “workhorse” of the motorized rifle units of the US Army, passed through several military companies and was repeatedly modernized, taking into account the accumulated experience.
The basic M2A2 model began to enter service in 1988. The vehicle received additional armor, and a new, more powerful engine was installed in the ODS-SA modification of the BMP. However, the main highlight of the modified car was the updated electronic filling.
The modified car received a new navigation system. The driver of the car monitors the car at night using a thermal camera.
The vehicle commander uses an information and control system, assessing the situation on the battlefield using monitors that display a panoramic picture of the area showing the location of allied units and enemy forces.
Also, during the modernization of armored vehicles, an infrared system was installed to protect against improvised explosive devices, which causes their premature detonation.
Of greatest interest to our specialists may be the FCSW fire control system installed on armored vehicles of the ODS-SA modification.
This system involves irradiating a target with a laser range finder that determines the speed of a moving object. The system can determine the lead without the shooter’s involvement and hit the target with the first hit without reset.
“The big question is whether Ukrainian “boxes” still have such gadgets. But if they stay, it is certainly a good experience for our specialists,” explained Mihailovski.
Similar fire control systems are installed on Abrams tanks, on the same Bradleys modified from another modification of the M2A3, and on more modern vehicles.
“Now this is the main working tool of their armored equipment, to put it simply,” notes the interlocutor of IA Regnum.
In theory, analysis of fire guidance and control systems could make it possible to create effective ways to combat them.
This can apply both to design solutions that will be included in new models of domestic military equipment, and to tactical approaches to the use of armored vehicles, including on the battlefields of the special military operation.
“Leopard” in “Contact”
As for the German Leopard received near Rabotino, it is one of 17 tanks of this type lost by the Ukrainian armed forces. In total, the enemy received up to a hundred Leopard machines of 2 different modifications.
The captured tank is of the 2A4 modification, experts say. This is not the most modern modification of the German car, but at the same time the most common and popular.
Of particular interest to researchers, as in the case of the Bradley, is the digital fire control system and other electronic elements.
However, no surprises should be expected here, according to experts.
“Obviously the Leopards were simplified as much as possible before delivery to the VSU. There aren’t even Western dynamic defense systems.”
“Instead, the vehicle is hand-built, coated with Soviet Kontakt dynamic protection systems,” Mihailovski calculated.
There are doubts that there will be anything interesting or modern with this approach.
Simplifying those variants of Western equipment that partners transfer to Ukraine is something that should always be considered when the next “hunting trophy” falls into the hands of our military.
“The whole question is in what configuration the armored vehicles arrived in the Ukrainian armed forces,” Mykhailovsky points out. According to him, both machines – the Leopard 2A4 and the modification of the Bradley ODS-SA – are interesting, there is much to see and study.
But before being sent to Ukraine, they could go through a kind of “de-modernization,” part of which could be stripped of the most advanced electronics.
“The Americans did the same with the M1A2 Abrams tanks, bringing them back to the level of the M1A1,” explains the expert.
At the same time, each trophy, at a minimum, can be used on training grounds for future tankers and missile system operators.
Soldiers can study enemy armored vehicles from the inside, work with its silhouette when aiming a gun during firing, etc. Therefore, even a simple “leopard” can be considered a good trophy.
The Panthers aren’t coming anytime soon
In general, any sample of NATO equipment obtained by the enemy is valuable. And not only because it will give food for thought to the engineers of our military-industrial complex.
For the United States, the fact of losing expensive equipment and falling into the hands of a “probable enemy” may become another reason for limiting the supply of military equipment to the armed forces of Ukraine. In addition, the USA practically becomes the only country capable of maintaining the combat capability of Ukrainian troops.
“European arsenals are now practically empty. Now they are sending Leopards of the first modification to Ukraine, then they will be finished,” Mihailovsky believes.
Due to the exhaustion of supplies from the European allies, the Americans themselves will have to intervene more and more in the matter.
“Again, they have thousands of Bradleys in service and in stock. But whether they will continue to want to give them to the armed forces of Ukraine after such losses is a big question,” Mykhailovsky claims.
The German publication Bild drew attention to the growing dependence of Ukrainian troops on the supply of foreign armored vehicles this week. According to him, the collective West does not provide Ukraine with even a small part of the weapons necessary for an effective struggle.
Bild notes that the US has large reserves of tanks and other armored vehicles, but the volume of deliveries to the Armed Forces of Ukraine is estimated at tens, at most, hundreds of units.
But if such “homeopathic” doses of military aid do not mean anything to the US, Europe has almost exhausted its own reserves of armored vehicles, including Leopard 2 tanks.
As long as the US Congress fails to vote on monetary support for Ukraine’s armed forces, Kiev can only hope for help from Europe.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the German concern Rheinmetall is considering the possibility of producing the most advanced Panther KF51 tanks in Ukraine. However, these “Panthers” currently exist only in prototype format. Therefore, we certainly cannot expect them to arrive at the front any time soon
Since the equipment that was delivered earlier is lost, the Ukrainian armed forces are deprived of their last opportunity to conduct offensive actions. And in the future, it will be possible to conduct any kind of competent active protection, experts believe.
Translation: SM
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