The Ukrainian military is trying to reveal the full potential of the received Western equipment in battles against the occupation army of the Russian Federation at the front and sometimes resort to desperate measures.
Points of attention
- The Ukrainian military reveals the potential of the received Western equipment in battles against the Russian Federation's occupation army.
- The Ukrainian military uses Bradley to ram enemy tanks and reconnaissance vehicles.
- The Armed Forces face challenges on the battlefield due to severe shortages in military aid, so they are mobilising the Bradley as much as possible.
- The Ukrainian military uses Bradley to attack the positions of the Russian occupiers and shoot at buildings where the enemy is hiding.
- The new use of Bradley is one of the ways Ukraine is trying to fight the aggression of the Russian army effectively.
How does AFU entirely use Western equipment?
According to the publication's journalists, one of the Armed Forces brigades showed footage of battles and repelling the offensive of the occupation army of the Russian Federation with the use of American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
Viktor, a 40-year-old BMP commander, took part in the counterattack of the Ukrainian military on the positions of the occupation army of the Russian Federation in the village of Sokil in the east of Ukraine.
It is noted that the Russian occupiers advanced on their equipment from behind the trees. Within a few seconds, the Ukrainian Bradley raced to meet the enemy armoured personnel carrier, firing a cannon.
The Ukrainian APVs received a catastrophic blow to the targeting system. The main weapon is out of order.
Then, the commander gave the order to ram the enemy combat vehicle.
At least two Russian soldiers riding in their armoured vehicle, identified as the BTR-82, jumped or fell during the firefight. Victor's car was hit three times.
He ordered the driver to rush straight at the Russian car, remembering several tons of steel and armour were still on his side. The Russians turned to the grass, the surviving occupiers fled.
Victor said Bradley returned to his position under his own power. He said other soldiers entered the area to fight the Russians on foot.
How else does the Armed Forces use Bradley?
A drone filmed the battle from the air. The footage highlights that Kyiv used US-provided Bradleys in unique and extreme ways to circumvent depleted artillery reserves and personnel shortages.
It is noted that the Ukrainian military used Bradleys for the first time as a battering ram during a counteroffensive in 2023.
However, American armoured vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are currently used for hunting armoured personnel carriers and other armoured vehicles of the occupation army of the Russian Federation.
In the fall, the 47th Separate Mechanised Brigade, where Victor and his Bradley serve, moved east to the Donetsk region to counter the Russian army's offensive in Avdiivka.
Viktor recalled how they used the firepower of the Bradley to destroy a Russian tank and crush a reconnaissance vehicle.
According to the US Defense Ministry, 300 Bradleys were transferred to Ukraine.
The new use of the Bradley is one way the Ukrainian military is trying to compensate for ongoing battlefield challenges, which were caused in large part by a severe disruption in US military aid.
US doctrine usually calls for Bradleys to operate in groups and alongside other vehicles, such as tanks, and usually engage targets at long ranges to avoid enemy fire.
But Ukraine's limited capabilities in terms of ground vehicles and combat aircraft, as well as the constant threat of Russian drones, forced its command to mobilize only one or two vehicles at a time.
According to Rob Lee, a senior researcher at the Institute for Foreign Policy Studies in Philadelphia, the Ukrainian military, against the backdrop of a shortage of ammunition, used Bradley to attack the positions of the Russian occupiers.
In addition, Bradleys can also fire on buildings in which Russian invaders are hiding.
