The news came just after the Joe Biden administration announced that it had sent to the US a 50 M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, a heavy tracked armored vehicle with an automatic 25 mm gun, a 12.7 mm machine gun and a TOW anti-tank missile system. APU.
Stryker armored personnel carriers could be part of the next tranche of military aid to Ukraine. The Biden administration will likely announce this package (with or without Stryker armored personnel carriers) late next week, during the Rammstein meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group on January 20, 2023.
According to Politico, Stryker armored personnel carriers will be another way to increase the combat capability of the Ukrainian mechanized infantry, helping to meet the urgent need for armored vehicles of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, as fears grow in the West that Russia is planning a major offensive. attack in the coming weeks.
According to the publication, although the Stryker armored personnel carriers are not as powerful and protected as tanks, the eight-wheeled armored combat vehicle created by General Dynamics Land Systems is able to operate in snow, mud and sand, although its off-road mobility is still “somewhat”. limited by the lack of parts”.
“Not as good as the M2 Bradley for tank warfare, but good for protecting infantry and transporting them to the battlefield,” US experts say. According to them, the Stryker could offer the Armed Forces a certain balance between the main battle tank and the armored personnel carrier.
Operators claim that the wheeled vehicle moves quieter off-road than the M2 Bradley IFV and states it can carry more soldiers (nine compared to six in the standard M2 Bradley IFV).
In the US Army, brigades equipped with Stryker armored personnel carriers occupy an intermediate position between heavy mechanized formations armed with M1 Abrams tanks and M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and light infantry formations on Humvee armored vehicles.
In Iraq, Stryker armored personnel carriers provided more protection than Humvee armored vehicles while allowing US troops to move quickly on paved roads. The armored personnel carrier is armed with a 12.7 mm M2 machine gun (ammunition load 2,000 rounds), 40 mm Mk19 grenade launcher (ammunition load 448 grenades) or 7.62 mm M240 machine gun (ammunition load 4,500 rounds). The weapon is remotely controlled by the crew inside the combat vehicle.
The strengths of the Stryker armored personnel carrier include the following. The combat vehicle uses a special Force XXI Battle Command Brigade and Below (FBCB2) digital data transmission system that allows the exchange of graphic and textual information between individual battalions and vehicles. The tactical situation display device allows the vehicle commander to plot the position of his forces and enemy forces against the background of the digital map of the area, while all data is automatically transmitted to all vehicles of the unit.
The Stryker armored personnel carrier is equipped with the Raytheon AN / TSQ-158 navigation system for precise positioning on the ground. The driver of the car has three M17 periscopes as well as AN/VAS-5 night vision devices. In turn, the commander of the vehicle monitors the situation through seven M45 periscopes and separate screens of a video camera and a thermal imager.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces are already using similar vehicles, as the first of the planned 39 Canadian Armored Combat Support Vehicles (the Canadian version of the Stryker), also built by GeneralDynamics, began arriving in Ukraine in recent weeks.
The shipment of powerful armored combat vehicles to Ukraine, such as the M2 Bradley and Stryker armored personnel carrier, may precede the delivery of main battle tanks to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. However, the final decision on the Stryker armored personnel carrier has not yet been made.
Like wrote earlier “Gazeta.ru”, the arrival of M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Stryker armored personnel carriers, French AMX-10RC wheeled tanks and Bastion armored personnel carriers to equip the Ukrainian Armed Forces will increase the mobility of Ukrainian troops as part of the operational maneuver especially the terrain in the south of Ukraine it bypasses groups, raids and detachments, as it is extremely favorable for such actions.
It cannot be ruled out that with the acquisition of this equipment, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a large-scale offensive in the Zaporozhye or Luhansk direction. The whole question lies solely in the timing of the acquisition of these weapons.
Regarding the shipment of M1 Abrams, Leopard 2 and Challenger 2 main battle tanks to Ukraine, it cannot be excluded that such decisions were taken by the United States and its allies and at the Defense Contact Group meeting. Ukraine in Rammstein format, which will be held on January 20, 2023, this will be officially announced.
The fact is that a lot of preparatory work is usually done before the Ramsteins, and the defense ministers of the Contact Group member states that come to this forum have already prepared the resolutions on all the issues on the agenda and the final document is already in the draft. most likely ready.
Therefore, the closest military assistance to Ukraine from the collective West can allow the Armed Forces of Ukraine to form strike groups in the main directions (second echelons, echelon of success development); Ukrainian forces lead a turning point in the armed struggle.