The strategic landscape of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine has witnessed a significant development. A recent engagement they leveraged a U.S.-supplied M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle to secure a noteworthy victory against Russian armor.
The engagement, which unfolded on a night fraught with the intensity of battle, saw an M-2 gunner within the 47th Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian army spot a Russian T-80 tank positioned a mile away. The M-2 crew fired a single TOW wire-guided anti-tank missile, which punched through the 43-ton, three-person tank. “Bradley—the tank destroyer,” the Ukrainian defense ministry crowed.
It was one of the longest-range direct tank kills of the Russia-Ukraine war. But it probably came as no surprise to boosters of the iconic Bradley, which has been the U.S. Army’s main fighting vehicle since the 1980s. “The Brad … is not a tank, but it can be a tank killer,” explained Mark Hertling, a retired U.S. Army general who commanded an M-3, a scout version of the M-2, in Operation Desert Storm in 1991.
The 33-ton, 10-person M-2 might be the best fighting vehicle of Russia’s 27-month wider war on Ukraine. Equipping three 30-vehicle battalions in the elite 47th Mechanized Brigade, the M-2’s primary mission is to haul infantry into battle and then join the fight itself, peppering Russian troops and vehicles with accurate 25-millimeter auto-cannon fire.
Russian soldiers are “afraid” of facing US-supplied Bradley fighting vehicles on the front lines, said a Ukrainian commander, Newsweek reports. The Bradley is fast and “very maneuverable” and protects soldiers with its heavy armor. The Ukrainian commander also praised its “powerful machine gun.”
The Bradley can also serve as a personnel carrier and can carry seven soldiers around the battlefield. The ability of the Bradley laminate armor to protect its occupants from attack is another feature highly praised by Ukrainian troops.
Ukrainian soldiers have stated that Bradleys have helped them survive on the battlefield. One soldier said, “We would all probably be dead after the first hit” if they were using Soviet-era carriers. His unit all survived after mines, high-caliber machine guns, and attack drones struck their Bradley multiple times.
Relevant articles:
– A Ukrainian M-2 Sneaked Up On A Russian Tank—And Hit From A Mile Away, forbes.com, 05/09/2024
– Russian soldiers fear going up against the US Bradley infantry fighting vehicle, Yahoo Singapore News, 05/07/2024
– Latest Russia-Ukraine War Updates, Ukraine frontlines, 05/08/2024
– New photos show the US Army’s latest version of the Bradley fighting vehicle that’s proven itself in Ukraine, Yahoo News Canada, 05/06/2024