Stryker armored vehicles in Ukraine. First losses and predictable future
Foreign technology in Ukraine. The Stryker armored personnel carrier is second from the left. Photo Telegram / BMPD
This year, the United States transferred a large number of Stryker armored vehicles and various auxiliary equipment to the Kyiv regime. This equipment was preserved for a long time and was not sent into battle. However, it had to be used in the notorious counter-offensive, and the results of combat use were far from desired. Several Ukrainian Strykers have already been destroyed under various circumstances, and the same future awaits the rest of the delivered vehicles.
Help with armored personnel carriers
In mid-January, the American press, citing its sources, reported that Washington had decided to transfer the Stryker family of equipment to the Kyiv regime. It was indicated that about a hundred of these vehicles will be sent to Ukraine, which will be taken from the fleet of US ground forces.
Soon official confirmation arrived. Strykers were indeed included in the next aid package. It was planned to supply 90 units. equipment, 20 mine trawls and other equipment. Later, the Pentagon and the White House several times included additional batches of such smaller vehicles in new aid packages. In total, they promised to transfer approx. 190 units technology and various equipment for it. Also, the process of training Ukrainian crews has been established at American bases.
Stryker and crew members. Photo Telegram / BMPD
The first batch of Stryker armored personnel carriers was prepared for delivery at the end of January and was likely sent to Ukraine soon. The Kiev regime showed the first armored vehicles received only at the end of March. At the same time, it became known that the first American armored personnel carriers were transferred to the 82nd separate air assault brigade of the Ukrainian army.
Subsequently, the United States continued to ship the promised equipment, and it was distributed among Ukrainian units. Various photo and video materials with Strykers appeared regularly, but all of them were taken in the rear. Ukrainian fighters mastered the armored vehicles they received and were preparing to use them, but the command was in no hurry to send them to the front.
Failed counteroffensive
In early June, the Kiev regime launched its long-promised “counteroffensive.” It involved several large formations equipped with armored vehicles of different classes and types. At the same time, not all vehicles supplied from abroad recently were present in the advancing formations. In particular, the American Stryker armored personnel carriers and other equipment of this family did not make it onto the battlefield at that time.
M1132 ESV engineering vehicle with roller trawl. Photo Telegram / BMPD
The first reliable information about the presence of Stryker armored personnel carriers at the front appeared only a month later. On July 6, the Russian Ministry of Defense in its daily report for the first time mentioned the destruction of a combat vehicle of this type in one of the main directions. On August 17, they reported the destruction of three Strykers at once in the Zaporozhye direction. The August 20 report included two such vehicles in the same area. Two more armored personnel carriers were reported on August 25.
The known LostArmour database currently contains only five destroyed Stryker vehicles, and also provides their photographs and coordinates. The base included two M1132 ESV / Stryker engineering vehicles, destroyed on August 19 in the Zaporozhye region. Another such vehicle was hit in the same area on August 20, the next one on the 24th. The last Stryker on the LostArmor list dates back to September 9th.
Thus, the Ministry of Defense reports the destruction of eight armored vehicles of the Stryker family, and LostArmour indicates only five such episodes. Discrepancies in the number of embossed equipment, dates, etc. are explained simply. The ministry's press service has almost direct access to information from the front, while the compilers of LostArmor are forced to rely on open sources. In addition, photos or videos confirming the destruction or seizure of equipment are required to be entered into the database. This means that not all the damaged cars managed to get into the frame.
M1132, destroyed in mid-August. Photo Lostarmour.info
It cannot be ruled out that the actual number of Strykers destroyed is even higher. For example, this or that equipment could be destroyed when a shelter or other object was hit, and it will not yet be possible to reliably establish the fact of its destruction. In addition, accidents and breakdowns in the rear are possible, which they will try to hide.
One way or another, since the beginning of July, armored personnel carriers and engineering vehicles of the Stryker family have been present in the combat zone and are participating in the notorious “counter-offensive.” As expected from the very beginning, this technique slightly improves the capabilities of the Ukrainian infantry, but overall does not affect the course of battles. In addition, the fleet of foreign armored vehicles is suffering significant losses, and such demilitarization will continue.
Causes of failure
The Ukrainian “counteroffensive” failed, and foreign armored vehicles did not live up to the expectations of the Kyiv regime. The Strikers were no exception and also performed poorly. A number of factors related to both the characteristics of foreign combat vehicles and the specifics of their use by the Kyiv regime led to such results.
It is easy to see that the Ukrainian formations were never able to assemble a strike force for a full-fledged offensive in one area or another. Breakout attempts use small groups of equipment and units, which are quickly overwhelmed and destroyed by Russian defenses. As a result, combat vehicles, incl. Stryker, often cannot even get close to the positions of our army.
The same car from a different angle. Photo Lostarmour.info
The wheeled chassis prevents you from moving forward and solving a combat mission. As previously assumed, wheeled armored personnel carriers are experiencing problems with mobility in the landscapes of the current theater. Any obstacles make movement difficult, and broken dirt roads become an almost impassable obstacle. The mobility of the equipment is deteriorating, and it is becoming an easy target for Russian firepower.
Advancing columns are destroyed in various ways. One of the first lines of defense is minefields located at a distance from the main positions. As can be judged from the available materials, a number of Stryker vehicles were blown up by mines. It should be noted that Ukrainian formations take this threat into account and are trying to fight it. So, along with the armored personnel carrier, M1132 ESV engineering vehicles with trawls are sent to the front line.
However, the characteristics of standard mine action equipment do not always correspond to the specifics of a particular minefield. As a result, the trawl may collapse and cause damage to its carrier. In addition, the minefield always has fire cover, which will not allow passages to be made with impunity.
Equipment knocked out on August 24. Photo Lostarmour.info
Another long-range line of defense is anti-tank missile systems. Kornet ATGMs of various modifications are widely used in the Russian army. Their missiles are capable of flying at a distance of up to 5-8 km and hitting the target with high accuracy. A standard warhead designed to combat tanks, is guaranteed to hit a Stryker with a set of mounted protection from any angle.
An American armored personnel carrier or engineering vehicle is also a fairly easy target for any artillery systems. Russian tanks are capable of hitting Strykers even at the extreme ranges of their guns. Field artillery also poses a great threat: a direct hit from any shell will simply destroy an armored personnel carrier, and a close explosion will cause it some damage, even critical.
Unprepared for battle
The Stryker family of armored vehicles was created on the basis of a platform from the seventies and was intended for use in low-intensity conflicts. Following its use during the intervention in Iraq, this technique was severely criticized. Now it turns out that she was unprepared for full-fledged battles with a developed and well-equipped enemy. The Russian army, in turn, has all the necessary means to counter American armored personnel carriers, as well as to quickly and reliably destroy them.
To date, the Kiev regime has received from the United States at least several dozen armored personnel carriers and other equipment of the Stryker line. At first they tried to protect such equipment, but now the situation forces it to be sent into battle. The result of its application is well known, and the prospects are clear. If Ukraine continues its “counter-offensive,” then over time the entire Stryker fleet will be disabled or destroyed.
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