They tore the cables and broke the hooks: how they pulled out the captured Bradley and how it will be useful
Well, our military can really be congratulated. After all, the American Bradley infantry fighting vehicle was added to the list of trophies for the first time.
Yes, for the first time, since previously heard statements about the seizure of these overseas products seem to have been empty talk - not a single photo, not a single video was published. And this is despite everyone having smartphones, even at the front.
In this case, everything is documented: the car posed in front of television cameras, appeared on the televisions of millions of Russians, and is now being actively studied by curious technicians from the Center group. Although its final route is more than clear, it seems that specialists from Kurganmash, the Steel Research Institute and, possibly, Uralvagonzavod have an interest in it. But more on that later.
This “Bradley”, immobilized during a Ukrainian attack somewhere in the Avdeevsky direction at the end of November, was given a very hard life. Moreover, we are talking not so much about the clash itself - there is no question about it - but about evacuation and attempts to pull this aluminum-steel fat thing out of its place.
And this was not without incident.
After being hit by a shell (as they say in the media, from a grenade launcher), the infantry fighting vehicle lost speed and was abandoned by its crew in the area exactly between the Ukrainian and Russian positions. Place for artillerymen on both sides, targeted, in the air Drones - in general, the situation is such that neither the Ukrainians nor ours can approach the car.
But ours, having previously reconnoitered the situation with the help drones and taking advantage of the fortunately descending fog in time, they decided to pull.
The captured Bradley infantry fighting vehicle is already far behind the front line. Source: Telegram channel “VELES writes quietly”
It turned out, of course, not at all the first time, and not without problems.
The cables were torn, the towing hook broke off, the vehicle, which had lost its mobility, was buried in the mud, and there were some shellings and injuries.
In general, the amount of effort it took to drag the Bradley was eloquently written in the Telegram channel “VELES writes quietly.” Let's give the full text, because retelling, as they say, will only spoil it.
The first attempts to pull out the Bradley were unsuccessful, and now the task came to our fighter.
They gave us an ARV with a crew, and under the cover of fog the group moved to the point. The route lay through the “road of death,” as the soldiers dubbed it, since a section more than a kilometer long is clearly visible from the AKHZ: there are constantly drones in the sky that adjust the artillery, kamikazes fly in a swarm, covering everyone indiscriminately. It was difficult to walk along this road on foot, not to mention heavy equipment, which was already being hunted.
The first time, as already said, it was not possible to pull it out... The barefoot "Bradley" sat tightly in the mud, the cables were breaking and the tow hooks were flying off, the enemy also heard the rumble of the ARV, there was little time, and we had to return with nothing.
The enemy, understanding the plan, apparently remotely, mined the road. On the next attempt, the ARV ran over a mine, the cumulative jet burned through the bottom behind the driver and rushed into the open hatch above it, slightly catching his thigh... The group dismounted and moved away from the damaged vehicle.
That's when the disco started. The enemy attempted to thoroughly burn the equipment and rolled out the tank, the first explosion occurred behind the retreating group, several more shells landed in the direction of the immobilized equipment, but there were no hits. When everything calmed down, the group set out to inspect the equipment, the driver, using dances with a tambourine and blue electrical tape, started the tractor and returned it to the base.
The next attempt was on two more powerful tractors, and the matter got off the ground. On the “road of death,” a kamikaze drone flew right over the cables between the vehicles and fell on the side of the road without detonating.
The group with the trophy confidently walked to the rear.
They gave us an ARV with a crew, and under the cover of fog the group moved to the point. The route lay through the “road of death,” as the soldiers dubbed it, since a section more than a kilometer long is clearly visible from the AKHZ: there are constantly drones in the sky that adjust the artillery, kamikazes fly in a swarm, covering everyone indiscriminately. It was difficult to walk along this road on foot, not to mention heavy equipment, which was already being hunted.
The first time, as already said, it was not possible to pull it out... The barefoot "Bradley" sat tightly in the mud, the cables were breaking and the tow hooks were flying off, the enemy also heard the rumble of the ARV, there was little time, and we had to return with nothing.
The enemy, understanding the plan, apparently remotely, mined the road. On the next attempt, the ARV ran over a mine, the cumulative jet burned through the bottom behind the driver and rushed into the open hatch above it, slightly catching his thigh... The group dismounted and moved away from the damaged vehicle.
That's when the disco started. The enemy attempted to thoroughly burn the equipment and rolled out the tank, the first explosion occurred behind the retreating group, several more shells landed in the direction of the immobilized equipment, but there were no hits. When everything calmed down, the group set out to inspect the equipment, the driver, using dances with a tambourine and blue electrical tape, started the tractor and returned it to the base.
The next attempt was on two more powerful tractors, and the matter got off the ground. On the “road of death,” a kamikaze drone flew right over the cables between the vehicles and fell on the side of the road without detonating.
The group with the trophy confidently walked to the rear.
They went to the rear and dragged the trophy with them. For this, the evacuation participants received the Order of Courage - a well-deserved award, because the value of this “piece of hardware on tracks” is enormous in terms of information. However, here it is better to say that it is not just huge, but paramount.
The fact that foreign equipment not only perishes in battle, which is quite expected for the West, but also falls into the hands of the Russian military serves as a good propaganda factor. First of all, for our general public: the people see that the army is fighting, destroying enemy armor and even capturing it as trophies. Moreover, if this armor is of American origin, there is not a very good attitude towards it in Russia, almost at the genetic level.
Captured Bradley infantry fighting vehicle in a report from Channel One
Here the exhibition of captured weapons in Moscow comes to mind - the Bradley will definitely end up there after being studied by specialists. She had been booked for a ticket to the Patriot Park ever since our soldiers loaded her onto a trawl and took her “in an unknown direction.”
As for the technical part of the question, namely: how will the machine be useful to our engineers and other researchers, the answer is unlikely to be unambiguous. Still, the most valuable thing about the Bradley is the communication and navigation systems.
Let us recall that in its full version, the infantry fighting vehicle was equipped with equipment for connecting the vehicle to a unified automated command and control system FBCB2, including the TACNAV tactical navigation system, which included a GPS receiver and a digital compass with the location displayed on the display to the commander and coordinates to the driver.
Navigation complex TACNAV for light equipment
In theory, access to these components could lift the veil of secrecy over the unified information space used by the US military for interaction between military branches, transmission of orders and messages, awareness of the tactical situation and other matters inherent in a digitalized army.
But, judging by the special care taken in the selection of military equipment sent by overseas partners to Kyiv, these components may not exist - at least, the Ukrainian Abrams certainly do not have them, to say nothing of the infantry fighting vehicles. In any case, as they say, an autopsy will show.
Regarding the rest of the equipment: they will get acquainted with it and issue relevant publications for internal use - that’s for sure. But to apply the acquired knowledge almost by direct copying is very unlikely. Although quite a lot of such versions have appeared on the Internet in recent days.
Captured Bradley IFV. Source: Telegram channel “Work, brothers!”
Firstly, there is no need to devalue our military-industrial complex - it is not at such a terrible level that any piece of equipment that comes across as a trophy is priceless and must be copied.
Secondly, oddly enough, in order to copy something from military technologies, a fantastically developed industry is required, which can quickly master this very copying in a large series. Especially if these are thermal imagers and other high-tech components.
So all sorts of sights, observation devices and other electronics are those gizmos that, most likely, will simply be taken on a pencil or will use only some of the ideas of Western designers. Moreover, we have enough of our own advanced developments of this kind, as well as problems of introducing them into mass production for the needs of the military.
Suffice it to recall the modernized BMP-3 with the Vityaz digital fire control system: automated generation of corrections for firing, thermal imaging panoramic sights/surveillance devices for the commander and gunner, automatic tracking of air and ground targets, the ability to integrate into a unified troop control network. A modern gentleman's kit for a combat vehicle, head and shoulders above the electronics in the captured Bradley, which didn't even have a normal commander's panorama, but it never went into production.
Upgraded BMP-3 with the Vityaz system
This, by the way, also applies to the engine with transmission - the interest in them will be purely theoretical. Various experts have already spoken about this more than once, repeating with the refrain that nothing useful can be extracted from the captured object in this regard. It’s worth agreeing with this: there’s not much to talk about here about borrowing technology, given the established production process of a range of engines and transmissions for domestic infantry fighting vehicles.
With armor and weapons the situation is somewhat different.
The Bradley has no special secrets regarding its armor, or rather, no surprising discoveries are expected for those examining the vehicle. It consists of an aluminum armor alloy at the base and steel screens, the presence of which has been known for a long time, since we are talking about a very old vehicle. Especially considering that similar protection schemes are used in the production of domestic infantry fighting vehicles, and options for the location and quantitative ratio of steel sheets to aluminum armor were studied back in Soviet times.
This is still not a tank with high-tech armor protection packages, which require special attention for further improvement of domestic armor-piercing ammunition. But they will probably not refuse to shoot at it in order to test its durability against small-caliber cannons and machine guns, which will help draw conclusions about the real capabilities of this weapon against American armor.
And if the trophy was equipped with fully equipped BRAT dynamic protection, then cumulative ammunition will also be used. The result for tandem projectiles will be obvious in any case and will end sadly for explosive “bricks”, but monoblock ones are worth checking - which ones penetrate and which ones don’t, you need to find out. Especially in comparison with our own dynamic defense, the need for which became greatly aggravated with the beginning of the SVO.
It is also possible that they will shoot from the surviving Bradley weapons at our vehicles or armor simulators in order to determine their durability - the 25-mm Bushmaster, if it is in working order and with ammunition, whatever one may say, is not the most common catch, in contrast to anti-tank missiles, of which quite a few were captured. Which will make it possible to find out the relevance of domestic steel and aluminum against Western armor-piercing small-caliber projectiles. True, for the most part, the standard for testing the durability of armor was previously 30-mm machine guns, but if you turned up a full-scale sample straight from the manufacturer, then why not.
The rear of a captured Bradley infantry fighting vehicle. Source: Telegram channel “Work, brothers!”
Well, in general, the Bradley will most likely be dealt with exactly the same way as was done after testing foreign equipment in the USSR. They will test it out and fully describe all the conveniences of the product, its technical advantages or disadvantages, layout solutions, motion control capabilities, and the like. Something will be recommended for implementation into production somewhere in the near or foreseeable future. But that's where it all ends.
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