The US has promised Ukraine a new military aid package including more Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.
The US-made armored vehicles, which offer maneuverability, versatility, and sufficient firepower, have proven valuable to Ukraine efforts on the battlefield — more so than the main battle tanks and other heavy armor it’s received.
The US Department of Defense announced the aid package, estimated at $250 million, on Friday, noting that it “will provide Ukraine additional capabilities to meet its most urgent needs, including: air defense missiles; munitions for rocket systems and artillery; armored vehicles; and anti-tank weapons.”
The assistance package includes ammunition, Javelin systems, Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles, M113 Armored Personnel Carriers, and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles.
Vitalii Nosach/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
But one of the package’s most notable assets is more Bradleys, the formidable fighting vehicle that’s seen heavy use in combat.
The Pentagon would not provide further details on how many are included in this package, citing operational security considerations, but the US has sent more than 300 Bradleys to Ukraine since early 2023, when NATO partner nations collectively pushed to send Ukraine more armored vehicles ahead of its 2023 counteroffensive.
Since then, the Bradleys have been a go-to combat vehicle for Ukraine’s forces. One reason is that its received more Bradleys than it has main battle tanks from Western nations. For instance, the US only provided 31 Abrams tanks.
Oliver Weiken/picture alliance via Getty Images
But the Bradleys’ effectiveness, which has led some war analysts to describe it as almost legendary in status, has also come from the battlefield conditions of the Ukraine war and the way in which their operators have used them.
The Bradley is light and maneuverable, and it handles off-road action well. As former US military personnel and experts previously told Business Insider, while the Bradley is taller than tanks like the Abrams and less heavily armored, it’s much more compact, giving it a mobility and agility that’s useful in an environment such as Ukraine where anti-tank weapons are ever-resent. And even with lighter armor, the vehicles have proven sufficiently protected to shield crews inside.
Ukraine’s 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade
The Bradley has also shown that it can hold its own in a fight and has been documented going up against Russian armored vehicles and even Moscow’s prized T-90M tanks.
The Bradley has received immense praise from Ukrainians fighting with it on the battlefield. Crews from the 47th Mechanized Brigade have called it a ‘very serious machine,” noting that its thermal imager is “very high quality.”
One soldier said that while the firing range may be lacking, “the shrapnel density is crazy, the firepower density is just insane.” Indeed, while the Bradley lacks the punch of a main battle tank, the vehicle’s 25 mm chain gun has a high rate of fire that can effectively knock out critical sensors on a tank and immobilize it.
The Ukrainian soldier added that with the Bradley, “target acquisition takes seconds, just seconds. At night, this machine is absolutely priceless, simply invaluable. You capture targets much faster. Visibility is better than during the day.”
