The Reason Bradley Fighting Vehicles Help Push Ukraine Counteroffensive Forward

Though Bradleys and other NATO infantry fighting vehicles have not yet broken through Russian lines, they have helped lead the advance through minefields and - most importantly - their armor is far superior to that of Russian vehicles, meaning that troops lives are saved so that they can stay on or quickly return to the battlefield. JL 

Andrew Kramer reports in the New York Times:

One bright spot as they fight through the minefields, Ukrainian soldiers say, is the protection provided by Western armored vehicles. American-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, with layered aluminum and steel armor, roll over anti-personnel mines with impunity enabling the Ukrainian military to cross minefields, but they have saved lives with superior armor that protects against the blasts. Troops injured by mine explosions while riding in Bradleys fared much better than those in Soviet-legacy armored vehicles. The main consequence was a concussion rather than the loss of a limb.

Five weeks into a counteroffensive that even Ukrainian officials say is off to a halting start, interviews with commanders and soldiers fighting along the front indicate the slow progress comes down to one major problem: land mines.

 

The fields Ukrainian forces must cross are littered with dozens of types of mines — made of plastic and metal, shaped like tins of chewing tobacco or soda cans, and with colorful names like “the witch” and “the leaf.”

One bright spot as they fight through the minefields, Ukrainian soldiers say, is the protection provided by Western armored vehicles.

Where they have been used, these vehicles have not enabled the Ukrainian military to cross minefields, but they have saved lives with superior armor that protects against the blasts.

The American-made Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, with layered aluminum and steel armor, roll over anti-personnel mines with impunity. They are immobilized by Russian antitank mines, hefty circular devices that are laden with about 15 pounds of TNT, often without causing serious injury to the soldiers inside.

Denys, a military surgeon at another stabilization point near the front, said troops injured by mine explosions while riding in Bradleys fared much better than those in Soviet-legacy armored vehicles, and that the main consequence was a concussion rather than the loss of a limb. “The Americans made this machine to save the lives of the crew,” said Serhiy, the private on the rescue team, who is now operating in his third Bradley after two earlier vehicles hit antitank mines. The second occurred when he and others were sent to evacuate wounded infantry stranded in a minefield.

The series of explosions was filmed by a Ukrainian drone and the footage posted online by a Ukrainian journalist. The episode was also described to The New York Times by Serhiy and other witnesses.

Driving into the minefield, the Bradley crew could hear over the rumble of the engine the pop of the less powerful anti-personnel mines exploding harmlessly as the vehicle’s tracks ran them over. To avoid antitank mines, they tried to follow tracks left by otOnce they reached the wounded soldiers, a gunner, Serhiy, and a sergeant, also named Serhiy, focused first on shooting back at Russian machine gun positions in a distant tree line that were firing on the soldiers pinned down in the minefield. Other vehicles had driven into the field, but it was difficult.

The medic, meanwhile, jumped into an artillery crater, apparently assuming the crater was clear of anti-personnel mines. He knelt and set one off, blowing off part of his leg.

The drone footage shows the medic applying a tourniquet to his maimed leg, then crawling back toward the Bradley, where another medic helps pull him aboard, leaving a streak of blood on the ramp.

Inside the Bradley, other medics put on a second tourniquet, Sergeant Serhiy said. Throughout the ordeal, which stretched to three hours, he had to leave the vehicle at times to carry casualties.

“It was scary to step out when you just saw somebody blown up on a mine,” he said.

As they drove out of the field, the Bradley hit an antitank mine and skidded to a stop. The explosion damaged the rear ramp, so the crew opened a hatch on the roof and lifted the wounded men through it, then lowered them to the ground. They then helped them limp toward another Bradley that drove them to safety.

Sergeant Serhiy returned to the site a few days later with an armored tow truck to retrieve the Bradley. As it was being pulled out, the Bradley rolled over another antitank mine, causing more damage.

The vehicle is now in Poland for repairs, Sergeant Serhiy said. He received another Bradley to continue the attempted advances over the minefields.