A 47th Mechanized Brigade M-2.47TH MECHANIZED BRIGADE
Published June 5, 2024
Thirteen-ton Russian MT-LBs are no match for 34-ton Ukrainian M-2s.
In 28 months of hard fighting, Russia’s military has lost around 4,000 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles—the two types of armored vehicle that haul troops into battle. That’s around 150 destroyed Russian APCs and more-heavily-armed IFVs a month, on average, that the analysts at Oryx have visually confirmed.
Ukrainian losses are much lower: around a thousand APCs and IFVs since Russia widened its war on Ukraine in February 2022.
Last month, Russian losses spiked—to a staggering 288 APCs and IFVs, according to analyst Andrew Perpetua, who also tallies vehicle losses in Ukraine. “This is only what we could see and count,” Perpetua stressed.
It’s apparent what’s happening. Around the ruins of the eastern city of Avdiivka, one of the most violent sectors of the 700-mile front line in Ukraine, the Ukrainians are deploying better vehicles, while the Russians are deploying worse ones. When the Ukrainian and Russian vehicles clash, the Russians get beaten—badly.
A pair of videos that circulated on social media over the past month graphically illustrate the vehicular imbalance. In both cases, Ukraine’s American-made M-2 Bradley IFVs took on Russian APCs—and demolished them. Potentially dozens of Russians died in the two skirmishes.
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SOURCE: www.forbes.com
RELATED: Abrams, Leopard, Challenger – Ukraine Becomes Graveyard For Main Battle Tanks; But MBTs Are Evolving To Avoid Obsolescence
Published June 4, 2024
Is the dominance of tanks in modern wars coming to an end?
This question is increasingly attracting the attention of military experts as the ongoing war in Ukraine and the second Nagorno-Karabakh War between Armenia and Azerbaijan not long before have witnessed staggering numbers of tanks being destroyed and outgunned, particularly by military drones.
According to a recent report in the Moscow Times, as of May 1, 2024, Russia has lost 2,006 armored personnel carriers (APC) and armored fighting vehicles (AFV); these have been destroyed, abandoned, or captured. The situation with losses among infantry fighting vehicles is even worse, says the report.
The report quotes the study by the International Institute of Strategic Studies and adds that though Russia had 14,193 armored personnel carriers and infantry fighting vehicles in service at the start of 2022, as of May 13, 2024, 42.08% of those had been lost.
Other reports suggest that Russia has so far lost more than 2,900 tanks, although Ukraine claims that the number exceeds 7,000.
Ukraine’s score in losing tanks is equally egregious. According to a recent report in the New York Times, Russian forces have taken out five of the 31 American-made M1 Abrams tanks, said to be among the world’s mightiest, that the Pentagon sent to Ukraine last fall. At least another three have been damaged.
Besides, the NYT report, based on Oryx, a military analysis site that counts losses based on visual evidence, said that 796 of Ukraine’s main battle tanks have been destroyed, captured, or abandoned since the war began in February 2022.
