Ukraine Gets Bradleys Boost After Losing Multiple Armored Vehicles

The U.S. is set to supply Ukraine with additional armored vehicles following an assessment that Kyiv had suffered high equipment losses in recent days.

However, one military analyst told Newsweek that Ukraine was "burning through" equipment supplied by the West, which may not be able to keep up with Kyiv's demands.

Citing an unnamed U.S. official, military publication The Drive reported that a new U.S. aid package will include around two dozen Bradley Fighting Vehicles and Stryker Armored Vehicles, although how many of each was not specified.

This is part of an additional $325 million U.S. military aid package, first reported by Voice of America, which would also include munitions for the NASAMS air-defense system and HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System).

Open-source tracking group Oryx said that since the start of Ukraine's counteroffensive, Kyiv has already lost 16 Bradleys, five of which had been destroyed while 11 had been damaged and abandoned. The site did not mention any damaged or destroyed Styrkers.

The footage and images appear to date from between Friday and Sunday, which chimes with the assessment by the Institute for the Study of War's assessment that Ukraine started its counteroffensive efforts over the weekend.

So far, out of a stock of 4,000, the U.S. has donated 109 M2A2-ODS Bradley variants. It has also provided four B-FIST variants and 90 Strykers.

The U.S. Army has been using Bradleys for decades, and while smaller than the U.S.-made Abrams tanks, they can carry several military personnel and are equipped with a powerful gun. They are also sturdier and more survivable than the Soviet-era infantry fighting vehicles the BMP-1 and BMP-2.

The TOW missiles on a Bradley have been described as "tank killers," which Ukraine's forces would hope to use with their own tanks as a part of a "mechanized combined arms" team.

Kyiv has continued its call for Western arms to fight Russian aggression and their delivery to Ukrainian forces was expected to help in their counteroffensive, which comes ahead of a NATO meeting in Vilnius next month.

However, military and strategic studies analyst Allan Orr said that Ukraine is "burning through hi-tech gear at a rate never intended." He said that the Western equipment "can't replenish at this rate—they simply can't be made fast enough."

Included in this were Javelin and Stinger missiles as well as tanks and armored personnel carriers (APCs): "If Kyiv loses too many it won't be able to replace them."

Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian defense ministry and the U.S. Department of Defense for comment via email.