How U.S. Bradleys Compare to Russian BMPs as Counteroffensive Ramps Up

U.S.-made Bradley Fighting Vehicles offer troops better protection than their Soviet-era Russian counterparts, an expert has said, as Ukraine may be considering deploying the Bradleys in new ways in the coming weeks.

Bradleys may be less maneuverable than Russia's infantry fighting vehicles, such as the BMP-1, BMP-2 and later-model BMP-3, but they are kitted out with better armor, according to Marina Miron, a post-doctoral researcher at the War Studies Department, King's College London, in the U.K.

Ukraine has used Bradleys to try to penetrate Russian defenses in the southern Zaporizhzhia region, Miron told Newsweek. Zaporizhzhia, which Russia has claimed as annexed, is a hotspot of counteroffensive activity, as well as the eastern Donetsk region.

The vehicles have already been used in a breaching operation, Miron added, but Ukraine is likely to shift its tactical approach with the Bradleys after its recent counteroffensive operations, she said. They have so far been used to transfer Ukrainian troops to the battlefield and support the likes of the Leopard 2 main battle tanks in combined arms operations, she added.

While Ukraine has been making use of the Bradleys that began to arrive from the U.S. in April, Russian forces have been using their BMP infantry fighting vehicles to transport their fighters.

Even the older BMP-1s have been rolled out onto the battlefield. According to Dutch open-source outlet Oryx, Russia has lost 421 BMP-1 variants since February 2022, in addition to 874 BMP-2s of different types. A further 125 unspecified BMP-1 and BMP-2s have been lost, according to this tally. Of its available BMP-3s, Russia has lost 270.

At the start of the year, Russia had 4,150 operational infantry fighting vehicles, including 500 of the BMP-1 variants, 2,350 BMP-2s and 400 of the later BMP-3s, according to Military Balance figures collated by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

The BMP-3 is touted as "cutting edge" by the Russian state military exporter Rosoboronexport, which says it "combines the best of an infantry fighting vehicle, tank destroyer, fire support vehicle and amphibious personnel carrier." It's fitted with two 7.62mm hull machine guns, an additional integrated 7.62 gun, as well as a 30mm automatic cannon and a 100mm cannon-missile launcher.

There are several iterations of the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, but mostly earlier M2A2 variants were promised to Ukraine. These come with a 7.62mm coaxial machine gun, a 25mm cannon, and can also fire TOW anti-tank guided missiles.

To date, 18 of the M2A2 Bradleys have been taken out in Ukraine, according to Oryx's data. Several Bradleys were damaged crossing minefields and after coming under Russian artillery fire, Miron said, adding that a rescue operation led to more damaged Bradleys.

"For the Russian media, this incident was important in helping to depict the Ukrainian counteroffensive as a colossal failure, describing the Bradleys and the Leopard [tanks] as Russian trophies," she said.

"Nonetheless, Russian media does not seem to criticize the vehicles and their capabilities per se," Miron argued.

Ukraine has shared footage that it said showed a Bradley surviving a direct hit from a Russian Grad rocket.

"More caution is needed as Ukraine does not have an unlimited supply for Bradleys," Miron said.

Military and strategic studies analyst Allan Orr previously told Newsweek that Ukraine is "burning through hi-tech gear at a rate never intended."

On June 13, the Biden administration announced it would send an additional 15 Bradleys to Ukraine, bringing the total number to more than 120, plus four support vehicles.