HISTORY

attacking across the huge, opened area,

covered with land mines and under the

covering fire of the Ukrainian defenders.

The result were tens of combat vehicles

destroyed and the whole units decimated.

The armored fighting vehicles and tanks

To stop these attacks and to prepare their

own counter-offensive, the Ukrainians

requested the modern armored equipment

from their allies. The call was answered

in January. First, in the beginning of the

month. France committed to deliver

AMX-10 RC wheeled combat vehicles

armed with 105 mm cannon and after that

Germany and the USA made their move.

Germany will deliver 40 infantry combat

vehicles Marder. The USA have delivered

so far 109 proven M2 Bradley vehicles

and others should follow. Besides

these vehicles however the Ukrainians

requested the third-generation main

battle tanks. The call was answered in the

end of the months when the Great Britain

committed to deliver 14 Challenger 2 tanks

and shortly afterwards the USA agreed to

supply thirty Abrams tanks and several

countries will deliver in total several tens

of Leopard 3 German tanks. They will be

delivered after the Ukrainian tank crews

training is completed, currently under

way in Britain, Germany and Poland.

Long range

For quite some time the Ukrainians

demanded from the USA the supplies of

ATACMS missiles with 300 km range for

their HIMARS rocket launchers. It seems

that the compromise was reached in the

form of GLSDB ammunition with 150 km

range. There is a problem though, these

brand-new missiles are not yet in the

USA inventory and their deliveries will

not be possible sooner than in couple

of months. GLSDB stands for Ground

Launched Small Diameter Bomb. It was

developed from GBU-39 SDB bomb which

weighs 113 kilos. These small diameter

bombs were designed in a way that an

aircraft can carry several of them instead

of one large bomb – and hit more targets

during one mission. The bomb features

the precise guiding system and extended

range thanks to its gliding ability.

Boeing and Saab Group cooperated in

the development of the ground version

of this weapon. They attached the rocket

engine to the bomb which will launch it

to the altitude on the ballistic trajectory.

At that point the rocket engine will be

dropped, the bomb will extend its wings

and continue its gliding path. Its range is

as long as 150 km. The weapon features

several advantages. Thanks to its semiactive laser sight it can hit the moving

targets within 100 km on the ground and

as far as 130 km at sea. And thanks to its

ability to maneuver and turn around in

March 2023

The crash of a Ukrainian Ministry of the interior H225 helicopter caused a major fire in the town of Brovary

on January 18.

Ukraine bought 21 H225 helicopters before the war.

The machine gun in the nose appeared on several Ukrainian Mi-8s.

INFO Eduard

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