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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