Ukraine Troops to Get Bradley Fighting Vehicles
DOD will be delivering
Bradley fighting vehicles to Ukraine in the near future, White House officials said today.
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said the Bradleys are part of a larger shipment of equipment to Ukraine that will be announced later.
Ukrainian soldiers must learn how to use the vehicles and maintain them, and Ryder said this will be part of the training that Ukrainian soldiers receive from U.S. and partner nations.
https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Stori ... -vehicles/
Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder Holds an On-Camera Press Briefing
Q: Thanks Pat. On the Bradleys, since the man has obviously said that some are coming for Ukraine. Can you talk a little bit about what are the benefits? What will this bring to the Ukrainian forces on the battlefield? How long will it take to get them to the Ukrainian troops? And can you just give us a broad idea of how long the training will take?
GEN. RYDER: Sure. Thanks, Lita. So, as you highlight, I can confirm that another round of security assistance for Ukraine is anticipated tomorrow and that, as the White House has indicated, that new assistance will include Bradley Fighting Vehicles. And so, I'm not going to have any specific additional information to provid this time regarding other aspects of what that pending security assistance package will look like. But, as always, we'll be sure to keep you updated.
In terms of what the Bradleys bring, it is obviously an armored capability that can transport mechanized infantry into battle in support of both offensive and defensive operations, providing a level of firepower and armor that will bring advantages on the battlefield as Ukraine continues to defend their homeland.
Q. Timelines?
GEN. RYDER: In terms of training timelines, again, we'll have additional updates to provide in the coming days. Not going to go into that now. To just again, once we once we have an official announcement, other than to say that training, both on the operation side and maintenance side, will be part of that effort. Thank you. Liz.
Q: So, two questions, if I may. On the Bradleys, I understand that most of the details are going to come out tomorrow. But is it possible to say at this point how they're going to be armed? Will they have the 25-millimeter cannon, the TOWs, all that, or…?
GEN. RYDER: Yeah, so at the at the risk of getting ahead of the announcement, we’ll provide more details later on that. Again, I can say broadly speaking, this will be an armed capability that will be able to carry mechanized infantry into battle, and again, afford protection on the battlefield under combat conditions.
Q: One more question on the Bradleys. U.S. officials in the past have cited potential logistical challenges that might come with providing advanced armored capabilities. Is there something that has changed? Or does this announcement indicate that the U.S. is at least quite confident that the Ukrainians will be able to make use of these, and sustain them in the field and be able to project the fuel and other things necessary to keep them in the fight at this point?
GEN. RYDER: Sure. Well, you know, we've said all along that we're going to continue to work closely with Ukraine and our international allies and partners to discuss Ukraine's needs as the situation on the battlefield evolves. And we've also been clear that we're going to continue to adapt to the challenge and keep all options on the table, both in the near, medium, and long term when it comes to Ukraine's defense. And so, as I mentioned to Lita, operations and maintenance are aspects that will be incorporated into providing the Ukrainians with this capability. They are significant aspects of considering any type of weapon system or equipment that we give to Ukraine. And so, in the case of the Bradleys, as I mentioned, that will be something that we that we do and support. And again, we'll have more details in the coming days on that.
Q: Is the timing significant? Is this being decided on now is because it's deemed that it'll be particularly helpful in the winter or anything like that?
GEN. RYDER: Well, again, as I -- as you look at the battlefield and you look at how this fight has evolved from the early days, you know, of the artillery barrages to air defense, to largely being static along that front line, providing this capability provides both an offensive and a defensive capability to the Ukrainians to be able to change the equation on the battlefield. And so, we are going to continue to talk closely with them about what they need, we're going to continue to look at the situation on the ground and do what we can do that's going to help them the most to defend their nation. Thanks. Sir.
Q: A White House statement this afternoon said that Germany was going to donate an additional Patriot system to Ukraine. Should we be looking for, or is there an anticipation that there'll be additional Patriot systems from either the U.S. or other allies going to Ukraine in the near future?
GEN. RYDER: Yeah, we certainly welcome that news. Again, the United States and, as evidenced by Germany's announcement, are all committed to providing Ukraine with air defense capabilities that are going to help them protect their population, protect their forces as they defend against Russia. In terms of any additional Patriots, I don't have anything to announce right now. Again, we'll continue to have those discussions. As you know, we've already provided and will continue to provide a significant amount of air defense capability to Ukraine. But as far as other countries go, we'll -- we'll let them make those announcements on their own. Thank you. Sir.
Q: Can you give us an overview of U.S. training, maintenance, sustainment, help to the Ukrainians for their weapons system? How many U.S. troops are involved? How many facilities in Europe? Is it just a Grafenwöhr? And are the other places? How many Ukrainians are we training? And do you expect an increase in U.S. presence to help train Ukrainians on the Bradleys?
GEN. RYDER: Yeah, so there's a lot there, so let me try to break it down as best I can for you. So, on the U.S. side, as you know, prior to our announcement last month, our training focus since the invasion has been on providing training for equipment and the specific equipment and the systems that we provided to the Ukrainians. And so, on that front, we've trained approximately 3,100 Ukrainians so far since April. Writ large, when you look at the international effort to train Ukrainian forces, I would estimate about 12,000, across internationally when it comes to training Ukraine on a variety of things to include collective training in other countries. So, break-break, now with the U.S. stepping up its combined arms and Joint Maneuver Training, which will begin this month, likely in a couple of weeks in Germany, we will train approximately 500 Ukrainian forces at the battalion level each month. So, again, we'll continue to keep you updated as that program develops. But that is going to provide them with advanced training, again, training that we had been providing before the invasion that we had to stop doing because of the invasion. But this will give them enhanced capability to operate at the battalion level and combined arms, which again, will give them an advantage on the battlefield.
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Bradley Fighting Vehicle
https://www.baesystems.com/en/product/b ... ng-vehicle
