US Bradleys Are Killing It on Ukraine Frontlines

Russian soldiers packed into Moscow’s tanks and infantry fighting vehicles (IVFs) are “afraid” to launch operations “when they know that a Bradley will be against them,” said Kach, a Ukrainian commander of the country’s 47th Mechanized Brigade who goes by his call sign, as is common among Ukrainian fighters.

Kach is adamant—the U.S.-supplied Bradleys save Ukrainian lives along the hottest parts of the front line against Russian troops and armored vehicles.

The M2 Bradley certainly did back in June 2023. One of the infantry fighting vehicles—only operated by the 47th Brigade—took a “direct hit” from a Russian Grad rocket, only for every crew member onboard the struck IVF to survive.

It was quickly dragged away for repairs, and the incident showed the vehicle’s “outstanding combat survivability,” Hanna Maliar, former Ukrainian deputy defense minister, said at the time.

The U.S. has sent 186 Bradley IFVs to Ukraine to date, plus four Bradley fire support team vehicles. Ukraine has likely been able to use between 100 and 120 in operations, with the rest utilized for parts or training and swapping in when one Bradley is taken out.

It is fast, “very maneuverable” and shields its soldiers with its heavy armor, Kach told Newsweek. But it also packs a punch with its “powerful machine gun,” the Ukrainian commander said.

Western experts agree. “The M2 Bradley fighting vehicle is delivering on its long standing reputation as a superior Infantry Fighting Vehicle,” said Daniel Rice, a former special adviser to Ukraine’s lead commander, General Valeryii Zaluzhny. The survival of infantry soldiers is at the heart of the design, he added.

They have made a real difference on the front lines, and are all being used effectively together by the 47th currently deployed around the embattled town of Avdiivka, rather than sprinkled across different brigades, added Ed Arnold, a research fellow at the London-based Royal United Services Institute think tank.

Ukraine has had Bradleys for a little under a year, and first used them operationally in the summer of 2023. Footage, particularly of the 47th and their Bradleys, has done the rounds on social media in recent months as a testament to Kyiv’s success with Western-supplied aid.

“Its speed, lethality and survivability are all superior to Russian infantry vehicles,” Rice told Newsweek.

These are the headline advantages of the Bradley. Even when one is hit, the crew has a high chance of survival, and Ukrainian troops can move around very easily in the vehicle, while at once having the notable firepower of the 25mm cannon, 7.62 mm coaxial machine gun plus two TOW anti-tank missile launchers.

The 25mm chain gun is “tearing apart Russian armored columns,” Rice said, adding the TOW guided anti-tank weapons are affording Ukraine “increased range against armor.”

It is a “very highly valued” piece of equipment, lauded much as Ukraine has praised the U.S.-made Patriot air-defense systems that have knocked Russia’s hypersonic missiles from Kyiv’s skies, Arnold told Newsweek.

It has proven able to “engage some of the best Russian tanks,” even if a Bradley taking on a main battle tank incurs real risks, he added.

The Bradley is partly responsible for the eye-watering Russian losses around Avdiivka, Arnold argued. The 47th has been battling away on this section of the front line, attempting to stop Moscow’s creeping encirclement of the town to the north of Donetsk City.

The Kremlin launched its onslaught on Avdiivka in early October, and its advances are enough to worry Kyiv significantly. But Moscow has paid dearly in casualties and armored vehicle losses.

The Bradleys aren’t unscathed. A number were initially destroyed by Russian artillery in open terrain, but Ukraine quickly adapted, using them more nimbly and taking advantage of natural cover, Arnold said.

It is not clear just how many Ukraine have left. A total of 63 have been destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured, according to Dutch open-source outlet, Oryx.

But many of these will have been dragged back for repairs and may even be back up and running, and the Oryx figure only covers visually verified damage between February 2022 and early October 2023.

It is not just the Bradleys making the difference with the 47th, Arnold said. It is a combination of factors, but, nonetheless, the Bradleys are certainly “very good” against Russian troops in Ukrainian hands.