What Are the Armored Vehicles the UK Is Sending to Ukraine? – On Tuesday, the British Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office announced that 13 protective armored vehicles would be sent to Ukraine as part of a new $375 million military aid package for Kyiv.
According to a statement from the British government, the vehicles will be used to transport critical workers to rebuild essential Ukrainian infrastructure and transport officials from Ukrainian ministries to various command posts established for government work.
“The Ukrainian police and the National Guard will also utilise the fleet to rebuild vital railway lines in the east of Ukraine,” the statement reads.
What Vehicles Did the UK Send?
The British Foreign Office didn’t offer any specifics about the vehicles sent, only describing them as “highly specialized 4x3s that have been upgraded with armour to resist high-velocity bullets.”
According to the same press release, the British government also sent several anti-personnel mines and improvised explosive devices.
The vehicles are understood to be reinforced with steel plates, glass designed to protect against bullets, and improved suspension and brakes.
UK Continues to Supply Weapons and Other Supplies
Britain has sent successive rounds of aid to Ukraine since January before the invasion began. Among the weapons supplied were next-generation light anti-tank weapons, known as NLAWs, which Ukrainian soldiers have widely used throughout the conflict.
Ukrainian marine with NLAW ATGM. Photo: Marine Command.
NLAW anti-tank missile. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The UK also provided over 1,300 anti-structure munitions, air-defense systems, hundreds of missiles, anti-tank missiles, and over 4 tons of plastic explosives.
Among the previous aid packages given to Ukraine, worth around £200 million ($250 million), were 90,000 ration packs, 77,000 helmets, 3,000 pairs of boots, and more than 10 pallets of medical equipment.
Ukrainian Soldiers are Training in the UK
In April, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson revealed how dozens of Ukrainian soldiers were in the United Kingdom and learning to use the 120 armoured vehicles his country had just donated to Ukraine.
Johnson revealed how British forces were training Ukrainian soldiers on U.K. soil, and that other troops were also training Ukrainian troops on how to use anti-aircraft missiles in Poland.
“I can say that we are currently training Ukrainians in Poland in the use of anti-aircraft defence, and actually in the UK in the use of armoured vehicles,” Johnson said.
So far, the United States has avoided flying Ukrainian soldiers out to the United States to engage in any training, though some Ukrainian soldiers who were in the U.S. before the invasion began received training before returning home to fight.
British officials insisted that the training was not escalatory.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
