Not just tanks. Britain will transfer 50 Bulldog armored personnel carriers to Ukraine

Alexander Sychev

In this case, it is not even the composition of the armored assorted that London intends to send to Ukraine in the near future that is important, but the quantity.

Having named a record figure of one hundred, the UK seems to suggest that the allies follow its example.

It is known that since the beginning of hostilities in Ukraine, more than four thousand weapons and equipment have been transferred to Kiev, including 1100 armored personnel carriers, about 300 infantry fighting vehicles, 410 Soviet-made tanks, 18 Su-25 attack aircraft, 20 Mi-17 helicopters intended for Afghanistan until the government changed there, more than 1,540 different vehicles, 415 reconnaissance drones, 95 rocket launchers… And this is without taking into account unofficial deliveries.

Apparently, London believes that the transferred weapons are not enough and during the January 20 meeting of the Contact Group on Ukraine with the support of Washington, the British will promote the idea of a comprehensive increase in the volume of arms supplies, including Western main battle tanks.

There was another idea in London to try to turn on the "green light" of combat aviation, but it did not work out. In a number of publications, information was passed with reference to a "very knowledgeable source" in the government, who said that along with the tanks, London would transfer Apache attack helicopters. Already in the evening of the same day, the information from most of the sites disappeared. Apparently, the American embassy in London called 10 Downing Street and reminded them that the helicopters were American, there was no permission to send them.

It is impossible, it is impossible, the British government decided, and focused on armored vehicles, especially since the preparatory work carried out on the topic of tanks seems to give the desired result. Most likely, Germany will agree to send Leopard-2 tanks: the new German defense minister will not oppose this, as Christine Lambrecht resigned. Thus, a huge resource opens up – about 2,300 German Leopard-2s of various modifications are in service in 13 NATO countries.

As for the "Bulldog", it was created on the basis of an armored personnel carrier produced from 1960 to 1971. In total, about three thousand FV430 armored personnel carriers were produced, which became the main armored personnel carrier of the British army. In 1980, they began to be written off. However, the participation of British troops in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq required some improvements to the APC. British soldiers suffered greatly from improvised explosive devices.

The Bulldog, which appeared in the early 2000s, is essentially the same FV430, but with reinforced armor that reacts to the detonation of improvised explosive bombs. The armor was developed in Israel. The car was also equipped with a silencer for signals remotely sent to explosive devices. Some sections of the vehicle body were additionally covered with plate armor to protect against anti-tank missiles. It is claimed that the Bulldog is even better protected than the Warrior IFV infantry fighting vehicle, which replaced the outdated APC. However, as a result of improved armor protection, the car became heavier. It is about 13 tons.

The modernization carried out entailed the replacement of the engine, transmission and some other components. However, these innovations improved the patency of the car, slightly increased the maximum speed and driving distance at one gas station. Now the Bulldog can run 600 kilometers, reach speeds of up to 70 kilometers per hour in a dash and carry up to 3.7 tons of cargo.

In general, there is nothing special about this old APC. The crew consists of two people: the driver sits in front of the car on the right side, and the commander is behind him. Ten 10 infantrymen are placed in the personnel compartment. They sit on folding benches with five people on each side of the armored personnel carrier. Landing and landing is carried out through a double-leaf door at the rear of the hull. In emergency cases, you can also use the enlarged hatch in the ceiling of the landing compartment.

The driver and commander have their own hatches. The hatch of the latter is made in the form of a slightly towering turret, along the perimeter of which there are small windows made of armored glass.

The Bulldog is armed with a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. It is located in a remote-controlled station on the roof of an armored personnel carrier.