First battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine completes training on the Bradley IFV

The first group of Ukrainian military has completed training at the U.S. military base in Germany.

This was stated by Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder, quoted by CNN.

The group included 635 Ukrainian soldiers. They in particular were trained in the operation of American Bradley infantry fighting vehicles.

The exercises began in mid-January at the Grafenwoehr Training Area under an expanded U.S. program of training the Ukrainian military.

Also in Germany, the exercises of the second group of 710 Ukrainian troops have already begun. The training course will last five weeks.

According to Ryder, the military will master Bradley IFVs and M109 Paladin self-propelled howitzers, which the United States has recently decided to transfer to Ukraine.

In addition, 890 more Ukrainian servicemen will begin training on Stryker wheeled combat vehicles next week.

Previously, the United States offered Ukrainian Armed Forces more limited in scope training with separate weapons systems, such as HIMARS or M777 howitzers. The transition to the battalion level training of UAF units was a significant expansion of U.S. efforts to train and prepare Ukrainian servicemen in the conditions of a continuous war with the Russian invaders.

It should be reminded that the shipment of the first batch of Bradley infantry fighting vehicles for Ukraine became known last month. The UAF will receive a more advanced and newer version of the IFVs – M2A2 ODS-SA.

In total, Ukraine is to receive 109 M2 Bradley IFVs. The deliveries were announced as part of two military aid packages in 2023.

M2 Bradley is the primary infantry fighting vehicle of the United States Army. It has been produced since 1981 by BAE Systems. The Bradley is armed with an M242 Bushmaster 25mm autocannon. The equipped ammunition is 300 rounds, while the transported ammunition is 600 rounds.

The IFV’s arsenal also includes armor-piercing, sub-caliber, and high-explosive ammunition. Bradley also has a TOW ATGM launcher. The additional armament consists of the M240C machine gun.