Soldiers from 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, test drive two Strykers, Jan. 29, 2020, during a Stryker drivers training course on Fort Carson, Colorado. (Photo Credit: U.S. Army)
On March 4, a ship carrying dozens of Stryker armored personnel carriers (APCs) that the United States recently donated to Ukraine arrived in an unspecified German port.
Video footage that surfaced online showed the APCs being unloaded from the ship. It is still unclear when the vehicles will make it to Ukraine, where they will be handed over to Kiev forces for use against the Russian military.
The Stryker APC, which was developed by General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada for the U.S. Army, can provide protected transport for two crew and a nine-man infantry squad, and can support dismounted infantry.
The 8×8 vehicle weighs 19 tons with bolt-on ceramic armor that provides all-around 14.5×114 mm protection. It can be armed with a Protector remotely controlled weapons station with a 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine gun, a 40 mm Mk 19 grenade launcher or a 7.62 mm M240 machine gun along with FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank guided missiles.
In January, the U.S. announced that it will send 90 Stryker APCs to Ukraine as part of a military aid package that includes 59 M2A2 ODS Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) with numerous other weapons and ammunition. Last month, the IFVs arrived in a German port. They were then shipped to Poland.
The Stryker APCs will make up for some of Ukraine’s losses in equipment. However, they will not provide any advantage in the battlefield as they are vulnerable to most anti-tank weapons in service with the Russian military today.
The U.S. and its allies are currently shipping hundreds of APCs, IFVs and main battle tanks to Ukraine in order to prepare Kiev forces for large-scale offensive against the Russian military next spring.
