How Ukraine's M2 Bradleys Are Disrupting Russia's New Banzai Tactics

Fast, maneuverable and, most of all, lethal, Ukraine has learned to use its M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles to optimal effect by disrupting Russian attacks led by troops riding on inferior BTRs. 

The outcome is largely responsible for Russia's inability to build on what it thought was its 'victory' at Avdiivka. JL 

David Axe reports in Forbes:

The Russians at Avdiivka suffered seven times as many casualties as the Ukrainians. A lopsided loss ratio that we partially can attribute to the man-eating M-2s with their three-person crews. The 47th Brigade M-2s are at it again, grinding up Russian assault groups around Berdychi, five miles northwest of Avdiivka. Pairs of M-2s engage—with their TOW anti-tank missiles and 25-millimeter auto-cannons—Russian tanks, fighting vehicles and infantry. Or just roll on top of the infantry’s dugouts and flatten them inside. By killing the Russians as fast as they arrive, the Bradley with its reactive armor and fast, accurate auto-cannon is just the thing for getting inside the Russians’ battle-rhythm.

At the height of bloody battle for Avdiivka in eastern Ukraine in December and January, M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles belonging to the Ukrainian army’s 47th Mechanized Brigade wreaked havoc on Russian troops—from the 2nd and 41st Combined Arms Army—who were trying to flank Avdiivka from the north.

Rolling into the village of Stepove, just north of Avdiivka, pairs of M-2s would engage—with their TOW anti-tank missiles and 25-millimeter auto-cannons—Russian tanks, fighting vehicles and infantry. Or sometimes just roll on top of the infantry’s dugouts and flatten them inside.

Now the 47th Brigade M-2s are at it again, grinding up Russian assault groups around Berdychi, five miles northwest of Avdiivka. The open question is how much it matters as long as the Russians have a massive aerial advantage.

The Ukrainian garrison retreated from Avdiivka in mid-February after running out of ammunition—the direct result of Russia-friendly Republicans cutting off aid starting in October—but not before killing at least 16,000 Russians and wounding potentially tens of thousands.

That’s reportedly seven times as many casualties as the Ukrainians suffered. A lopsided loss ratio that we partially can attribute to the man-eating M-2s with their three-person crews.

Two weeks after Avdiivka’s fall, the 47th Brigade has taken up positions in and around Berdychi. There, along the fields and roads leading to the settlement, the Bradley crews are deploying the same tactics that turned Stepove into a graveyard for hundreds if not thousands of Russians.

Russians typically barrel toward Berdychi in or on a wheeled BTR-80 fighting vehicle. The infantry dismount and take up positions around some abandoned building. The BTR retreats. Sometimes a Ukrainian drone hunts down the fleeing BTR; sometimes the vehicle escapes.

This modern banzai tactic only works because the Ukrainians are short on artillery ammunition—again, blame Russia-friendly Republicans. The Ukrainians can’t just bombard the Russians from 15 miles away. Instead, they must close with the Russians and engage with direct fire.

The Russians’ banzai tactic hinges on rhythm: several assault groups must attack in quick succession. “Due to a [Ukrainian] ammunition shortage, a segment of the assault group reaches the target and engages in combat,” the Ukrainian Center for Defense Strategies explained. “Concurrently, another assault group swiftly moves towards the battle area.”

“This tactic allows for a continuous build-up of effort,” according to CDS. But only if the Ukrainians don’t disrupt the build-up—by killing the Russians as fast as they arrive. The 30-ton Bradley with its add-on reactive armor and fast, accurate auto-cannon is just the thing for getting inside the Russians’ battle-rhythm.

There’s no shortage of videos depicting M-2s in action around Berdychi. In one video, an M-2 supported by explosive first-person-view drones chops up a BTR and most of the infantry squad it’s carrying. In another, the BTR almost gets away—and then eats an FPV. In the meantime, an M-2 rolls up to within yards of the Russian dismounts and slices them up with 25-millimeter rounds.

Where the Ukrainians are desperately short of artillery ammo, they’re not yet hurting for M-2s. The United States delivered nearly 200 of the vehicles before Republicans cut off aid. The Ukrainians seemingly assign them to just two units: the 47th Brigade and, apparently, the adjacent 3rd Assault Brigade.

Between them, the brigades have lost 34 M-2s that Oryx has counted. Dozens more have been damaged but could return to service. In any event, the 47th Brigade needs just 90 of the vehicles to fight at full strength.

The 47th Brigade excels at close combat and, all things being equal, might be able to hold Berdychi despite starving for artillery. But all things aren’t equal.

The Russian air force has gone all-in around Avdiivka and—despite staggering losses—is flying a hundred or more bombing sorties every day and dropping more than a hundred satellite-guided glide-bombs, any one of which packs enough firepower to flatten a building.

It’s these KAB bombs that could decide who controls what’s left of Berdychi. The 47th Brigade’s Bradley crews could win every skirmish and still lose the battle.