Australia is providing Ukraine with a new military aid package that includes 30 Bushmaster armoured personnel carriers.
Australia’s Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, said the country will deploy another 30 Australian Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles to Ukraine.
“Thank you! A new powerful defence package, including 30 Bushmasters. As always, we have a full political understanding. A successful meeting.” reacted Ukrainian President Zelenskyy on his Telegram channel.
Bushmaster capabilities
The Bushmaster is designed to transport and sustain a nine-man infantry section, accommodating an additional passenger. It is entirely air-conditioned and can sustain itself for up to three days.
The Bushmaster has one complete spare wheel on board, and all fitted wheels have run flat tyre inserts and a central tyre inflation mechanism, allowing them to travel with punctures.
The welded one-piece shell of the vehicle is intended to protect troops from all small weapons fire. Windows are also equipped with ballistic protection.
To protect personnel from potential fires, the Bushmaster’s fuel and hydraulic tanks are outside the crew compartment. There is also an insulated emergency fuel tank to ensure the car is not stranded.
The Bushmaster is a heavily armoured vehicle weighing 15.4 tonnes. It can carry up to 4 tonnes of cargo and up to 8 troops.
The vehicle’s armour can withstand machine-gun bullets and explosive devices with up to 9.5 kg of TNT equivalent. It is armed with machine guns or automatic grenade launchers. In addition, the armoured vehicle has four embrasures for firing from the inside.
How do Bushmasters benefit Ukraine’s counteroffensive?
It is known from open sources that in the spring and summer of 2022, Australia supplied 40 Bushmaster armoured vehicles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
These armoured vehicles played an important role, in particular, during the successful counteroffensive of our army in the Kharkiv region in September 2022.
The Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, noted that our units equipped with Bushmasters were the first to reach the Oskol River line.
In the words of one of the Defence Forces’ soldiers, Andriy, these vehicles have proven to be a good vehicle for moving infantry and evacuating people.
“They are quite manoeuvrable and passable, which is important for the performance of the assigned combat tasks. And they help save the lives of our boys. Thank you to our partners for your help!” said a soldier, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
