In recent weeks and months, the Swedish military has been quietly training and equipping a Ukrainian brigade with the most powerful weapons systems in the world. Ukrainian soldiers are said to have returned home in the meantime, ready to take part in the expected counterattack.
Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicles, Leopard 2 tanks, Archer artillery systems, and Finnish Patria armored vehicles. With this, a Ukrainian brigade of perhaps 3,000 to 5,000 strong was recently training on Swedish soil to prepare for the large-scale offensive against the Russian army expected in the coming weeks.
Training is shrouded in secrecy. Officially, it never happened, and the Swedish government is still silent. British newspaper times She first revealed her existence in mid-May, then added the sources Swedish Public Broadcasting SVT Confirm messages.
It is not officially known when and where the training began. The Ukrainians may have been trained during large-scale Swedish military exercises in the south of the country between mid-April and mid-May. for exercise Aurora 23 26,000 soldiers from 14 countries participated, including the United States, the United Kingdom and … Ukraine.
Military experts call the new Ukrainian brigade thanks to resources from Sweden and Finland times “One of the most powerful in the country.” And it will be at the head of the twelve brigades that were preparing to attack this spring, according to leaked US documents.
The Swedish government announced early this year that it would join the Western Leopard 2 alliance which will send modern main battle tanks to Ukraine. In addition to the ten Leopard 2s, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also promised fifty CV90s and eighteen Archer artillery pieces. Since the announcement, the government has declined any further comment and specific details about the handover for security reasons.
Main
The CV90 and Archer are among the best performers in their class according to military analysts. CV90 (Combat Vehicle 90), known locally as Stridsfordon (“fighting vehicle”) 90, was widely acclaimed for its combination of firepower, protection, high speed (70 km/h) and maneuverability. Since the car was developed specifically for the harsh conditions of the North, it is ideally suited to rough terrain.
Although the main goal of a three-man crew is to transport six to eight infantrymen safely across the battlefield and support tanks during an attack, the CV90 can also immobilize the tanks themselves, says Mart de Crieff, former commander of the Dutch Land Forces and the same Once he was responsible for purchasing the CV90 for the Dutch Army. “It’s a quality vehicle with good armor that’s been around long enough to not have teething issues.”
Certainly against the much lighter Russian infantry fighting vehicles, the CV90 can be expected to win the battle with relative ease, says Frédéric Koge, professor of ballistics at the Royal Military School in Brussels. The 40mm automatic rapid-fire cannon can fire 300 rounds per minute at a distance of 2 km. “In addition, the CV90 has good fire control and night vision equipment. The crew sees enemy vehicles much faster than vice versa. I think the Ukrainians will be very pleased with this.
Long overdue and much needed! Sweden-committed CV90 IFVs (Stridsfordon 90) are on their way to Ukraine today. Currently in Germany, soon on the battlefield. pic.twitter.com/MswH21EeiJ
– NOELREPORTS 🇪🇺 🇺🇦 (NOELreports) May 22, 2023
The first 25-vehicle CV90 train was seen heading east in southern Germany last Tuesday. It also immediately became clear that Ukraine will receive one of the latest versions of the car. Two days later, the same train ran through eastern Slovakia, 100 kilometers from the border with Ukraine.
Perhaps not coincidentally, the Swedish Minister of Defense, Pál Johnson, visited Kiev the next day. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked Johnson for the “great support of the Swedes” and said that the CV90s would “significantly improve the defensive capabilities of our forces on the battlefield”. According to Ukrainian sources for the military website Breaking Defense, CV90s can be commissioned “within days”.
“The fifty pieces are enough to supply one or two regiments,” says de Crieff. “So you can do something with that, in combination with other compounds.”
Accuracy
It is not known whether Archer artillery systems are actually in Ukraine. This self-propelled howitzer with fully automatic reloading can fire up to six 155 mm rounds per minute. Using GPS-guided Excalibur grenades, which Ukraine is already using in American M777 howitzers, the Archer can fire at a distance of a few meters at a distance of 50 kilometers.
The system’s high mobility is also one of Archer’s greatest assets, says Coghe. “The firing course is fully automatic, so the crew has to stop somewhere and can fire the grenades without getting out of the armored cabin and drive back before the first one reaches its target. As a result, the archer is very well protected from any counter-battery fire, Where the opponent is always too late to calculate the location of the fire pit.”
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