Armor gunner Bradley said that confronting the T-90M tank was "terrifying," but his gaming experience helped him take down Russia's most modern tank.
"It was a very scary battle, but I think we did well," Serhiy, tank commander and gunner on Ukraine's M2 Bradley armored vehicle, said on January 20, recounting the recent confrontation with Russia's most modern T-90M main battle tank in the village of Stepovoye, near the city of Avdeevka in Donetsk province.
In a video released by the Ukrainian army on January 13, Serhiy's armored vehicle, along with a fellow Bradley, coordinated their attack, repeatedly firing 25 mm artillery rounds at a Russian T-90M tank, rendering it inoperable and causing it to crash into a tree. The most modern tank in Russia's inventory was then destroyed by a suicide drone.
Ukrainian M2 Bradley armored vehicles fire at Russian T-90M tanks near Avdeevka in videos released on January 18th and 13th. Video: Ukrainian Ministry of Defence
Serhiy stated that he returned to Ukraine in December 2023 after training with the Bradley armored vehicle in Germany. Serhiy, along with his driver Oleksandr, was assigned by the 47th Mechanized Brigade of Ukraine to protect soldiers in trenches under attack by Russian tanks.
This was Serhiy's second engagement with Russia's most modern T-90M tanks. The soldier admitted that operating a Bradley armored vehicle equipped with a 25 mm cannon against a T-90M with thick armor and a 125 mm cannon was "very risky" and not part of his training curriculum.
When the battle broke out, another Bradley vehicle arrived and confronted the T-90 but couldn't find a viable way to subdue it, so Serhiy decided to "summon his courage" and command his vehicle to charge forward.
"We fired with everything we could," the Ukrainian soldier recounted, adding that he used 25mm armor-piercing rounds from the Bushmaster M242 cannon mounted on the tank. However, Serhiy realized that these rounds were "ineffective," but did not elaborate. It appears that Bradley's armor-piercing rounds were not powerful enough to penetrate the armor of the T-90 tank.
Ukrainian soldier Serhiy stands next to an M2 Bradley armored vehicle near Avdeevka, Donetsk province, on January 20. Photo: TCH
The T-90 tank has the thickest armor at the front, but thinner armor at the rear, as well as several other weak points such as the joint between the turret and the hull. This tank model is also equipped with modern sensors on the turret for the tank commander and gunner to observe and aim. Destroying these systems could render the T-90 tank completely inoperable.
Serhiy decided to switch to a different type of ammunition and target the optical system on the Russian tank. "Since we couldn't penetrate the armor, we 'blinded' this tank," Serhiy said. After a barrage of rounds from the Bradley armored vehicle, the Russian T-90M lost control and crashed into a nearby tree.
Features of the US Bradley armored vehicle transferred to Ukraine. Click on the image to see details.
The M2 Bradley was developed by the US in the 1960s with the goal of creating an armored vehicle fast enough to keep pace with M1 Abrams main battle tanks. The US Army began deploying the M2 Bradley in 1981 and continues to use it to this day.
The US has pledged nearly 190 M2 armored vehicles to Ukraine. According to Oryx, Ukraine has lost at least 65 M2 vehicles, including 30 destroyed, 23 damaged, 11 abandoned, and one captured by Russian forces.
Nguyen Tien (Based on Drive, Reuters, AFP )
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