The United States appears to have secretly delivered to Ukraine, mired in its botched counteroffensive, a powerful armored mine clearing vehicle, reported Forbes.
While the exact number of vehicles delivered is not clear, at least one American-made Assault Breacher was featured in official photos posted by the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on November 3, the country’s Missile Forces and Artillery and Engineering Troops Day.
It’s interesting to note that the US Assault Breacher was conspicuously absent from the official list of Washington-pledged equipment for Ukraine.
As the Kiev regime continues to show no scruples in racking up huge manpower losses, American defense companies are only too eager to rake in more profits. Furthermore, US Marines reportedly no longer wanted their stock of M1150s, so it appeared to be a win-win for the US Defense Department.
The M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV), which weighs 55 tons, is a mine- and obstacle-clearing machine that also boasts an armored hull.
The M1150 ABV is a “highly mobile and heavily armored minefield and complex obstacle breaching system," as per the description given by the US Army.
It consists of:
M1A1 Abrams tank hull
Turret with two Linear Demolition Charge Systems
Lane Marking System
Integrated Vision System
High Lift Adapter, interchangeably mounted with a Full Width Mine Plow or a Combat Dozer Blade
The Assault Breacher, which is manned by a two-person crew, costs an estimated $4 million.
After digging up and detonating mines, as well as filling up anti-tank trenches, the vehicle marks out a "safe lane" using flags.
A US army Assault Breacher Vehicle (ABV) in Ukraine.
© Photo : Trotes936897/X
The reported delivery of the US mine clearing vehicle to Ukraine comes as Kiev has been unable to turn the tide of its failed summer counteroffensive, despite all the billions' worth of weaponry fueling NATO’s proxy war against Russia. Even Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi admitted this week that there “will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough” in the counteroffensive this year. He also openly bemoaned the fact that information taken from “NATO textbooks” failed to match up with reality.
Ukraine has been sending its troops against Russian defenses, racking up massive human losses while still failing to produce any result that could be touted as a tactical victory to NATO sponsors.
Russia's formidable defenses consist of everything from stretches of infantry trenches, to tank traps, mines, and other obstructions which would require heavy tanks to penetrate.