AFU to receive German IFVs, considered to be "utilizers" of Russian light armored vehicles

Soon, the Armed Forces of Ukraine will be reinforced with another type of powerful infantry fighting vehicle that Kyiv’s allies promised to deliver. Earlier, Espreso informed that the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be fighting the invading Russian forces with one of the best M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. At the same time, Washington's decision to provide Ukraine with these vehicles opened the way for the supply of other infantry fighting vehicles - German Marder.

How soon should the Marder armored personnel carriers arrive for the Ukrainian Armed Forces?

So, Germany agreed to provide Ukraine with 40 of its Marder infantry fighting vehicles at once, meaning that the vehicles are being provided in "battalion sets." However, it later turned out that since the decision to transfer Marder IFVs was kept secret until the last minute and only a limited number of people in Germany knew about it, neither the army nor the defense companies represented by Rheinmetall knew where exactly these IFVs would come from and were not ready to deliver these vehicles.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces will receive 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles from Germany, which are to arrive in Ukraine by the end of March, photo: gettyimages

However, in the end, a rather pragmatic solution was found - on January 13, former German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said that out of the 40 Marder infantry fighting vehicles promised to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, 20 would be supplied by Rheinmetall and another 20 would come from the Bundeswehr's stocks, and that this would not affect the combat capability of the German army.

The training period for these vehicles should be considered separately: as Steffen Hebestreit, a spokesman for the German government, noted, the training of crews will last as long as 8 weeks or 2 months. Such a time period, of course, raises questions, because, for example, our military trained on PzH 2000 self-propelled artillery systems for 40 days. Perhaps this period can be revised and somewhat reduced, given that our military needed these infantry fighting vehicles "yesterday." Eventually, Germany gave a clear deadline for when the Ukrainian Armed Forces will receive Marder - by the end of the first quarter of 2023, i.e. by the end of March.

Why Marder can be called the "killer" of the Russian army's light armor

The Marder infantry fighting vehicle is equipped with a 20-mm MK 20 Rh202 unstabilized automatic cannon by Rheinmetall, which is mounted in a two-man, small turret. The cannon can fire both armor-piercing and high-explosive rounds at a truly impressive rate of about 800 to 1000 rounds per minute, and can penetrate virtually all light "armor" of the Russian occupying forces, from BMP-1 or BMP-2 to armored personnel carriers and airborne combat vehicles. As for the BMP-3, it is likely that the ability to penetrate this vehicle will be tested directly on the battlefield.

The turret of the Marder is additionally armed with a 7.62 mm MG3 machine gun, and starting from the 1A1A version the turret can also be equipped with a MILAN anti-tank guided missile launcher with a four-missile ammunition that is carried inside the vehicle. 

Protection and other tactical and technical characteristics of the Marder IFV

The German IFV in the latest versions has received improved protection that allows it to withstand a 30-mm ammunition hit - this improvement was made with the 30-mm gun of the Soviet BMP-2 in mind. Of course, the improved armor affected the weight of this vehicle: the Marder 1A3 version weighs 33.5 tons, while the Marder 1A5 weighs 37.4 tons. For comparison, in older versions of the vehicle, this figure reached 28.5 tons. 

With the improved armor, its speed has slightly decreased: with a 600 hp Daimler-Benz MB833 diesel engine, the vehicle can travel on the highway at speeds up to 65 km/h, compared to 70 km/h of the previous versions. The range is 520 to 600 km. Without previous preparation, this vehicle can overcome water obstacles up to 1.5 meters deep. The crew of the vehicle is 3 people, and the Marder 1A3 and Marder 1A5 versions can carry 6 paratroopers.

Oleksiy Levkov, Defense Express. Exclusively for Espreso TV.