At the beginning of June 2025, a story emerged suggesting that the UK has "surplus" Warrior IFVs that could be handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The beginning seemed promising, as the British Army is expected to start retiring these infantry fighting vehicles — nearly 360 units — within the next year.
However, the development of this story turned out to be less optimistic. The UK Ministry of Defence stated that it cannot transfer these IFVs to Ukraine, citing rather familiar arguments.
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According to UK Defence Journal, the UK Ministry of Defence, in response to a request from Labour MP David Taylor, stated that "there are currently no plans to supply Warrior IFVs to Ukraine." Specifically, Defence Minister Luke Pollard emphasized that transferring these vehicles could place an additional burden on the Ukrainian military logistics system. Moreover, Ukrainian personnel would need to be trained to operate them.
Not to mention that the Warrior IFVs have already served for over 40 years. Extending their service life beyond 2027 — especially in the case of a potential transfer to Ukraine — would likely require additional financial investments. These might be deemed unreasonable given the cost-to-effectiveness ratio.
From Defense Express, we'd like to highlight the following points. On the one hand, the UK minister's arguments seem valid: restoring aging armored vehicles that may underperform in combat could indeed be inefficient. Also, adding pressure to Ukraine's already strained logistics system by introducing 40-year-old British IFVs could pose yet another challenge.
On the other hand, the initiative to transfer surplus Warrior vehicles after their retirement in 2027 came directly from British civil society. As of early June, the related petition had gathered 14,000 of the 100,000 required signatures. The initiative arose amid Ukraine's urgent need for additional heavy equipment — at a time when no major new deliveries from Western countries are expected.
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