The press service of the 154th Separate Mechanized Brigade has recently released a video of the trainings that shows that the brigade has received American M1117 Guardian armored personnel carriers. A number of vehicles received additional protection against FPV drone strikes.
It should be recalled that infotmaition that Ukraine would receive the M1117 Guardian armored personnel carriers, had appeared in November 2022. The vehicles were allocated as part of the $400 million defense aid package, with plans to transfer 250 of them, which would first have to be restored.
Read more: Ukraine Unveils the Khorunzhyi APC, Enhanced with High-Quality Finnish Steel and a 330-Horsepower Diesel Engine
For a long time, nothing was known about the delivery of these vehicles. A little less than a year after the announcement of the M1117 transfer, in September 2023, the United States held a separate briefing dedicated to the restoration of these armored personnel carriers. At that time, it was announced that another year and a half would be needed to restore these vehicles.
Finally, in March of this year, it was reported for the first time that the M1117 APCs had finally arrived in Ukraine. They were seen on the video of Skala Battalion. It was probably filmed during a training exercise at one of the training grounds.
As the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) previously noted, the pace of the M1117 transfer to Ukraine was "anti-record" compared to other weapons and military equipment and took as long as 499 days.
It remains unknown how many M1117 armored personnel carriers have already been delivered to the Defense Forces of Ukraine. As of today, researchers from the Oryx portal have confirmed the loss of two such vehicles.
Earlier Defense Express reported that Bulgaria might have secretly transferred unknown number of 2S1 Gvozdika howitzers to Ukraine.
Read more: Parus RCWS, Engine, and One More Important Factor of Effectiveness for Ukraine's Improvised IFV
