Back in June 2025, there were discussions about whether the UK should transfer surplus Warrior IFVs to Ukraine instead of retiring them. The British public began advocating for the initiative, but government officials opposed the transfer.
At first glance, the situation appears ambiguous. However, it is worth examining how reasonable the British government's arguments are and, at the same time, exploring alternative ways to strengthen the Armed Forces of Ukraine with armored vehicles.
Read more: Britain Develops Low-Cost SkyShark Missile-Drone with 250 km Range for Mass Licensed Production
The reason for recalling this story was a new publication by UK Defense Journal, which states the following. Labour MP David Lamb addressed a written question to Defense Minister Luke Pollard regarding the potential transfer of surplus Warrior IFVs to Ukraine, which are due to be retired in 2027.
In response, the UK Defense Minister stated that these are outdated vehicles, and repairing them would not be a worthwhile investment. At the same time, he emphasized that the refusal to provide Warriors does not contradict the UK's policy of long-term defense support for Ukraine.
It was also argued that the UK had already supplied a wide variety of armored vehicles to Ukraine, making it especially important to balance servicing existing vehicles with training crews on new ones.
It is worth noting that between 2027 and the early 2030s, the British Army plans to decommission 359 Warrior infantry fighting vehicles, 80 of which will be scrapped immediately due to excessive wear. Moreover, these are IFVs that have been actively used by the British Army since the 1980s.
In 2023, there were frequent reports in the media that the Armed Forces of Ukraine often received non-combat-ready equipment as part of aid from Western countries, which accordingly affected their real capabilities to counter russians.
Against this backdrop, the question of transferring new models of armored vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine as part of direct aid seems more appropriate. It’s worth noting that the British Army is transitioning to two new types of armored vehicles: the wheeled Boxer (built by Rheinmetall) and the tracked Ajax.
Therefore, in the current situation, German Boxer armored vehicles seem more relevant for the Armed Forces of Ukraine than the outdated British Warrior IFVs. Moreover, as part of direct military aid from Germany, Ukraine will receive two types of weapons based on the Boxer chassis: the RCH 155 and the RCT30 IFVs designed for specialized roles.
Read more: UK Backs Ukraine with £2.5 Billion Defense Financing for Thousands of Air Defense Missiles, Systems, and Recovery
