British Armed Forces have some 359 Warrior infantry fighting vehicles with for over 40 years of service, slated for decommissioning. The retirement procedures are due to start in 2027 and should be completed in the early 2030s. Among them, 80 of the most worn-out Warriors will be scrapped but the fate of the remaining 280 remains uncertain.
Against this background, the British public has registered a petition calling for the transfer of "surplus" Warrior IFVs to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, however, it must gather at least 100,000 signatures, the UK Defense Journal reports.
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So far, the petition has already collected 14,000 signatures — an important milestone binding the UK Ministry of Defense to respond to the initiative. And so it did, as the law required: first, the Ministry outlined the number of the existing Warrior IFVs: 359 units. Then, it stated that any remaining infantry fighting vehicles of this type after their withdrawal from service will be "classed as surplus to requirements." Lastly, the plans on Warriors after their retirement are yet to be decided.
In theory, debates in the British Parliament could introduce at least some specifics into this issue. However, it takes 100,000 signatures for the petition to reach discussions in the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
Hypothetically, if all the necessary 86,000 signatures are collected in the coming days, according to the current regulations, the British Parliament will only start looking into the issue no earlier than October 2025. How much time it will take the parliamentarians to make a decision is a different matter, and of course, there's no guarantee that these vehicles will be approved for transfer to Ukraine.
On the other hand, this process could gain traction much quicker if given a push from within the UK Ministry of Defense and other government bodies in charge. The United Kingdom has previously donated various articles no longer needed by the national armed forces. One example is the provision of 32 units of AS90 self-propelled artillery systems which occurred simultaneously with the system's planned retirement.
That said, there were unsuccessful attempts as well. In 2023, the UK Royal Air Force denied Ukraine 30 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighters, instead opting for cutting them into spares and scrap. The main reason, later explained, was that the said Typhoons of the Tranche 1 modification were too worn out and outdated, and their modernization was too costly.
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