​Ukraine's Troops Were Reinforced by the American M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle

November 4, 2023

Ukraine became only the second operator of the M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle (M1150 ABV) in the world after the USA, while their number is very small even in the US Army

The Armed Forces of Ukraine received the M1150 Assault Breacher Vehicle that is U.S. military mine- and explosives-clearing vehicle, based on the M1 Abrams chassis. This is seen in the video that was published by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi were he is awarding and congratulating defenders on the Day of Rocket Forces and Artillery as well as the Engineering Troops Day.

There were no separate reports on the delivery of the M1150 ABV from the US, but it is likely that it arrived together with the Abrams tanks, the batch of which was received by Ukraine no later than mid-October. And thus the Armed Forces of Ukraine became the second in the world after the USA and the first foreign operator of this vehicle (in 2021, Australia received permission to purchase, but nothing has been reported about the signing of the contract as well as its implementation at the moment).

The M1150 ABV is a new vehicle for creating passages in mine barriers, for which it combines two systems at once. The first is a a mine plow.

The second is a system for launching line charges, as implemented in the M58 MICLIC system. That is, the vehicle can blast passages in minefields about 100-150 meters long at a time.

But if the MICLIC has only the charges themselves and is based on the M113 armored personnel carrier, then the M1150 ABV is a more versatile and, most importantly, much more protected vehicle. The latter allowed it to be used in the role of a truly assault tank to defeat the enemy's protected positions.

At the same time, their number in the US army is quite small, according to Military Balance - only 149 units, although an order for 187 units was made for the ground forces during the operation in Afghanistan. Moreover, the US Army's available M1150 ABVs include an estimated 30-50 that were transferred from the US Marine Corps following the decision to withdraw the tanks from the Marines.

In view of the above, it can be concluded that the transfer of the M1150 ABV to Ukraine is a rather serious step for the USA - in view of the obvious shortage of such systems. This also means that the USA is very careful about meeting Ukraine's needs in combat systems, which are necessary to solve the tasks currently facing the Armed Forces of Ukraine - breaking through the enemy's defenses and completely liberating the temporarily occupied territories and restoring the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine.