In the record-breaking military aid package to Ukraine, Sweden donated its entire inventory of 302 armored personnel carriers.
The idea is for the vehicles to be part of building new brigades, but is now receiving criticism in Ukraine.
“Ukraine is in need of more combat vehicles, but the fact that the 302 armored personnel carrier is old cannot be avoided. Very old,” writes the Kyiv Independent.
At the end of May, the government and the Sweden Democrats presented a new support package to Ukraine, the 16th in a row and the largest military support package to Ukraine since the war started.
– It is the largest support package to date, at 13.3 billion, said Ebba Busch (KD), Minister of Energy and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister at a press conference when the package was presented.
The big news, apart from the size of the package, was that Sweden donated its ASC 890 radar reconnaissance and command aircraft. The package also included the Rb 99 fighter robot, artillery ammunition and the entire Swedish inventory of the 302 armored fighting vehicle.
Modernized some of the vehicles
The combat vehicles from Sweden were intended to be used in the Ukrainian army’s work to organize a number of new brigades, in which armored vehicles are needed. In addition to the vehicles themselves, spare parts, ammunition and equipment for maintenance were donated.
In Sweden, the vehicle is no longer used by the Armed Forces, who set them in storage in 2018. The first 302 armored personnel carrier was produced in the 60s and they were used in Yugoslavia during the war in the 90s.
– Parts of this vehicle stock have been modernized, other parts can be modernized on site in Ukraine, said Aron Emilsson, the Sweden Democrats’ foreign policy spokesperson when the package was presented.
Emilsson described how the vehicles can be used during several important stages at the front, such as transport, salvage and patient transport.
Described as “Very old”
A total of around 300 armored personnel carriers 302 are to be deployed in combat soon, as the government of Ukraine approved their use this week, reports Kyiv Independent. But despite the modernizations, the older combat vehicle has received criticism in Ukraine.
“Ukraine is in need of more combat vehicles, but the fact that the 302 armored personnel carrier is old cannot be avoided. Very old,” writes the Kyiv Independent.
In connection with the Ukrainian government approving the vehicles described the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense its features and specifications – which do not impress, according to the Kyiv Independent.
“The thing is, none of these specs are particularly impressive on a modern battlefield, especially one where drones are always present,” the paper writes.