Russian army adds outdated US armoured carrier to arsenal
The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that a U.S.-produced M113 armoured personnel carrier, seized from Ukrainian forces, will be put into service in the Russian army. The propaganda material does not mention that both sides take such actions in the ongoing war, and the M113 is one of the oldest and least valuable pieces of NATO equipment that the West has provided to Ukraine.
The trophy presented by the Russians is essentially a 70-year-old piece of equipment. M113 armoured personnel carriers, developed by the Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation (FMC Corporation), are designs that date back to the Vietnam War. Their history goes back to the 1950s.
The Russians boast about the captured M113
Over the years, they have been put into use by the armies of many countries worldwide, many of which are currently among Ukraine's allies. This has resulted in large deliveries, with several hundred M113 armoured personnel carriers already reaching the front. They are among the most numerous Western vehicles in the Ukrainian army.
Russians hold such a trophy on par with others, even those that could indeed be considered valuable loot. This includes, among others, the captured Abrams tank or the Swedish CV90 infantry fighting vehicle, which former Russian Defence Minister Sergey Shoygu inspected.
Russians also captured the Leopard 2A6, the latest NATO tank sent as part of support to Ukraine. However, the German side's reaction was quite telling, showing that such situations are mainly of a propaganda nature and do not cause major NATO concerns, such as the loss of sensitive technology or the potential "cloning" of Western equipment by the Russians.
Russians overestimate the value of NATO trophies
An employee of the KNDS company, quoted by the media, claimed that such steps are unfeasible for the Russians. The equipment, before reaching Ukraine, is stripped of sensitive technologies.
An example is the Abrams tanks, which, before being handed over to Ukraine, had their depleted uranium armour removed by the American side (replaced with tungsten inserts). In the case of F-16 fighters serving the Ukrainian army, the Link-16 data link standard was absent. As for the old M113 carriers, there is no question of any sensitive technology. Their design is so simple that, according to Ukrainians, they in many ways resemble popular John Deere grain combines.
The actions of Russians and Ukrainians in reclaiming enemy equipment show that both sides struggle with shortages of various types of vehicles. During an operation connected with retrieving the Russian BMP-2 from a lake, Ukrainian soldiers noted that "if they had sufficiently modern equipment, they might not have to risk their health and lives to capture such a trophy."
