“I can see them wanting to create a widening gap and dislocating the Russians by driving a couple hundred-mile route through that area. What feels most logical is something more limited, like breaking the connection between Russian-occupied parts of the Donbas and south. “That’s where I think western armour comes in with the rest of the Ukrainian armour following. “They will want to concentrate firepower rather than disperse it. “Armour works best in a shock action breaking ,” says De Bretton-Gordon. With the relatively small numbers available, the question is to what use they will be put. The new tanks are superior to those currently used. “I’ve said in the past that you would need a minimum of 100 for a big punch, and Ukraine has been talking about needing 300.”Ī Ukrainian tank in the frontline area near Bakhmut. If we are just talking about numbers, then on the face of it 50 to 60 modern western tanks in Ukraine is not necessarily a gamechanger. “Psychologically, it is hugely positive for the Ukrainians and negative for the Russians. Photograph: Michael Ciaglo/Getty ImagesĪnd while they point to the south as the most likely theatre for a spring counteroffensive, they caution that Ukraine’s effective employment of misinformation and deception in last year’s fighting make feints and so-called demonstrations likely.Īmong those who have been considering what the new armour arriving in Ukraine may mean for the war is Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, who served as a tank commander with 14th/20th King’s Hussars in the first Gulf war before going on to command the UK’s Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment.įor De Bretton-Gordon, one of the most significant aspects of the accumulating western armour in Ukraine is the psychological aspect. A Javelin missile is fired from a US Stryker infantry carrier vehicle in Fort Carson, Colorado.

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