Forbes: Russia May Be Left Without APCs Very Soon

• 6.02.2024, 9:11

The AFU are destroying them faster than the Russians are producing them.

The Russian army loses more equipment than its defence sector produces. On average, more than 40 armoured vehicles are lost per day. This is reported by Forbes.

For 705 days of full-scale war, the Russian army lost an average of 19 tanks, combat vehicles, howitzers and other heavy weapons. Last Saturday, the Russian Armed Forces lost 70 vehicles damaged and destroyed at once. There are 16 tanks and at once 29 APCs and armoured combat vehicles among the lost equipment. Ukraine on the same day lost 30 vehicles, mostly trucks, 2 tanks and 1 APC.

The author wonders whether this level of armour losses is sustainable for the Russian Federation. And he believes that it is not, because the production of hardware continues to lag behind the level of losses. Now most of the vehicles in the Russian Armed Forces are being restored from stocks, which are not infinite. A HighMarser analyst analysed on X satellite images to monitor the stockpiles of hardware in warehouses. He concluded that the Kremlin has already recovered 1,081 Armoured Personnel Carriers out of the 4,811 in storage. However, of the 3,730 armoured personnel carrier units, at least 765 looked like they could not be recovered.

At the rate of losses that it was in 2022-2023, which is 80 APCs a month and production of 30-40 APCs a month the Kremlin risks being without APCs in as little as 2 years. But now the losses in equipment are such that the Russian Armed Forces are losing as much hardware as never before. The rate of losses of infantry fighting vehicles is about 400 Armoured Personnel Carriers per month. So there will be enough armoured vehicles for about 6 months only.

The Ukrainian military, according to the publication, despite all the difficulties in receiving Western aid, are not just holding on, but winning the war of attrition.