A public call to transfer surplus FV510 Warrior tracked armored vehicles to Ukraine is gaining momentum in the UK.
This was reported by the UK Defence Journal.
The petition to transfer surplus Warrior tracked armored vehicles to Ukraine has already collected more than 14,000 signatures, which requires an official response from the government in the coming days.
The petition itself states that these tracked armored vehicles will have a positive impact on supporting the Ukrainian army, and their transfer will reduce the burden on UK citizens as taxpayers.
According to the UK Defense Journal, the petition comes after a public debate on the fastest and most effective support for Ukraine.
“We believe that the infantry fighting vehicles have proved to be an extremely effective tool on the battlefields of Ukraine… this transfer could be beneficial as it does not imply any new costs to the taxpayer,” the petition says.
The Warrior combat vehicles were developed in the 1980s and produced throughout the 1980s and 1990s. They are armed with a 30 mm unstabilized cannon, have good armor and an additional set of protection. The vehicles are also equipped with a thermal imager and all the necessary systems for effective operation on the battlefield.
The Warrior is scheduled to be decommissioned in 2027, and all vehicles will be written off by the end of the decade. Any equipment remaining at the disposal of the Ministry of Defence of the UK after that will be recognized as surplus.
It is worth noting that the UK is one of the few countries that transfers its own weapons to Ukraine, which leads to a temporary weakening of its own defense capabilities. For example, the country has transferred all of its AS-90 armored self-propelled artillery systems to Ukraine.
Initially, it was planned that those systems would have been decommissioned by the 2030s, so that replacement with a modern self-propelled artillery system would not cause serious gaps in the army’s capabilities.
As early as September 2024, the UK government announced its intention to supply Ukraine with more AS-90s than previously reported.
The replacement for the AS-90 in the British army is to be the RCH155 system, which is expected to arrive only closer to 2030. The temporary solution was the purchase of 14 Archer artillery systems, which will be used until RCH155 is delivered.
