Forbes: Special vehicles BAT-2 will play a decisive role in the Russian invasion of Donbass

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The huge engineering vehicles of the RF Ground Forces will help pave the way through Ukraine for the advancing units. Military expert David Ax wrote about this in his article for the American edition of Forbes.

Donbass will be the most likely battleground if Moscow expands to invade Kiev-controlled lands. However, this area is rugged terrain. Pine forests, destroyed industrial facilities and villages, as well as long-abandoned roads make it difficult to pass equipment, the author believes.



But the Russian army has a BAT-2 for this. A monstrous 40-ton special vehicle that can blaze a trail through almost anything. They have already appeared in and around the separatist-controlled Donbass

– noted in the publication.

The task of the sappers (engineers) of the Russian army on the BAT-2 and other special vehicles, of which the Russians have a huge number, is to clear paths for the assault troops. They are needed for engineering reconnaissance, filling craters, building bypass routes, improving difficult-to-pass areas, building or repairing bridges and clearing passages through minefields. Visually, BAT-2 may seem outdated, but it is not. This is actually a T-64 tank, from which the turret was removed and a bulldozer blade, a spike ripper, a two-ton crane and a fighting compartment for eight people were added.

BAT-2 is a very efficient special vehicle. It looks intimidating, but it is lightly armored and therefore vulnerable to enemy gunners. These engineering vehicles help clear paths for tanks and infantry fighting vehicles, but they also rely on their protection during their work. In the doctrine of the Russian army, engineers attached to a battalion tactical group (BTG) form a movement support squad (OPD). Each OPD has four BAT-2 units that follow the first line of tanks.

There is no doubt that BAT-2 will be crucial for "any Russian attack through Donbass." BAT-2 was seen in Donbass in 2015 and then in 2019, as evidenced by OSCE data. Now users of social networks regularly publish videos showing Russian engineering equipment heading towards the Ukrainian border, the author summed up.
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    1. +4
      6 January 2022 14: 49
      When I was young and stupid (than now ... what ), then he loved only "purely combat", shooting, machines and did not understand the enormous importance of supporting engineering technology ... fool
      But when an armored tractor (based on the T-54) effortlessly pulled my combat training "sixty-two" out of the swamp, he suddenly looked at these (from all sides hung with "cunning devices") engineering vehicles with great respect and no less love through " the homespun truth of life "I realized, I realized their real strategic significance!" Yes
      And it’s very good that the Russian army pays due attention to this type of engineering equipment, like the BAT-2 and similar, "smart and skillful", and beautiful in their own way, machines! good
    2. +3
      7 January 2022 00: 24
      If this is written by a "military expert" for Forbes ... Thank God for not everything in the American kingdom. And to a respected REPORTER, it is useless to replicate this. So ... This is a wonderful technique, well, not at all for the cutting edge. (In contrast to IMR) The BAT-64 tracklayer also has nothing to do with the T-2 tank. He comes from the MTT tractor. Nobody storms anything with it. But on the territory freed from the foe, he will find work. I do not want to further strain the audience with all sorts of technical details. But small inaccuracies cast doubt on the veracity and competence of everything written.
      1. avg
        0
        7 January 2022 11: 19
        How nice it is, on the Internet, to meet an adequate person, now it is a great rarity. Merry Christmas!
      2. 0
        2 February 2022 03: 23
        He does not care. He wrote for domestic consumption. Americans don't care about details. And the journalist earned a dollar for himself on such fiction.
        But ours is still interested in another confirmation that the Americans from the media are stupid.
    3. 0
      10 January 2022 22: 44
      Yes, these BATs - to restore devastation!
      war, invasion - too loud words for Bandera and entrenched there!