Brendan Nicholson and Marcus Hellyer of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute report that, in a speech to Australia’s parliament on March 31 night, Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelensky asked for ‘wonderful’ Bushmaster troop carriers, which he said could significantly help his country: ‘For example, you have wonderful Bushmaster armoured vehicles that can significantly help Ukraine. As well as other models of equipment and weapons that can strengthen our position. If you have the opportunity, Ukraine will be grateful to you.
On April 1, Brendan Nicholson and Marcus Hellyer report that Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Marise Payne, representing Defence Minister Peter Dutton in a Senate estimate hearing, indicate that Bushmasters would be sent to Ukraine. A RAAF C-17 Globemaster II transport aircraft can carry four Bushmasters. An air bridge using the C-17s could get a meaningful number to Europe within a matter of weeks. The resourceful Ukrainians could master their operation very quickly, Brendan Nicholson and Marcus Hellyer write. Since the Netherlands already has nearly 100 Bushmasters, it’s a potential area for cooperation between two Western democracies eager to demonstrate their support for Ukraine. The Dutch, as Europe’s major Bushmaster operator, could potentially provide forward logistics and training support, for example.
In the role they were designed for, Bushmasters would be a useful, but not game-changing, capability for Ukraine. As protected mobility vehicles, they safeguard their occupants against mines, IEDs, small arms like machine guns, and artillery blast and fragmentation. They could move forces around rear areas, or potentially evacuate non-combatants from besieged cities. They won’t protect against a direct hit from a tank, howitzer or anti-tank missile, all of which Russia has in abundance.