A combat unit of NATO-trained Ukrainian soldiers was photographed using a Flyer 72-LD tactical vehicle. The Department of Defense did not report that it had transferred the platform to Ukraine, which was previously operated primarily by American special forces.
The Flyers’ presence in Ukraine became public when blogger Praise the Steph posted a photo of the vehicle with soldiers from Kiev’s 6th Separate Ranger Regiment. "Will and faith are our weapons. Victory is our only horizon!" the blogger reported the unit’s commander said.
The Flyer is designed to be a light-weight tactical vehicle that can operate in rugged terrain.
It can be carried to the front by a number of helicopters and can carry a 5,000-pound load. The Pentagon has not previously disclosed the transfer of the Flyer to Kiev. Only a limited number of NATO countries deploy the Flyer.
While the New York Times’s Adam Entous described the Department of Defense’s transfer of weapons to Ukraine as occurring "with remarkable transparency," this is not the first time that Ukrainian soldiers have received US military equipment before the American public became aware of the shipment.
The 6th Separate Ranger Regiment is one of four Ukrainian military units trained by NATO troops that make up Kiev’s special operations force.
According to the Kyiv Post, they are designed to conduct "drone, reconnaissance, sabotage, and artillery targeting operations behind enemy lines."
US and Ukrainian military leaders have presented the conflict as an opportunity to test Western weapons and tactics against the Russian military.
Back in 2023, CNN wrote that "the war in Ukraine has also offered the United States and its allies a rare opportunity to study how their own weapons systems perform under intense use – and what munitions both sides are using to score wins in this hotly fought modern war."
Ukraine is "absolutely a weapons lab in every sense because none of this equipment has ever actually been used in a war between two industrially developed nations," an official was cited as saying. "This is real-world battle testing."
