A soldier of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces told how the armor of a Stryker armored personnel carrier (APC) saved his infantry unit from enemy fire.

The interview with the driver of the Stryker combat vehicle was published on the official YouTube page of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces.

According to the soldier, during the initial phase of the operation in the Kursk oblast, the APC was involved in the assault and was hit.

Despite this, the vehicle’s armor helped save both the entire crew and the soldiers in the airborne compartment.

No one was killed, but several were lightly wounded.

According to the combat vehicle’s mechanical engineer, unlike Soviet BTR-80s, which are easily penetrated by 7.62mm armor-piercing rounds, the Stryker managed to withstand 5.45mm and 7.62mm bullets that were actively fired at it.

The Stryker armored personnel carrier was developed based on the Canadian LAV-3 infantry fighting vehicle. In its original form, it could withstand 14.5mm bullets in the frontal projection and 7.62mm ammunition on the sides.

Following a modernization program based on the experience of using these vehicles during the first period of the Iraq War, DEW Engineering was selected to produce special modular ceramic plates for Stryker combat vehicles.

The addition of ceramic plates provided protection for the armored personnel carrier from 14.5mm bullets in the side projections and from 20-25 mm guns in the frontal projection.

Due to its modularity, it is possible to replace the plates in combat conditions in case of damage.

Moreover, based on the experience of local wars, Stryker armored personnel carriers can also be equipped with additional dynamic protection units and special anti-cumulative grilles.

In the realities of the war in Ukraine, such protection can significantly increase the capabilities of a combat vehicle on the battlefield and improve crew survival in the event of fire from hand grenade launchers, or ATGMs.

Previously, Militarnyi reported that the United States has allowed Ukraine to use American weapons to strike targets in the Kursk oblast of the Russian Federation.