The Netherlands delivers 28 tracked vehicles to Ukraine

The Netherlands is delivering 28 Viking tracked vehicles to Ukraine, Defense Minister Ruben Brekelmans announced on X. He showed a photo of one of the vehicles being loaded onto a truck trailer. “The Marine Corps has trained the Ukrainian military for this. Our support for Ukraine continues to keep Russia at bay,” he said.

Oekraïne heeft onze hulp hard nodig in het gevecht tegen de Russische agressor.

Nederland levert nu 28 Viking rupsvoertuigen. Het Korps Mariniers heeft hiervoor de Oekraïense militairen getraind.

Onze steun aan Oekraïne blijft doorgaan om Rusland op afstand te houden. pic.twitter.com/58jz5pvWAF

— Ruben Brekelmans (@DefensieMin) August 31, 2024

The vehicles, called Viking Bandvagn S10, are armored, amphibious, and have two parts attached to each other. According to the Ministry of Defense website, they weigh about 11 tons and can move through the water at walking speed. The Netherlands has dozens of these vehicles, most of which are equipped to transport military personnel.

According to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense, these are the first vehicles of this model to be delivered by the Netherlands to Ukraine. However, the spokesperson could not say whether these 28 units are already in Ukraine and whether more will follow.

The Vikings have already reached the end of their useful life. In 2021, the Cabinet announced the purchase of 179 new patrol vehicles for the Marine Corps to replace at least some of the tracked vehicles. At the time, it was assumed that the first vehicles would arrive by 2025. The current status of the purchase is unknown.

The Netherlands also announced that it will supply Ukraine with a Patriot radar and three launchers. In addition, 51 mobile radars capable of identifying drones were recently purchased for Ukraine. Later this year, the Ministry of Defense will make these systems available to Ukraine.