The Ukrainian Armed Forces reportedly received the first M88A2 Heavy Equipment Recovery Combat Utility Lift and Evacuation System (HERCULES) armored recovery vehicles.
According to Militarnyi, footage of a massive military towing vehicle in service of the Ukrainian military was published on social media. It is also possible that the video was shot during Ukrainian military exercises in one of the European countries.
The M88A2HERCULES vehicle is built by the British company BAE Systems and has been in use in one form or another by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps since 1959. It is one of the largest armored recovery vehicles (ARV) in use by the United States Armed Forces.
The M88A2 HERCULES is the recovery system of choice for today’s 70-ton combat vehicles. features overlay armor protection, ballistic skirts, a longer 35-ton boom, a 140,000-pound (63,504 kg) constant pull main winch with 280 feet of cable, and an auxiliary three-ton winch to aid main winch cable deployment.
BAE Systems says the M88A2 HERCULES is built and equipped to be the world’s recovery champion.
On January 25, U.S. President Joseph Biden announced that in the upcoming package, Ukraine will receive eight M88 ARVs.
It should be noted that the United States ordered the production of M88A2 Hercules for Poland in December of last year.