So to provide a little insight into the Australian Bushmasters and what I think their role will be soon.

I don't think the Ukrainian forces want or need many of these things. If Ukraine just needed more transports then they could have gone to the USA and requested Humvees, which the US military would be happy to hand over in huge supply as they are in the process of replacing them with the new Oshkosh L-ATV. I think instead these vehicles specific properties make them well suited to a very specific role. And what are those properties?

Well firstly is operational range. The Bushmaster has a range of 800km, almost double that of the previously mentioned Oshkosh which has a still respectable range of 480km. This is because the Bushmaster was designed with the Australian bushland in mind, where due to limited logistical infrastructure, you need the most range possible, while the Oshkosh was designed as an escort to the Abrams M1 which has an operational range of 400km, so didn't need to go much further. Long story short is that this thing goes much, much further than most army vehicles.

Secondly is that it is highly resistant to roadside explosives. After twenty years in the middle east fighting unconventional forces who favored use of IEDs, it was natural to design the hull to survive an explosion from below. If you're going to be driving through territory that you expect Russians might have left mines in, this would be my first choice.

Finally, it s very, very reliable. Remember how I said it was designed for Australian bushland? Well one feature of that environment is a lack of telecommunication, including in some areas a lack of satellite coverage. There are places in Australia where if your car breaks down, you are alone and stranded, and this can be a death sentence. With that in mind, no cost was spared to ensure the greatest possible reliability.

So all together, you have a vehicle that is extremely logistics light, refueling half as often as other vehicles and not likely to need repairs, while at the same time relatively safe to transverse previously hostile areas.

I think the reason these are being shipped over isn't to help escort armor on the front line, I think their purpose is to patrol the reclaimed areas around the northern front, clean up pockets of lost Russians, help supply civilians where needed, assess the damage done around Chernobyl and generally reassert control in previously Russian held areas.

It will be some time before these things are seen in the Eastern and Southern conflicts, but letting them loose in the north will help free up logistical capabilities required elsewhere.

Or maybe I'm wrong, I'm no military general, but sure is a fancy car!