The US Department of Defense announced a new package of security assistance for Ukraine on 4 April 2023.
Valued at up to USD 500 M (EUR 459 M), the package features a substantial amount of munitions, including additional rounds for Patriot air defence systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, 120 mm mortar rounds, 120 mm and 105 mm tank ammunition, 25 mm cannon ammunition, TOW anti-tank missiles, and about 400 grenade launchers with 2000,000 rounds of ammunition.
The package also includes 11 tactical recovery vehicles, 61 heavy fuel tankers, 10 heavy equipment transporters (trucks and trailers), testing and diagnostic equipment for vehicle maintenance and repair, plus spare parts and other field equipment.
In addition, the United States is proving Ukraine with USD 2.1 Bn in assistance from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, meaning that the equipment is procured direct from industry rather than being delivered from US military stocks. This will provide the following: additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems; nine counter-unmanned aerial system (C-UAS) 30 mm gun trucks; 10 mobile C-UAS laser-guided rocket systems; three air surveillance radars; 30 mm and 23 mm anti-aircraft ammunition; 130 mm and 122 mm artillery rounds; 122 mm Grad rockets; rocket launchers and ammunition; 120 mm and 81 mm mortar systems, as well as 120 mm, 81 mm and 60 mm mortar rounds; 120 mm tank ammunition; Javelin anti-armour missile systems; anti-armour rockets; air-launched precision-guided munitions; around 3,600 small arms and more than 23 million rounds of small-arms ammunition; seven tactical recovery vehicles; eight heavy fuel tankers and 105 fuel trailers; armoured vehicle-launched bridging systems; four logistics support vehicles; trucks and 10 trailers to transport heavy equipment; secure communications equipment; satellite communications terminals and services; and funding for training, maintenance and sustainment.
“Our focus is on supporting the Ukrainians to change the dynamic on the ground. We want to help Ukraine advance and hold its positions in what we expect will be a Ukrainian counter-offensive,” a senior defence official was quoted as saying in a US DoD press release.
The official noted that, as a percentage of donor nations’ GDP, the United States is roughly in the middle of the top 20 nations donating to Ukraine’s security assistance. Finland, NATO’s newest member and one of the few allies sharing a border with Russia, is one of the highest contributors to Ukraine, both in percentage of GDP and in total dollars spent on military assistance, the official pointed out.
Besides munitions and equipment, the US DoD has expanded the training of Ukrainian troops to focus on combined arms and joint-manoeuvre operations. Maintenance and sustainment support is also being provided, the official said.
“The substantial resources the United States has committed to Ukraine reflects the American interests and values that are at stake,” said the official. “Judging from the significant commitments that our allies and partners have made, the stakes for Europe and the larger world are widely recognised as well.”
Peter Felstead
