"Pure water terrorism": how the US and its allies intend to increase the supply of weapons to Ukraine

The United States approved the allocation of a new package of military assistance to Kyiv in the amount of up to $675 million, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin said during the fifth meeting of a group of countries that donors of military assistance to Ukraine at the German Ramstein airbase.

“Yesterday, President (of the United States Joe Biden.

) approved another batch of US aid to Ukraine in the amount of up to $675 million. This is the 20th provision of funds from American reserves to Ukraine since last August,” the minister said.

According to him, the latest package includes, in particular, additional guided missiles for the HIMARS GMLRS MLRS, 105-mm howitzers, artillery shells, AGM-88 HARM high-speed anti-radar missiles, HMMWV multi-purpose combat vehicles, armored ambulances, anti-tank systems and small arms. weapon.

Austin also stressed that since the previous meeting at Ramstein Air Force Base in July, many of Washington's allies and partners have taken the initiative of their own new deliveries of "advanced" radars, tanks and armored personnel carriers.

“The UK has sent a second batch of launchers (MLRS.

) M270 MRLS and ammunition (to them.

).

This brings the total amount of British aid to £2.3bn. Significant military aid packages have also been announced by Germany and Denmark.

I especially want to thank the Minister (Defense of Germany Christina.

) Lambrecht for Germany's recent desire to strengthen Ukrainian air defense, ”said the head of the Pentagon.

Austin also thanked Poland for what he claims is a key element in the West's efforts to support Ukraine and "for its generous military resources."

He recalled that in the summer Warsaw transferred to Kyiv three divisions of 155-mm self-propelled howitzers.

According to him, Slovakia, North Macedonia and a number of other countries announced the allocation of their own "critical" supplies of tanks and other heavy armored vehicles.

Austin expressed his hope to develop "this dynamic" and find innovative ways to support Ukraine.

“This means reinvigorating our military-industrial bases to meet both Ukraine's priorities and our own needs.

This means finding new ways to speed up our production of key assets, ”the head of the Pentagon explained.

He added that during the current meeting, the United States and its allies will discuss the next steps to establish an international mission to train the Ukrainian military.

• High mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicle HMMWV

• © Wikimedia Commons

“We will also discuss our new initiative - to organize meetings of our national weapons directors within the framework of this contact group to intensify our efforts to meet the needs of Ukraine in the long term,” he said.

Key supplier

Recall that the United States leads in terms of the volume of weapons sent to Ukraine among the countries providing military support to Kyiv.

The total amount of such assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine under the Biden administration already exceeds $14 billion.

Washington allocated 16 HIMARS MLRS and hundreds of GMLRS high-precision missiles for them, eight NASAMS air defense systems and related ammunition, as well as 1.5 thousand TOW anti-tank guided missiles for the needs of Kyiv.

In addition, the United States transferred to Ukraine more than 1.4 thousand Stinger anti-aircraft missile systems (SAM), at least 8.5 thousand Javelin anti-tank systems, 20 Mi-17 helicopters, 200 M113 armored personnel carriers (APCs), more than 10 thousand grenade launchers and small arms, as well as over 59 million rounds of ammunition for it.

Supplies Washington to the Kyiv regime with drones.

The United States has already announced the delivery of more than 700 Switchblade drones, about 700 Phoenix Ghost tactical UAVs, as well as Puma and Sky Eagle drones.

As White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing, Washington will continue to meet Ukraine's immediate and long-term military needs by supplying weapons in the next few months and "in the years to come."

Later, the United States Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Logistics, Bill LaPlante, informed that Kyiv had received Harpoon anti-ship missiles mounted by the United States on a vehicle platform.

He also noted that American instructors have already trained the Ukrainian military to use these weapons.

In addition, as Bloomberg reported on September 8, citing documents, Washington handed over GPS-guided Excalibur guided missiles to Kyiv.

The article states that the weapon was first used in Iraq in 2007.

"Stocks may soon be exhausted"

Experts note that the United States, while continuing to pump weapons into the Kyiv regime and involving its allies in this process, still expects to drag out the conflict.

“Washington’s military assistance and its appeals to its partners are designed to increase the duration of hostilities in Ukraine and the number of victims of this conflict.

Unfortunately, the Kyiv regime supports this approach and is ready to sacrifice thousands of people, as evidenced by the losses of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (primarily in the Kherson and Kharkov directions).

Not to mention the dead civilians through the fault of Kyiv, ”explained military expert Yuri Knutov in an interview with RT.

Political scientist Oleg Matveychev states that the United States and its allies supply the Ukrainian regime with weapons, which it then uses, among other things, against civilians in Donbass, shelling settlements.

“This is pure terrorism, an attempt to put pressure on the population of the LPR and DPR, which is being shelled every day from Western weapons.

The fact that the United States and its partners now approve precisely such types of weapons suitable for these attacks automatically makes Washington and its associates sponsors of terrorism.

In fact, Western weapons do not help the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the theater of operations, but they make the conflict more bloody, the number of victims is growing, ”he emphasized in a conversation with RT.

From the point of view of Yuri Knutov, the head of the Pentagon announced the next package of military assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine precisely at a meeting at the Ramstein airbase in order to motivate the allies to increase assistance to Ukraine.

“Many countries that previously showed more zeal for the supply of weapons to the Kyiv regime have now moderated their ardor.

But with some states, Washington, apparently, carried out explanatory work.

Based on its results, Austin announced new deliveries from the UK, Germany, Denmark, Poland, Slovakia and North Macedonia, ”Knutov said.

• Pentagon

• © Robert Knopes / UCG / Universal Images Group

As for the planned international mission to train the Ukrainian military, according to the expert, the United States intends to expand the training program for the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“Now European countries are also actively participating in this, but it is easy to guess that due to the worsening energy crisis in the EU, such efforts may be curtailed.

After all, the citizens of these states, most likely, will soon begin to ask quite reasonable questions, why the money is spent not on the purchase of energy resources, but on the training of Ukrainian soldiers, ”Knutov said.

If Kyiv receives the promised GPS-guided Excalibur projectiles and Harpoon missiles, then, according to Knutov, destroying such weapons "will not be difficult."

“Let me remind you that the Russian Armed Forces have previously destroyed Harpoon missiles, so the same fate awaits all new similar weapons, and even on a car platform, and not at sea.

As for the GPS-guided Excalibur projectiles, they can be disabled if you use electronic warfare systems and cover important objects with them.

In this case, the GPS will give incorrect coordinates - and the projectiles will not hit the target.

Also, the target for the Russian army will be warehouses with such weapons, ”Knutov said.

In turn, Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies of the Institute for US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, in a conversation with RT, did not rule out that Washington could indeed send GPS-guided Excalibur projectiles to Kyiv, despite the fact that such weapons do not appear in any of the lists military trenches to Ukraine.

“It is quite possible that due to such “secret” deliveries, the Americans are trying to present a surprise to the Russian Armed Forces and their allies.

It can be assumed that Washington did not announce the transfer of not only Excalibur, but also other high-precision weapons capable of inflicting pinpoint strikes on the most sensitive targets.

A similar situation was with the HARM missile, the transfer of which was reported at the Pentagon only after the fact, ”says the analyst.

However, in his opinion, the volume and composition of military assistance to Ukraine from the United States and its allies to Ukraine are not capable of radically changing the situation on the battlefield.

“The Americans handed over all the weapons announced in the new package earlier, the same can be said about their allies.

But these deliveries have not yet led to any decisive changes in the course of hostilities, ”the expert recalled.

At the same time, Batyuk doubts that Washington will be able to largely motivate its allies to supply increased volumes of weapons to Kyiv.

“The fact is that now not only the US partners are forced to clean up their stockpiles of weapons to the last, like Germany, but also the United States itself.

Therefore, in such a situation, Washington is forced to talk about the long-term supply and that they will be transferred in a few months or even years.

The West, led by Washington, can wish Moscow defeat and sympathize with Kyiv as much as it wants, but its reserves may soon be practically exhausted, ”the analyst predicted.