Prolongation of hostilities: how the West continues to pump weapons to Ukraine

The United States has provided Ukraine with a new military aid package worth more than $3 billion, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing.

According to her, Washington will provide various funds worth $2.8 billion directly from the Pentagon's reserves.

The arms tranche will include Bradley infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) and M109A6 Paladin 155mm self-propelled howitzers.

“This is the first provision of self-propelled howitzers, which will provide greater protection and maneuverability than previously delivered towed howitzers, and will complement the self-propelled howitzers previously provided by the allies,” Laura Cooper, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine and Eurasia, told TASS.

As specified in the Pentagon, in addition to these weapons, Washington will also transfer radar-guided RIM-7 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles, 100 M113 armored personnel carriers, 500 anti-tank missiles and ammunition for HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems to Kiev.

Another $225 million, as noted by Karine Jean-Pierre, will be spent on the long-term strengthening of the military potential of Ukraine and the modernization of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition, $ 682 million from the new aid package is supposed to be sent to Washington's partners on NATO's eastern flank "to replenish the military equipment they donated."

The White House also clarified that the training of Ukrainian military personnel in the use of American Patriot air defense systems has not yet begun, but it will be conducted in a third country.

Earlier, US President Joe Biden said that Washington intends to protect Ukraine from attacks by the Russian Armed Forces.

“We will help protect Ukraine from Russian air attacks.

Germany also announced today that it will provide Kyiv with a Patriot air defense system to deal with air attacks.

We (Germany and the USA.

) will provide an additional Patriot air defense battery.

They are effective, and the Russians are beginning to understand this.

They function well and are of great help, ”said the head of the White House at a meeting with members of his cabinet.

Biden also said that Germany intends to provide the Kyiv regime with Marder infantry fighting vehicles.

As the representative of the German government, Steffen Hebeshtreit, clarified, in turn, the first Marder infantry fighting vehicles promised to the Ukrainian side will be ready for transfer in the first quarter of 2023.

According to him, we are talking about 40 such vehicles.

On January 6, German Defense Minister Christina Lambrecht, during a telephone conversation with her American counterpart Lloyd Austin, discussed, in particular, issues of coordinating military support for Kyiv.

It was also about the supply of Western-made infantry fighting vehicles to Kyiv.

The Russian Embassy in Germany condemned Berlin's decision to supply infantry fighting vehicles and an additional battery of Patriot air defense systems, calling it another step towards escalating the conflict in Ukraine.

“The speed with which this confrontational step was agreed upon leaves no doubt that it was carried out in Berlin, including under serious pressure from Washington, acting in accordance with the destructive logic of transatlantic solidarity,” the embassy said.

At the same time, on January 4, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba announced only the start of preparations for the transfer of Patriot air defense systems to Kyiv.

At the same time, he stressed that he expects the deployment of these systems "as soon as possible."

Earlier, the US Congressional Research Service published a report stating that the Patriot SAM battery “may arrive in February” in Ukraine.

At the same time, the document also notes that training courses for operators and maintenance specialists of these complexes usually last for many months.

For example, it will take 53 weeks to train the military to repair this complex - more than a year.

• SAM Patriot

• AP

• © Evan Vucci

“The training course for a fire control operator is 20 weeks, and for a launch system operator, 13 weeks ... It will take a lot of training before Ukraine has Patriot air defense systems in place,” the authors of the report stated.

In addition, the document also talks about the consequences for the United States itself when sending these air defense systems to Ukraine.

So, we are talking about the fact that if these weapons are taken, for example, from the Central or Indo-Pacific Command of the US Armed Forces, "this may entail costs associated with missed opportunities and potential risks in the relevant areas."

“If they (Patriot air defense systems.

) are taken from stocks in the United States, this may interfere with the training and modernization cycles,” the document says.

The report also provides data on the cost of a single Patriot battery without missiles - about $ 400 million.

Western trenches

Despite Moscow's calls to stop supplying the Kyiv regime with weapons, which will only prolong the conflict, the West continues to follow its chosen course.

As Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov said, the United States does not seek a political settlement of the situation in Ukraine.

“It should finally become obvious to the entire world community that since 2014 the United States has unleashed a real “war by proxy” with Russia, supporting Nazi criminals in Kyiv,” he said, stressing that the “defensive nature” of the transferred weapons has long been out of the question. .

According to the Pentagon, the United States has already allocated more than $24 billion to the defense needs of Kyiv since Biden came to power. In addition, Biden approved the United States budget for fiscal year 2023, which includes $44.9 billion in assistance to Ukraine, including in the field of security .

In turn, the German authorities reported that "as part of the budget process" in 2022, the funds allocated for the initiative to strengthen the country were increased by € 2 billion. It is emphasized that this additional amount was intended mainly "to support Ukraine."

The report also refers to arms supplies to Kyiv.

The list includes 20 rocket-propelled grenade launchers on pickup trucks with shells, 15 Bergepanzer 2 recovery vehicles, 13 M1070 Oshkosh heavy tractors and seven remote-controlled tracked vehicles for support operations.

According to the German government, Berlin also handed over to the Ukrainian Armed Forces a COBRA counter-battery radar, 30 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft systems, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, spare parts for the MiG-29, five MARS II multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) with ammunition, PzH 2000 howitzers and an air defense system. IRIS-T SLM.

In total, as Steffen Hebestreit informed on January 6, Germany provided Ukraine with more than €12 billion of support in 2022 as part of solidarity with it. According to a representative of the German Cabinet, this was discussed during a telephone conversation between German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Vladimir Zelensky.

Hebeshtreit added that in 2023 Berlin will continue to support the Kyiv regime.

At the same time, on January 4, French President Emmanuel Macron, during a telephone conversation with Vladimir Zelensky, announced that Paris would supply light battle tanks to Kyiv.

This is stated in a statement on the website of the Elysee Palace.

As clarified on the BFMTV channel, we are talking about AMX-10RC machines, which, according to one of the presidential advisers, are “albeit old, but powerful” and also “very mobile”.

However, in the French army they are gradually being replaced by American Jaguars, according to BFMTV.

According to experts interviewed by RT, all the actions of the collective West, led by the United States, only contribute to the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine.

“They want to increase the intensity of the fighting and thus realize their plans to deplete Russia.

But in Moscow they are well aware of this, and therefore the Russian army prevents the use of Western weapons in the war zone, striking at the depots of such weapons, including armored vehicles.

The RF Armed Forces are actually carrying out the demilitarization of NATO weapons on the territory of Ukraine, ”said military expert Yuri Knutov in a RT comment.

According to him, due to new arms shipments, including Bradley and Marder infantry fighting vehicles, the West wants to provide the Kyiv regime with "offensive potential."

“This armored vehicle may appear in plans to break through Russian defenses in the Zaporozhye direction.

Marder and Bradley are the first generation IFVs, while the Bradley is slightly better as it has been upgraded.

But I note that the supply of this military equipment will be carried out not from the arsenals where weapons removed from combat duty are stored, but from the warehouses of military units.

This suggests that both the United States and Germany are experiencing problems with the supply of weapons to Ukraine.

The same can be said about France, ”Knutov believes.

The fact that Washington's new military aid package includes $682 million to replenish the arsenals of America's partners on NATO's eastern flank suggests that the US actually wants to "cash in on Europe," the expert argues.

“They intend to earn money through the production of weapons primarily for European countries.

The United States receives a lot of money from the Ukrainian conflict and the supply of weapons not only to the Kyiv regime, but also to other states that provided significant assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Therefore, for the Americans, this is quite a serious business, ”explained Knutov.

• Meeting of a group of countries - donors of military assistance to Ukraine at the German Ramstein airbase, September 8, 2022

• Gettyimages.ru

• © Thomas Niedermueller

In turn, the director of the Center for Military-Political Studies, Alexei Podberezkin, believes that the supply of Marder and Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, as well as the transfer of AMX-10RC light tanks from France, will not be able to significantly increase the combat capability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

“These AMX-10RC Russian weapons can be destroyed in a week.

Western infantry fighting vehicles will also not play a special role, ”he said in a comment to RT.

Commenting on Biden's words about allegedly effective Patriot air defense systems that have not yet been delivered to Ukraine, Yuri Knutov calls such statements premature.

“However, it is already clear that the number of complexes that the West intends to supply to the Kyiv regime is capable of covering, for example, only part of Kyiv.

At the same time, one should not forget that the use of Patriot in the Middle East showed that in many respects the effectiveness of these systems leaves much to be desired.

Russian aerospace forces are able to overcome the barrier that Patriot can create, ”the analyst is sure.

A similar opinion is shared by Podberyozkin.

According to him, the United States often talks about the effectiveness of the Patriot, as they actively export these air defense systems.

“In reality, this system, especially in the context of the conflict in Ukraine, will not be able to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine to a large extent.

In terms of its tactical and technical parameters, the Patriot is inferior to the latest Russian Buk-M3 systems and the modernized S-300 system.

In addition, it is very important who controls these air defense systems.

I doubt that the Ukrainian military will be qualitatively taught how to use these complexes, not to mention the fact that this is a lengthy training, ”the expert said.

As for the supply of RIM-7 Sea Sparrow anti-aircraft missiles to Kyiv, as Knutov recalled, these ammunition, which use a passive homing head, were developed quite a long time ago. 

“The Russian army has the means to fight against them.

These are systems that can be suppressed with the help of electronic warfare, ”says the analyst.

At the same time, he called the ongoing arms supplies to Kyiv a serious signal that the West does not intend to contribute to the settlement of the conflict in Ukraine.

“The West is interested not in the signing of a peace agreement between the parties, but in the maximum prolongation of hostilities,” the analyst stated.

However, as Podberezkin notes, the US and European arms stocks are not unlimited, and it may take years to fill the deficit.

“While the West, led by the United States, is supplying what they had in their warehouses (in general, quite old systems, even Patriot), these are complexes in the modification of the 1980s, not to mention the so-called light tanks from France .

I don’t think that the West will begin to transfer more modern weapons to Ukraine, including because of the limited resources of the military-industrial complex, ”Podberyozkin concluded.