Pentagon spokesman Patrick Ryder expressed doubt that the United States will have time to supply Kiev with Switchblade 600 drones, which are part of the next $ 2 billion military assistance package to Ukraine, by the start of the “spring offensive” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. An American official said this during a briefing, answering a question journalist, how realistic is the fact that by the beginning of the "spring offensive" of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Switchblade 600 "will already be in place."

“I doubt it… This fight will continue to be difficult, so we want to make sure that we are meeting not only the immediate, but also the medium and long-term needs of the country,” Ryder replied. 

The United States will continue to "work closely with manufacturers" and will act quickly to provide weapons "as soon as possible," Ryder said.

It is worth noting that, in addition to the Switchblade 600, the CyberLux K8, ALTIUS-600 and Jump 20 drones were also included in the new military assistance package. However, the US Department of Defense press release does not specify exactly how many UAVs of each type Washington plans to transfer to Kiev.

During the briefing, Ryder was asked to give "specific figures", but a Pentagon spokesman declined to share such data, citing the fact that "the enemy would be very happy to get this information."

“Therefore, we simply will not voice anything,” he said.

  • UAV Switchblade 300

  • AP

  • © cpl.

    Alexis Moradian / US Marine Corps

In addition to UAVs, the new US weapons package also includes ammunition for laser-guided missile systems.

Talking to reporters, Ryder explained why Washington plans to send shells for these complexes to Kyiv.

“Laser guidance systems for missiles are advanced weapons systems with high-precision targeting, which actually allows you to turn unguided missiles into high-precision guided munitions that are compatible with a variety of launchers that we provide to the Ukrainian side,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

Washington's new military assistance package also provides for the transfer to Kiev of additional ammunition for the HIMARS MLRS, 155-mm artillery shells, equipment for combating drones, demining and maintaining secure communications, and electronic warfare equipment.

During the briefing, Ryder stressed that the United States is already supplying the Armed Forces with significant amounts of weapons as part of the presidential mandate to allocate funds and "the efforts of the international community" in order to provide Kyiv with "the necessary capabilities" by spring.

Volumes of weapons injections

As stated in a statement by the head of the Pentagon Lloyd Austin, published on the website of the US defense department, over the year Washington spent more than $ 32 billion on military needs of Kiev. According to Austin, the United States supplied Kiev with over 8.5 thousand Javelin anti-tank systems, MANPADS Stinger, 232 howitzers and more than 2 million artillery ammunition.

In addition, according to the head of the Pentagon, the allocated funds were used to transfer to Kiev 38 HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems, as well as ammunition for them, a Patriot air defense battery, eight NASAMS anti-aircraft missile systems, other air defense systems, 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers and 109 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles. . 

In addition, Washington will send 31 Abrams tanks to Kyiv.

At the same time, the issue of providing fighter jets to the Kyiv regime was not touched upon in Austin's document.

Earlier, US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, in an interview with NBC, said that the United States is currently focused on transferring tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to Kiev, and the supply of fighter jets is "not a matter of today."

In turn, White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby acknowledged that "Ukraine is not getting everything they ask of us, and as quickly as they want," but Washington is striving to supply the most necessary weapons.

After that, the head of the White House, Joe Biden, confirmed in an interview with ABC News that Washington is currently excluding the transfer of F-16 fighter jets to Kyiv, citing the fact that Kiev does not need them now.

"The Pentagon Only Promises"

As Vladimir Batyuk, head of the Center for Military-Political Studies at the Institute of US and Canadian Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, noted, the “long-term” of the American tranche to Kiev, the details of which were revealed by a Pentagon representative, suggests that the United States has problems replenishing its own arsenals after deliveries of weapons to Kiev.

“The US Department of Defense has already largely depleted its stocks.

If Washington simply takes and gives away its weapons and equipment to the Kyiv regime, then the United States will have nothing to fight with, for example, in the event of an aggravation of the situation around Taiwan.

Therefore, now the Pentagon only promises Kyiv weapons and ammunition, while the American military-industrial complex has yet to produce them.

Hence Ryder's "medium to long term" talk.

Meanwhile, Kyiv continues to insist that it needs all this ammunition today, since a difficult situation is developing for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Ukraine, ”the expert said in an interview with RT.

However, due to the illusory nature of such deliveries to Ukraine, Ryder does not undertake to voice specific figures in the situation with the transfer of UAVs, as well as to give specific obligations regarding the amount of other military equipment that is planned to be sent to Kiev, Batyuk explained.

“It is not yet clear how much the US military-industrial complex will be able to produce these weapons.

But it is already clear that Kyiv needs a lot of drones, since they can be used as a strike force.

As for ammunition for the HIMARS MLRS and other weapons in the package, this is a standard set of the assistance that the Americans supply to Ukraine, but it will take Washington a long time to produce it, ”the analyst is sure.

  • US military aid destined for Ukraine

  • AP

  • © Alex Brandon

Recall that in late January, journalist Christopher Roach, in an article for The American Greatness, said that the United States can create very complex weapons systems, in particular F-35 fighters or Patriot air defense systems, “but only as part of a long and expensive process.”

“The Western arms industry is not optimized either in terms of speed or in terms of production volumes.

It will take years to catch up," the journalist believes.

In turn, military expert Yuri Knutov expresses the opinion that the Pentagon's refusal to disclose information about the number of drones that are planned to be sent to Kiev is connected, among other things, with the specifics of the work of Russian electronic warfare systems capable of destroying such UAVs.

“The Pentagon does not specify the number of Switchblade 600, CyberLux K8, ALTIUS-600 and Jump 20 in the trench, because, having known the number of these strike weapons, Russia can prepare anti-aircraft systems or electronic warfare systems that can neutralize them.

It’s one thing when there are several such stations or complexes on the alert, and quite another when it comes to a whole chain of these installations, moreover, activated and capable of destroying many drones, ”Knutov explained in a comment to RT.

In addition, according to the expert, the Pentagon included electronic warfare equipment in the new tranche, primarily to counter Russian drones.

“A lot of Russian UAVs appeared in Ukraine in the course of the NWO, and they work effectively.

This is very scary for the APU.

As for the equipment for maintaining secure communications, it is necessary for the Ukrainian armed formations so that Russia cannot find out about the planned actions of the Kyiv command, ”the analyst said.

Knutov also believes that it will take quite a long time to transfer the new tranche announced by Washington to Kyiv due to problems in the American military-industrial complex.

However, as Batyuk noted, in addition to difficulties with the production of new weapons, Washington is also experiencing difficulties in supplying even ready-made Abrams tanks to Ukraine.

“According to the statements of US officials, it could take more than a year for the US to transfer Abrams.

Now Washington is not ready to supply them, because in order to use them, it is necessary first to train the military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, to prepare the infrastructure in Ukraine.

For this reason, talking about fighter jets, which Kyiv insists on providing, is even ridiculous.

However, the White House itself does not yet allow this possibility, ”the expert concluded.