The U.S. is sending another $2.5 billion worth of military equipment and supplies to Ukraine, the State Department announced Thursday.
“Pursuant to a delegation of authority from the President, I am authorizing our 30th drawdown of U.S. arms and equipment for Ukraine since August 2021,” Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in a statement. “This assistance package will provide Ukraine with hundreds of additional armored vehicles, including Stryker armored personnel carriers, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles, and High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled vehicles.”
The list of arms and equipment provided by the Pentagon includes:
* 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles (IFVs) with 590 TOW anti-tank missiles and 295,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition;
* 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) with 20 mine rollers;
* 53 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs);
* 350 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);
* 20,000 155mm artillery rounds;
* Approximately 600 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;
* 95,000 105mm artillery rounds;
* Approximately 11,800 120mm mortar rounds;
* Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
* 12 ammunition support vehicles;
* 6 command post vehicles;
* 22 tactical vehicles to tow weapons;
* Eight Avenger air defense systems;
* High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);
* Approximately 2,000 anti-armor rockets;
* Over 3,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
* Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
* Night vision devices;
* Spare parts and other field equipment.
No tanks – yet: The package does not include heavy armor, though military and political leaders within NATO are debating whether to provide main battle tanks for Ukraine. Great Britain has announced that it plans to send a squadron of Challenger 2 tanks, but talks in Europe Friday on whether to provide German Leopard 2 tanks failed to reach a consensus, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz resisting pressure from multiple allies to provide more extensive support in Ukraine’s war with Russia. Scholz reportedly wants the U.S. to make its own heavy armor available to Ukrainian forces before committing German tanks. “We are never going alone, because this is necessary in a very difficult situation like this,” Scholz said.
The bottom line: U.S. military aid to Ukraine is growing in both quantity and lethality. Secretary of State Blinken said the package will bring the total of military aid provided by the U.S. to Ukraine to $27.5 billion.
