| 3.17.22

U.S. & NATO Providing More Military Aid to Ukraine Amid Russia’s Invasion

Do you support or oppose NATO providing Ukraine military aid amid Russia’s invasion?

The U.S. and its North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) allies are sending additional military aid to Ukraine as the beleaguered country enters its third week of fighting against the Russian invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin.
Within the latest aid announced are more anti-tank and anti-aircraft missiles similar to those which NATO has been supplying Ukraine with for the last few months. It also appears as though NATO may soon be able to provide longer-range, Soviet era air-defense systems to Ukraine if it can find a way to “backfill” that air-defense capability in countries that donate their systems to Ukraine.

President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced the latest tranche of $800 million worth of military aid for Ukraine. The $800 million in security assistance includes:
2,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles; 1,000 light anti-armor weapons; and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems. Ukraine’s military has previously been supplied with Javelin, AT-4, N-LAW, and LAW anti-armor systems, among others.
800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems. These shoulder-fired man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) are effective against low-altitude aircraft and have been supplied to Ukraine during the ongoing war by the U.S. and NATO.
100 Tactical Unmanned Aerial Systems. These are reportedly Switchblade loitering munition drones (aka "kamikaze" drones) which include 10 munitions per system. Switchblades can be deployed remotely from over 6 miles away from the target by the operator. The Switchblade 300 contains a Claymore-like anti-personnel explosive that can be used against infantry, artillery, and transport vehicles; while the larger Switchblade 600 contains a Javelin-like anti-armor explosive.
5,000 rifles; 1,000 pistols; 400 machine guns; 400 shotguns; and 100 grenade launchers.
Over 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition, plus grenade launcher and mortar rounds.
25,000 sets of body armor and 25,000 helmets.

Slovakia has preliminarily agreed to send its S-300 air-defense systems ― which have a longer range than MANPADS and can hit higher-flying jets or missiles ― to Ukraine “immediately” if NATO provides a replacement air defense system.
The U.S. and NATO are reviewing options to do that, which may involve Germany moving some of its Patriot air-defense batteries to Slovakia. The U.S. recently deployed a pair of Patriot batteries to a base in Poland near the Ukrainian border.
Britain has shipped Starstreak MANPADS to Ukraine and also announced the deployment of its Sky Sabre air-defense system to Poland.

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— Eric Revell

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