U.S. & NATO Sending More Military Aid to Ukraine Including Tanks, Armored Vehicles, & Drones

What’s the story?

• Ukraine’s supporters including the U.S., the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and others have announced new shipments of lethal military aid to help the embattled country defend itself from Russia’s ongoing invasion.
• The announcements come at a crucial juncture in the war as Russia is attempting to reorient its military focus toward the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine and the southern parts of the country. The Russian military pulled its forces in northern Ukraine back into Belarus and Russia after failing in their effort to capture Kyiv due to stiff resistance in the capital city's suburbs and elsewhere in the north, such as Chernihiv.

Additional U.S. Aid to Ukraine

• Late Tuesday, the State Dept. authorized an additional $100 million that will provide more Javelin anti-tank weapon systems for Ukraine.
• The U.S. is continuing to fulfill deliveries of military aid from its previous tranche of $800 million in military assistance and announced a further $300 million in aid for Ukraine on Friday which includes:
• Laser-guided rocket systems.
• Additional Switchblade tactical unmanned aerial systems, which can serve as loitering “kamikaze” drones that hit targets behind Russian lines. These include Switchblade 300s, which have a lighter explosive that can be used against infantry, artillery, or transport vehicles; and Switchblade 600s which contain a warhead similar to the Javelin anti-tank missile that can wipe out heavily armored vehicles.
• Puma unmanned aerial systems, which are hand-launched surveillance drones.
• Devices to counter enemy unmanned aerial systems.
• Armored Humvees.
• Small-to-large caliber non-standard ammunition, along with non-standard machine guns. 
• Tactical secure communications systems.
• Night vision devices and thermal imagery systems and optics.
• Commercial satellite imagery.
• Medical supplies, field equipment, and spare parts.

NATO & Partner Aid to Ukraine

• The Czech Republic has become the first foreign country to provide Ukraine with armored vehicles. The Czech shipments reportedly include Soviet-era T-72 tanks and BMP infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs), with deliveries already in progress.
• The Czech Republic and Slovakia are also reportedly considering an agreement to repair damaged Ukrainian equipment at their military-industrial installations.
• Several other NATO countries that were part of the Warsaw Pact during the Soviet era also have T-72 tanks and BMP IFVs in their inventory and may be planning to ship some to Ukraine given the alliance’s ongoing effort to upgrade its military systems from Soviet-era equipment to ensure interoperability.
• Slovakia is still working with the U.S. and NATO on finding an appropriate way to backfill its air defense capabilities so that Ukraine can receive its S-300 air defense systems, which are similar to those already operated by the Ukrainian military. 
• The United Kingdom is providing Ukraine with longer-range artillery and counter-battery systems, in addition to more air and coastal defense systems.
• Australia, which isn’t a member of NATO but is closely aligned with many of its member countries, is providing Ukraine with a batch of Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles which have light armor designed to withstand explosions caused by mines and improvised explosive devices.

— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo via DVIDSHUB & Flickr by Cpl. Reece Lodder | U.S. Army photo via DVIDSHUB & Flickr by Tech Sgt. Chris Hibben / Public Domain)