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| 4.14.22

U.S. Announces New $800M Package for Ukraine, Officials Say American Troops to Train Ukrainians

Are you in favor of the $800 million in new military aid for Ukraine?

What’s the story?

  • The Dept. of Defense announced Wednesday that an additional $800 million security assistance package will go from the U.S. to Ukraine to help the country’s military defend against Russia’s invasion. The latest tranche comes amid a broader push by NATO and partner countries to provide Ukraine with heavier weaponry and more Western technologies as former Warsaw Pact countries now in NATO send further Soviet-era equipment already in use by Ukraine.
  • The Pentagon also announced that American military personnel will help train Ukrainian troops on the use of several items in the package after the White House walked back President Joe Biden’s claim that training assistance would be provided following the announcement of a previous package.
  • Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said at a press briefing that “some of these items will require some additional training for Ukrainians.” Kirby explained that the more complex items, such as artillery and radar systems, will require more training for Ukrainians but added that “we believe we can put together appropriate training for some of these systems very, very quickly.”
  • Kirby said the Pentagon is still evaluating how many Americans will be involved in the training and where it will occur, although NATO member countries neighboring Ukraine including Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Hungary would be the likeliest candidates. U.S. troops won’t be entering Ukraine to provide the training and the process will likely be tailored to training a select group of Ukrainian troops on the systems relevant to their specialty who then return to Ukraine to train their colleagues. 

What’s in the new U.S. security aid package for Ukraine?

  • There are several items in the new $800 million package that hadn’t previously been provided to Ukraine by the U.S., including certain radars and artillery systems that had previously only been supplied to Ukraine by other NATO members. It also includes helicopters that can be used in attacking or transporting roles that were reportedly going to be left out of this package prior to a late reversal. Here’s a rundown of the new package:
  • 18 155mm howitzers (towed) with 40,000 artillery rounds;
  • 10 AN/TPQ-36 counter-artillery radars;
  • 2 AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel air surveillance radars;
  • 11 Mi-17 helicopters, in addition to the five provided to Ukraine in March;
  • 300 Switchblade tactical unmanned aerial systems (aka loitering munitions or “kamikaze drones”);
  • 500 Javelin missiles and “thousands of other anti-armor systems”;
  • 200 M113 armored personnel carriers;
  • 100 armored Humvees;
  • Unmanned coastal defense vessels;
  • Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) protective equipment;
  • 30,000 sets of body armor and helmets;
  • Over 2,000 optics and laser rangefinders;
  • C-4 explosives and demolition equipment for clearing obstacles;
  • Claymore anti-personnel munitions; and
  • Medical equipment.

What are the newer shipments from NATO, other allies, & defense industry firms to Ukraine?


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— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: U.S. Army photo by Spc. Blair Heusdens via Flickr / Public Domain)