USA: The latest aid package from Washington for the Ukrainian armed forces is worth 675 million US dollars. In what is now the 20th Biden administration aid package, 100 Humvee armored transporters are to be delivered to protect Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines. Further deliveries of ammunition for the HIMARS artillery piece (High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems) are at the top of US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin’s list, which he presented at the fifth meeting of the so-called Ukraine Contact Group at the beginning of September at the US Air Force base Ramstein in Germany .
It is unclear whether Washington is now also considering the delivery of short-range ATACMS missiles, which can be launched by the HIMARS systems and have a range of 300 kilometers. The planned deliveries supplement existing ones from the past few months, for example with a further 36,000 rounds of ammunition for the now 24 Howitzer artillery pieces.
Since July, the Ukrainian army has been able to use this artillery to prepare for the successful reconquest in the north-east and partly in the south of Ukraine by targeting Russian supply channels and ammunition depots. The “winter package” now planned includes more night vision devices, winter equipment for the soldiers and 50 armored ambulances.
In all, the US has now provided $14.5 billion in aid to Ukraine’s security forces since the Russian invasion began on February 24. The “face of the war” in Ukraine is changing, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told representatives of more than 40 US allies who support Ukraine with war equipment during his visit to Ramstein.
Many Ukrainian soldiers are still being killed along the front lines because of a lack of armored vehicles. This increases the pressure on Germany in particular. Kyiv has been demanding troop and armored personnel carriers from Berlin since March, such as the “Marder” tank.
UK: Unlike the US, the UK MoD has kept a low profile on many weapon systems and does not publish actual shipment figures. Similar to the US HAIMRAS artillery pieces, summer deliveries of artillery systems such as the M270 MLRS (Multiple Launch Rocket System) may have helped Ukraine prepare for its recaptures on the second weekend of September.
At the beginning of June, London announced that it had launched an extensive program to train Ukrainian soldiers on this weapon. It is unclear exactly how many Ukrainian armed forces have meanwhile gone through the British training program.
According to government information, there should be “several hundred” who have been trained primarily on the artillery systems, in addition to the MLRS, this also applies to the lighter Howitzer artillery pieces. Military analysts assume that this training brought the decisive advantage for Kyiv, especially during the recent reconquests in north-eastern Ukraine.
At the end of June, London announced on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid that it was financing the purchase of modern air defense systems, drones and artillery ammunition worth £1 billion (€1.15 billion) for Ukraine. That brings London’s financial support to Ukraine to £3.8 billion (€4.4 billion) this year.
Germany: Berlin is also reluctant to provide exact figures for deliveries of the most modern weapon systems. Ukraine is said to have received an unknown number of “Cobra” artillery detection radar systems and the IRIS-T SLM air defense system from German industry. The German Ministry of Defense is more precise with the delivery of meanwhile 20 GEPARD anti-aircraft tanks, for which Berlin actually receives a lot of encouragement from the USA as well as from the Ukraine. The Ukrainian crews of this anti-aircraft tank were trained in Germany in the summer.
According to the current overview of the Ministry of Defense, the delivery of another ten GEPARD is in progress. Together with the Netherlands, Germany delivered ten Panzerhaubitz 2000 and taught Ukrainian soldiers how to use the devices in Germany. Germany is currently working through a list of military deliveries with 28 individual items. 22 of them are attributable to German industry, i.e. they do not come from Bundeswehr stocks. These included 12 armored recovery vehicles, 16 BIBER armored bridge layers, but also 200 trucks, 12 M1070 Oshkosh heavy-duty articulated lorries and 14 other articulated lorries with trailers.
To date, there have been no signs that Berlin would supply battle tanks from Bundeswehr stocks like the Leopard II battle tank. The Federal Chancellery and Ministry of Defense have so far also rejected the Marder infantry fighting vehicle, which Kyiv has been demanding from Germany since March.
Around 100 Marder armored personnel carriers are parked in Flensburg, northern Germany, at an industrial yard. Leopard I battle tanks are also stored and had already been requested by Kyiv in the spring. According to the federal government, Germany approved the export of armaments worth a little more than 733 million euros from January 1 to September 5.
Other countries: In terms of their economic performance, the EU states of Estonia, Latvia, Poland and Lithuania have so far given the most aid – both military and civilian – to Ukraine. Especially right after the start of the Russian invasion on February 24th. Poland has handed over more than 200 Soviet-made tanks to Kyiv.
The German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht recently spoke of contracts for a so-called ring exchange with Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Greece. The three countries are to receive replacements from Germany for their deliveries to Ukraine.
Author: Frank Hofmann
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The original of this article “Who is providing which weapons to Ukraine” comes from Deutsche Welle.
