The United States on Friday announced a new $775 million tranche of military aid to Ukraine, intended to help Kyiv launch a counteroffensive in the south at a time when Russian forces appear weakened.
“These capabilities are carefully calibrated to make the biggest possible difference on the battlefield and strengthen Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table,” said US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, officially announcing these new weapons shipments.
This new tranche of aid includes additional missiles for US Himars precision artillery systems, which have “changed the game on the battlefield,” a senior US Department of Defense official told reporters. .
Armored vehicles and anti-radar missiles
Washington will also provide Ukrainian forces with mobile gun systems and 105mm shells compatible with UK-supplied weaponry, 15 Scan Eagle reconnaissance drones, which have a range of more than 100km and enable battlefield observations. even in adverse weather conditions. , as well as 1,000 new Javelin anti-tank missiles and 1,500 Tow missiles, also anti-tank weapons.
The new tranche of military aid, on August 19, 2021, also includes MaxxPro armored anti-mine vehicles for the first time, intended for troop transport in mined terrain. Announced less than two weeks after a $1 billion tranche, it brings the Biden administration’s military aid to Ukraine to $10.7 billion.
It also provides Harm anti-radar air-to-ground missiles that the Ukrainians have managed to adapt to their Russian-made Mig bombers, revealed the senior US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The United States remains vague about the missiles supplied.
This is the first time the United States has revealed that it delivered these supersonic missiles designed to find and destroy enemy air defense systems. A senior US official only recently mentioned the gift of “anti-radar capabilities” to Ukraine, without elaborating.
“We are careful not to talk publicly about capabilities that give Ukraine an asymmetric and unexpected advantage,” the US official explained.
In the case of the Harms, “we saw that they had been used successfully, so we can talk about that, but we won’t release specific numbers.”
Russians ‘more vulnerable than thought’
While the United States has so far provided only “defensive” weapons, the Pentagon official has hinted that the goal is now to assist Ukrainian forces in the counteroffensive that are preparing to resume, including the strategic southern city of Kherson. . from the country.
“Anti-mine equipment is a good example of what the Ukrainians need to move their troops forward and take back territory,” he said. Without going so far as to say that these are offensive weapons, he added that they are “capabilities that increase the mobility of the Ukrainians when they turn through very difficult terrain, especially in the south of Ukraine.”
He noted that Ukrainian forces had managed in recent weeks to stop the advance of Russian forces in the south and east of the country, citing in particular the use of US Himars missiles.
“You can see a complete lack of progress by the Russians on the battlefield,” he said. “The general impression is that the Russians are much more vulnerable than they thought.”
“No territory recovery” at this stage
The senior Pentagon official acknowledged that the Ukrainian counteroffensive has so far failed to recapture territory, but said recent damage to Russian ammunition depots weakens Moscow’s long-term position.
“We have not seen any recovery of territory” by Ukrainian forces, he acknowledged. “But we see a clear weakening of Russian positions in several places.”
“You shouldn’t just think in terms of inches of ‘reclaimed or not’ territory,” he said. But rather to ask “what capabilities are degraded, what positions are destroyed, and where the Himar have been exceptionally effective.”
Source: BFM TV
