US announces major $2.5 billion military aid package to Ukraine
Mike Brest
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The Department of Defense announced a major military aid package to Ukraine valued at up to $2.5 billion on Thursday evening.
This package is headlined with the inclusion of 90 Stryker armored personnel carriers with 20 mine rollers and 59 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles with 590 TOW anti-tank missiles and 295,000 rounds of 25mm ammunition. This “will provide Ukraine with two brigades of armored capability” when combining it with the 50 Bradleys that were included in the previously most recent aid package, according to a Pentagon announcement.
Eight Avenger air defense systems and additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems were included in the package as well, and it will “help Ukraine counter a range of short and medium range threats and bolster Ukraine’s layered air defense,” the readout said.
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The Biden administration opted not to provide Ukraine with either long-range missiles, surface-to-surface long-range missile systems, or Abrams tanks. In the case of the former, the department believes that “to date has been that the juice isn’t really worth the squeeze,” Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of defense for policy, told reporters Wednesday afternoon.
Ukrainian leaders have repeatedly pushed for these capabilities, though. “We’re kind of at the agree-to-disagree position,” he added. He noted that the decision could change in the future.
Pentagon officials also preemptively indicated to reporters that tanks would not be in the package despite the focus on them and armored vehicles at this time in the war due to what many experts believe is an upcoming Russian offensive. There’s added attention given defense leaders from across the globe are meeting in Germany on Friday for the eighth meeting of the Defense Contact Group, which meets monthly to discuss the latest developments in the war.
Earlier this week, the United Kingdom announced it would supply 14 Challenger 2 tanks to Kyiv, putting additional pressure on other countries to match the contribution. Berlin, comparatively, has refused to transfer the German-made Leopard tanks so far in the war and has blocked other countries with them from doing the same.
The United States opted not to provide Abrams tanks, arguing that the maintenance and sustainment make the tank not ideal for the conditions.
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“The Abrams are — it’s more of a sustainment issue. I mean, this is a tank that requires jet fuel, whereas the Leopard and the Challenger, it’s a different engine. They require diesel. It’s a little bit easier to maintain, [and] they can maneuver across large portions of territory before they need to refuel. The maintenance and the high cost that it would take to maintain an Abrams,” deputy Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday, “it just doesn’t make sense to provide that to the Ukrainians at this moment.”
The administration has provided Ukraine with more than $26.7 billion in military assistance since the beginning of Russia’s war.