Pentagon Reveals Types of Weapons to Be Sent To Ukraine

By Staff, Agencies

Washington is expanding the range of weapons deliveries to Ukraine to include artillery, armored vehicles and helicopters, the Pentagon revealed on Wednesday. US President Joe Biden credited the $2.6 billion in weapons he has supplied to Kiev since February with defeating what he called the Russian plan to “conquer and control” Ukraine.

“The steady supply of weapons the United States and its allies and partners have provided to Ukraine has been critical in sustaining its fight against the Russian invasion. It has helped ensure that Putin failed in his initial war aims to conquer and control Ukraine. We cannot rest now,” Biden said in a statement released by the White House, after his call with Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

In addition to more of the “highly effective” Javelin anti-tank missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft rockets, the US will now send “new capabilities tailored to the wider assault” it expects Russian forces to launch in eastern Ukraine, Biden added.

The Pentagon on Wednesday afternoon provided some details about the new aid, which is valued at $800 million – about $50 million more than estimated in leaks to the media on Tuesday.

In addition to 500 more Javelins and 300 Switchblade kamikaze drones, the US plans to send 18 155mm howitzers and some 40,000 rounds of ammunition, as well as 10 counter-artillery radars, two air surveillance radars, 200 of the M113 armored personnel carriers, 100 Humvee armored cars, and 11 Mi-17 helicopters.

Other weapons listed by Pentagon spokesman John Kirby included 30,000 sets of body armor and helmets; chemical, biological and nuclear protective equipment; anti-personnel landmines; C-4 explosives; and drone boats, described as “unmanned coastal defense vessels.”

From the list Kirby provided, it wasn’t clear whether the howitzers would be the self-propelled M109 or the towed M777. The M113 is the boxy, aluminum-hull APC first deployed in 1962 and declared obsolete in 2007.

The AN/TPQ-3G truck-mounted counter-artillery radars are manufactured by Lockheed Martin, while the AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel is a 3D anti-aircraft radar made by Raytheon and designed to be towed by a Humvee.

By the Pentagon’s own admission, this is the seventh time the US War Department has reached into its stockpiles since August 2021 to supply Ukraine. US officials have put the value of military aid to Kiev since February 24 at $2.6 billion.

The Pentagon was also reportedly convening the top eight US weapons manufacturers, including Raytheon, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics and L3 Harris Technologies, to discuss how they can produce more weapons systems to replenish the losses.