Howitzers, helicopters, Humvees went to Ukraine

An additional security aid package worth $800 million is being sent to Ukraine, reports newssky.com.ua with reference to defensetalk.

Mi-17

According to Pentagon Press Secretary John F. Kirba, efforts to supply newly authorized equipment and materials to the Ukrainian military will begin immediately.

"As you have seen, [this] has happened in the past, from the moment when the president authorizes the withdrawal of funds, before the first shipments actually start arriving in the region, it can take only four or five days, and then a couple more days after that. how they will be delivered for processing and actually in the hands of the Ukrainian advanced forces," Kirby said.

The Ministry of Defense is still delivering equipment from the latest $800 million package to Ukraine, and Kirby said it will likely be completed by the middle of this month. But the shipment of new equipment will begin immediately, he said.

"We're not going to wait," says Kirby. "We'll start literally right now."

According to Kirba, this latest decision is the seventh withdrawal of equipment from the reserves of the Ministry of Defense for Ukraine since August 2021. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24, Ukraine has received about $2,6 billion in security assistance.

According to Kirba, the range of equipment that will be sent to Ukraine as part of the new reduction package is wide. Its composition includes 18-mm howitzers and 155 artillery shells. Also included are the AN/TPQ-40 anti-artillery system and the AN/MPQ-000 Sentinel aerial surveillance radar system.

For the movement of Ukrainian troops on the battlefield, the kit includes 100 Humvee armored vehicles, 200 M113 armored personnel carriers and 11 Mi-17 helicopters. The helicopters will complement the five Mi-17 helicopters sent to Ukraine earlier this year.

The kit also includes additional Switchblade drones, Javelin missiles, medical equipment, body armor and helmets, optics and laser rangefinders, as well as M18A1 Claymore mines.
"Some of [these opportunities] strengthen the opportunities that we have already provided to Ukraine, and some of them are new opportunities that we have not provided to Ukraine," Kirby said. "All of them are called to help the country ... in the struggle in which they are now."

In addition to equipment, the Department expects that training will also be required. So far, much of what has been handed over to Ukrainians has been systems with which they are already familiar. An exception is the Switchblade tactical unmanned aerial system. For her, the Department trained Ukrainian servicemen who were already in the United States in other types of training, allowing them to train others upon their return home.

This latest round of security assistance includes new types of capabilities that the Department believes may require training of Ukrainians before they can be used. They include a Howitzer system, two radar systems, and possibly optical and laser rangefinders, as well as Claymore mines. Also, there may be additional training in working with the Switchblade system.

According to Kirba, since the Ukrainians are in a state of constant struggle, any training will most likely be conducted on the "train the trainer" principle to ensure the least impact.

"We're still working on what that will look like, where, when and how much," he said. "Most likely, what we will do, because they are actively fighting, is a ``train the trainers'' program. So, withdraw a small number of Ukrainian forces so that they can learn how to work with these systems, and then send them back."

It is also expected that certain types of troops will be trained on specific types of systems.

"Probably, the process will be adapted," he said. "We'll take troops who, for example, are gunners to learn the howitzer, and then they'll go back and train their colleagues, instead of taking an gunner and making him responsible for ... training all these systems."

It is currently unclear where such training can take place, Kirby told reporters, although he said it could take place in "several places." In addition, training on the use of these systems by US forces will most likely occur with forces already in the region.