The United States on Friday announced major new military aid to Ukraine worth more than $3 billion, including 50 Bradley armored infantrymen and dozens of other armored vehicles.
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This new tranche — $2.85 billion worth of weapons from US military stockpiles and 225 million defense industry orders — doesn’t include the tanks Kyiv is demanding from the West, but it will boost the mobility of Ukraine’s armed forces.
This is the “largest tranche of military aid by total value that we have committed to date,” Laura Cooper, deputy deputy secretary of defense for Russia at the Pentagon, told reporters.
It includes 50 M2A2 Bradleys armed with a 25mm gun and anti-tank missile launcher, capable of carrying six fighters in addition to the crew. These tracked armored vehicles can also fire Javelin anti-tank missiles, which the Ukrainians used extensively against Russia early in the conflict.
“The Bradleys will continue to improve Ukraine’s ability to perform complex maneuvers in virtually all weather conditions and on any terrain, particularly in the south and east of the country,” Cooper added.
“We are doing what is necessary to allow Ukraine to advance and regain territory,” she added, as many observers fear a major Russian offensive by spring.
The new support tranche also includes 100 M113 infantry fighting vehicles, 55 mine-resistant MRAP armored vehicles and 18 howitzers, as well as artillery bombs, mortars, anti-aircraft missiles and small arms.
The Bradleys celebrated by Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the evening welcomed the new aid tranche, which brings total US military aid since the Russian offensive in Ukraine began on February 24, 2022 to $24.2 billion.
“For the first time we will receive Bradley armored vehicles, which is exactly what we need,” said Zelenskyy. “New guns and new projectiles, including high accuracy.”
Washington and Berlin had already announced on Thursday that they would deliver armored infantry to Kyiv, of the Bradley type on the American side and the Marder type on the German side.
Germany will send 40 Marder armored vehicles to the Ukrainian army in the first quarter of 2023 and train them in their handling for eight weeks, the federal government announced on Friday.
The Marders, which have been in use since the 1970s, are light armored vehicles for troop transport. Her main armament is a 20mm cannon.
France said Wednesday it would send an unspecified number of AMX-10 RC light main battle tanks.
These announcements mark a new uptick in equipment being shipped to Ukraine by Westerners, after long months of reluctance for fear of urging Moscow to escalate.
Germany has also pledged to provide a Patriot anti-aircraft battery, as the United States has already done.