Ukrainian service members manning a FH70 howitzer in the Donbass region
The Ukrainian authorities are urging Western countries to supply the country with huge batches of modern weapons. However, Kiev is already facing problems in justifying the trust of its ‘allies’, as the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine) have not made much progress so far.
In their turn, Western countries continue to supply weapons. The video shows the loading of the famous American M113 armored personnel carrier. Russian servicemen have previously encountered similar armored personnel carriers, Turkish ACV-15 armored personnel carriers, which are a modern modification of the M113, in Syria. Some of the armored vehicles were hit by aircraft, while others were destroyed by ATGM fire. The Netherlands, Portugal, Denmark, Lithuania, and Australia have also announced deliveries of various M113 modifications to Ukraine.
According to CNN, the U.S. will deliver the HIMARS missile system to Ukraine. The delivery could be approved as early as next week. This shipment would be sent at the request of the Kyiv authorities. Washington was reportedly wary of sending the model because it suspected that the AFU would use it to shell Russian territory, as the range of the projectile of this weapon is 300 km.
On May 30th, Biden claimed that the United States would not supply Ukraine with missile systems capable of striking Russia. Russia’s Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Medvedev called such a decision reasonable.
Another serious concern of the Biden administration was whether the US could afford to give away so many high-quality weapons taken from the army stockpile. After all, the allocation of weapons and funds hits the U.S. treasury hard.
The US Army has signed a contract with Raytheon Technologies in the amount of $ 624.6 million for the production of Stinger MANPADS to replenish its own stocks after sending approximately 1,400 MANPADS to Ukraine. The estimated completion date of the contract is June 30, 2026.
Earlier, Raytheon CEO Gregory Hayes said that the company may not be able to produce more Stingers until at least 2023, and since some components are no longer available on the market, the electronics in the rocket’s head will have to be changed. Under the current contract, it is planned to purchase 1300 MANPADS.
Italy has also contributed to the Ukraine war. For example, the AFU are currently using Italian FH-70 howitzers. However, some of them were already destroyed by Russian forces. In addition to the howitzers, trucks were also transferred.
On 27 May, the foreign ministers of Germany and Poland discussed the issue of sending German weapons to Ukraine. The head of the German Foreign Ministry said that it was necessary to revise and repair heavy weapons, but added that right now Berlin is not planning to supply all of this equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
In turn, Israel did not permit the re-export of Spike anti-tank missiles from German stockpiles to Ukraine. The country will continue to supply only non-lethal military equipment.
Poland has previously supplied the Piorun portable anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. Now the Ukrainian Armed Forces are using it in combat operations.
Thus, it can be noted that Western countries spend huge budgets on supplies to Ukraine, but so far do not see any military success, which makes them once again think about the need to waste their own budgets.
