Through the largest presidential drawdown authority committed to date, the Biden administration greenlit $2.85 billion in military equipment to benefit the Ukrainian military’s defense against the ongoing Russian invasion, along with $225 million in additional foreign military financing.
“The war in Ukraine is at a critical point right now, and we have to do everything we can to help the Ukrainians continue to resist Russian aggression,” Laura Cooper, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, said.
Included in this package were 50 M2-A2 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, complete with ammunition and anti-tank missiles. Going with them will be 100 M-113 armored personnel carriers, 50 mine-resistant vehicles, 138 Humvees, RIM-7 missiles, and Zuni rockets, as well as artillery, including 18 self-propelled Paladin howitzers, 36 towed howitzers, and the rounds to supply both. Other, more infantry-focused equipment – such as night-vision, sniper rifles, and clothing – was also included.
“These capabilities will complement and work with the expanded U.S.- led training beginning this month that will build Ukraine’s capacity to conduct joint maneuver and combined operations,” Cooper said. “We will ensure Ukraine has both the equipment and the skill necessary to sustain its efforts to push back on Russian aggression.”
This will supplement the wave of Western weapons and equipment already sent to the Eastern European nation, including thousands of Javelin and other comparable systems, howitzers, and air defense equipment. Most recently, Ukraine has stressed a need for armored vehicles as winter grinds the war more or less to a standstill, and Russia has seemed content to resort to more drone-based warfare for the moment.
“From an overall strategic perspective, it is hard to emphasize enough the devastating consequences if Putin were to be successful in achieving his objective of taking over Ukraine,” Cooper said. “This would rewrite international boundaries in a way that we have not seen since World War II. And our ability to reverse these gains and to support and stand by the sovereignty of a nation is something that resonates not just in Europe but all around the world. No one wants to send a signal to another bully around the world that they can take over their neighboring country without paying a steep, steep price,” she continued.