U.S. Pledges Heavier Weapons To Ukraine, While Javelin Stocks Run Low – The United States has pledged an additional $800 million aid package to Ukraine which will include heavier weapons including 155mm howitzers, as President Biden confirmed in a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
This new aid package comes at a time when Russian forces are preparing for a renewed offensive in eastern Ukraine against the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas.
The president wanted to assure President Zelensky that the U.S. “will continue to stand with” Ukraine. The European Union also pledged an addition $544 million in aid at the same time.
“This new package of assistance will contain many of the highly effective weapons systems we have already provided and new capabilities tailored to the wider assault we expect Russia to launch in eastern Ukraine,” President Biden said in a statement.
“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.”
However, in supplying Ukraine with so many of the Javelin anti-armor missiles it so desperately needs, the US stocks of the highly effective missiles may be running very low and could possibly take years to replenish.
South-Eastern Ukrainian Terrain More Wide Open
The rationale behind the heavier weapons in this latest aid package which includes additional Javelin anti-armor missiles, 155mm howitzers, armored vehicles, Switchblade drones, and improved radar capabilities that can track artillery fire and pinpoint the firing positions for counter-battery fire is that the terrain in that area of Ukraine is much more wide open.
The terrain is a much better tank country and would be much better suited to the Russians being able to deploy their larger armored formations. With flat, open terrain, it presents a much different scenario than the wooded, urban cities in northern Ukraine where the Russians failed to take Kyiv.
The area is also right next to Russia, which should alleviate some of the logistical snafus that the Russians have faced thus far in their invasion. But their new offensive may be hampered by the spring thaw which could hamper their natural advantage of spreading out their armored forces. The road-bound armored formations suffered terrible losses on the assault on Kyiv.
The Biden administration had previously been reluctant to furnish Ukraine with the heavier weapons for fear that this would be seen as an escalation of the war by the Russians. The changing the situation on the ground has now convinced the administration that the time is right for supplying heavier weapons. This move has generated rare bipartisan support in Congress.
Javelin Stocks Running Low For US Forces:
The United States has shipped about 7,000 Javelin anti-armor missiles to the Ukrainians in their fight against the Russian armored forces. That represents about one-third of all the US stocks of the missile.
Earlier in April, members of the House Armed Services Committee asked Joint Chiefs Chairman, Army General Mark Milley if the shipments to Ukraine were depleting US stocks to risky levels.
“What we’ve supplied is a wide variety of small arms munitions, machine guns, grenades, grenade launchers,” Milley said on April 6. “We’re still meeting our mission requirements for Javelin, so we’re not breaking any of those red lines.”
But this latest issuing of more Javelins to Ukraine could change that assessment. The military buys about 1,000 Javelins a year, The production could be increased to as much as nearly 6.500 Javelins a year, but that would take up to a couple of years to reach.
The British have been furnishing the Ukrainians with the NLAW anti-tank missile, which is much more numerous but doesn’t have the range of the Javelin. German Panzerfaust 3 and the Swedish Carl Gustav have also been supplied to the Ukrainians by the EU.
Steve Balestrieri is a 1945 National Security Columnist. He has served as a US Army Special Forces NCO and Warrant Officer before injuries forced his early separation. In addition to writing for 19fortyfive.com, he has covered the NFL for PatsFans.com for more than 10 years and his work was regularly featured in the Millbury-Sutton Chronicle and Grafton News newspapers in Massachusetts.
