Military assistance to Ukraine ramps up as winter approaches
Recent announcements of donated materiel to Ukraine includes Sea King helicopters, pictured above. (Photo: UK MoD/Crown Copyright)
The past 14 days have seen another wave of announcements of military assistance for Ukraine, including support from the US, UK, Norway and Germany.
US assistance
The US DoD announced on 23 November that it would be donating $400 million of additional materiel to aid Ukraine’s security and defence needs. This authorisation is the Biden administration's 26th drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories since August 2021.
The package includes a wide variety of materiel. In terms of ammunition, the US is sending munitions for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), 200 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds, 10,000 120mm mortar rounds, high-speed anti-radiation missiles and over 20,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition.
Moving on from ammunition, the US is also sending 150 machine guns with thermal sights, 150 High-Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, 100 light tactical vehicles and a range of spare parts and other equipment.
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This brings the total amount of materiel donated by the US to more than $19 billion since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February.
UK assistance
On the same day last week, 23 November, the UK MoD announced it will provide 10,000 artillery rounds and that it had completed the first delivery of Westland Sea King helicopters to Ukraine.
The aircraft will be used for SAR purposes, and the UK RN provided a six-week training programme in the UK for ten Ukrainian crews.
The additional military aid follows Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s visit to Kyiv, where he announced a £50 million package of defence aid. This will include 125 anti-aircraft guns and technology to counter Iranian-supplied drones.
Not including these most recent donations, the UK has donated £2.3 billion in military assistance over the course of the invasion.
Norwegian assistance
The EU has established a training mission for Ukrainian soldiers, and Norway announced on 25 November that it would be providing NOK 150 million to support this initiative despite not being an EU member.
Basic and specialist training will take place in EU countries. Initially, the mission aims to train 15,000 personnel. According to the Norwegian government, the nation has provided at least NOK 4.4 billion to Ukraine in military support, not including significant donations of military equipment.
German assistance
Most recently, Milrem Robotics and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann signed a contract to deliver 14 Milrem THeMIS UGVs to Ukraine. Of the 14 vehicles, seven will be configured for casualty evacuation, while the other seven will be used for route clearance.
The effort is being funded by the German Ministry of Defence.
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