Features and trends of foreign military-technical assistance to Ukraine
Over the past few months, many foreign countries have been actively supporting Ukraine with the supply of various weapons and equipment. Infantry weapons, artillery, armored vehicles, auxiliary equipment, etc. are being transferred to the Kyiv regime. At the same time, a number of specific trends are observed. In addition, it becomes clear that the purpose of the supplies is not only to support the warring Ukraine.
Help with restrictions
Several dozen countries took part in the process of providing military-technical assistance to Ukraine. These are practically all states of Europe, the USA and their allies from remote regions. Military products for deliveries are taken from storage bases, from army warehouses or from combat units. Also, in rare cases, a new production is launched.
In the early stages, foreign aid to Ukraine mainly consisted of various infantry weapons. It was small arms, grenade launchers, ATGMs and MANPADS of current and obsolete models. Together with these products, a large amount of ammunition was supplied.
Since the end of February, the possibility of transferring armored vehicles of various types, cannon and rocket artillery systems, etc. has been discussed. However, such assistance ran into technical, organizational and political problems. On the whole, they managed to cope with them, thanks to which deliveries began tanks, armored personnel carriers and armored vehicles of old types.
Since the beginning of May, Kyiv has received modern and old artillery of various types. The supply of more than a hundred 155-mm howitzers from the presence of the armies of the United States and other countries received the greatest attention. Also, the Ukrainian army received modern American MLRS HIMARS and old Czech RM-70s.
Despite all efforts and requests, Ukraine does not receive combat aircraft. In the field of manned aviation all assistance was reduced to a certain number of multi-purpose helicopters. At the same time, mass deliveries of UAVs are being carried out, including reconnaissance and strike vehicles and loitering ammunition.
In general, deliveries of foreign materiel have several characteristic features. Most foreign states limited themselves to the transfer of relatively simple and cheap items, such as infantry weapons. More powerful systems, such as tanks or artillery, come in limited numbers and only from selected countries. The situation is similar in the field of aviation. In addition, the transferred samples are often very old and often obsolete, while the share of modern products is small.
Friendship to exhaustion
Continued arms deliveries generally do not help Ukraine, but at the same time harm donor countries. European leaders are already openly arguing that aid is being pushed to the limit. The expansion of the range of supplies in this case will become a threat to their own security.
Back in mid-April, the American press revealed the volume of arms supplies from the United States and the problems associated with them. At that time, Washington handed over to Kyiv approx. 60 thousand anti-tank systems and approx. 25 thousand MANPADS from the presence of our own army, which accounted for about a third of all accumulated stocks. If shipments continue, the US will have to expand production or restore closed lines to replenish its own stocks.
At the end of April, the German Ministry of Defense revealed even more interesting statistics on the state of its materiel. It was reported that the troops have approx. 350 modern Puma infantry fighting vehicles, but only 150 units are ready for full operation. Army aviation has fifty Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters, but less than a dozen are combat-ready. Accordingly, Germany cannot supply Ukraine with all the desired products in large quantities.
Just the other day, similar information was revealed by the Polish leadership. Not so long ago, Poland sent more than 200 MBTs of old modifications and other materiel to Ukraine. They are going to compensate for such "losses" by receiving tanks from Germany.
Other countries that have volunteered to help Ukraine face similar problems. Most European states have small armies with a limited fleet of equipment and weapons. Any large-scale assistance from the presence will quickly deplete such an army and make it incapable of combat.
The interim results of all these processes were recently summed up by the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell. He acknowledged the problem of depletion of weapons and equipment, and also called it a clear example of the shortcomings of European defense policy. The main reason for this situation was the constant reduction in defense budgets and the chronic underfunding of European armies.
Political issues
In the current situation, political issues are of particular importance. In particular, foreign states are trying to assess the consequences of the measures taken, draw conclusions and take them into account in further planning. In recent days, there have been several interesting messages on this subject.
Recently, the American press revealed the details of the delivery of the M142 HIMARS MLRS. This technique is transferred only with unguided rockets, but not with operational-tactical missiles. As it turned out, Washington fears that Kyiv will use such weapons against targets on Russian territory. This will have the most serious military and political consequences, and the United States does not need such risks.
The other day it was reported about the possible delivery of anti-ship missiles. According to media reports from the United States, several countries are ready to transfer such weapons at once. However, none of them wants to be the first supplier - because of the risks of an additional deterioration in relations with Russia as a result of the possible use of anti-ship missiles.
Another interesting message has arrived. According to media reports, NATO countries have tacitly agreed not to transfer tanks and aircraft to Ukraine. The supply of such equipment is also associated with military-political risks, and the NATO command does not want such a development of events.
Write off and replace
Sending arms and equipment to Ukraine obviously weakens donor armies. In this regard, they are planning and are already implementing re-equipment and rearmament programs aimed at maintaining and increasing combat capability. However, not everything is going smoothly in this area.
In mid-April, along with the news about the reduction of American arsenals, it became known about the plans of the Pentagon to increase the production of its ATGMs and MANPADS. Warehouses will be filled with weapons of the new production, solving the problems of quantity and resource. At the same time, it is known about possible problems in the line of resuming production.
The already mentioned Poland gave Ukraine approx. 200 old T-72M / M1 tanks - about a quarter of the total number of available MBTs. They have long been planned to be sent for recycling or sold, and American M1A2Cs were previously ordered for replacement. These tanks will only be available in a few years, but for now Warsaw wants Leopard 2 products from Germany. However, the German side is in no hurry to provide such equipment.
Recently, the United States passed the Lend-Lease Act, which provides for a number of measures to support friendly countries. In particular, the latter will be able to order American products on preferential terms to replace the materiel transferred to Ukraine. This mechanism will accelerate the rearmament of European partners with obvious benefits for American industry.
Main trends
In the current processes of foreign military-technical assistance to Ukraine, several interesting trends are easily visible. Together, they show that the goal of foreign states is not only to support the current Kyiv regime and its armed formations. In parallel, these countries are solving their own problems, alone or together.
By sending weapons and equipment to Ukraine, foreign states demonstrate loyalty to the "world community" and the notorious "democratic values". In addition, European states show their readiness to support the United States even in dubious actions and adventures.
Most donor countries, when planning supplies, take into account their own interests. In this regard, only obsolete materiel is being transferred to Ukraine, the “loss” of which will not have a negative impact on combat capability. In addition, political risks of various kinds are taken into account. All this affects the volume of supplies, their composition and timing.
Arms deliveries lead to the depletion of their own stocks - and to the release of space for new models. In this regard, the helper countries are “forced” to draw up plans to rearm their own armies and are preparing to increase military budgets. Weapons and equipment planned for purchase will differ from decommissioned ones in increased performance and general novelty, which will provide obvious advantages.
Such plans are of obvious interest to the US defense industry and several European countries. The expected re-equipment of a number of armies promises them big profits, both from commercial contracts and from American lend-lease.
Your interests
Thus, the current situation around the supply of foreign weapons to Ukraine looks quite simple. Both individual episodes of such assistance, and all processes as a whole, are aimed not only at supporting the Kyiv regime, but also at solving their own problems of foreign states. Through the allocation and supply of weapons and equipment, they demonstrate the support of a friendly country, and also create pretexts for new rearmament and the accompanying development of military budgets.
However, practice has already shown that foreign materiel does little to help Ukraine. Quantitative and qualitative indicators of import supplies do not meet the requirements of the current situation, and the situation cannot be changed. However, Kyiv's problems do not prevent foreign "assistants" from solving their own problems. And from their point of view, this is the main thing.
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