The United States on Friday announced $3 billion in military assistance for Ukraine, which the White House said is the largest aid package for Kyiv to date.
Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said assistance, which the Pentagon would detail later, was expected to include Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, MRAPs and other personnel carriers, and self-propelled howitzers.
Washington and Berlin announced the day before that they would provide armored vehicles, Bradleys from the United States and Marders from Germany, but provided no details.
Berlin said on Friday that it would send around 40 of the Marder vehicles to Ukraine in a few weeks, and that training on them would be provided in Germany.
Both they and the Bradleys, which are usually armed with a 25mm automatic cannon, a 7.62mm machine gun and anti-tank missiles, will provide the Ukrainian forces with additional firepower.
National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters that the Bradleys “are very important in terms of being able to do what we call combined arms maneuver warfare,” an area in which the Pentagon has said it will provide training. to the Kyiv forces.
The vehicles are “very tied to the warfare that we’re seeing on the ground right now and what we anticipate we’ll see over the winter months,” Kirby said.
Pentagon spokesman Brigadier General Pat Ryder had said the day before that the Bradley “was not a tank, but it is a tank killer.”
“We trust that it will help you on the battlefield,” he added.
Ukraine has long pushed for heavier weapons, including tanks, to help its operations. Western nations have been reluctant to send them, citing fears of getting further drawn into the war or provoking Russia.
But the Ukrainians have gained momentum, and Western nations have been expanding the weapons they send them.
The US-German announcement about the armored vehicles came after France promised to deliver its AMX-10 RC light tanks, which have wheels instead of tracks but share the much heavier gun typical of a tank.
The French move put Germany under new political pressure to do more to help Ukraine.
Germany also said Thursday it would follow the United States in sending a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, meaning Kyiv’s forces are scheduled to receive two of the advanced air defense systems.
AFP
