Strykers Bradleys likely in huge US aid package to Ukraine.webp

Strykers, Bradleys likely in huge US aid package to Ukraine

WASHINGTON (AP) – The US is finalizing a massive military aid package for Ukraine that US officials say will likely total up to $2.6 billion. It is expected to include, for the first time, nearly 100 Stryker fighting vehicles and at least 50 Bradley armored vehicles, allowing Ukrainian forces to move more quickly and safely on the front lines in the war with Russia – but not the tanks that Ukraine is fighting searched.

Officials said the numbers could change as the Biden administration holds final deliberations on the package. An announcement is expected this week when defense leaders from the US, Europe and other regions gather in Germany to discuss military support for Ukraine. The aid is said to include thousands of rounds of ammunition, including missiles for air defense systems.

Officials spoke on condition of anonymity as the aid has not yet been made public.

The decision to send the Strykers, which could be delivered within weeks, follows British announcements of sending Ukrainian main battle tanks, which have long been wanted by Ukrainian leaders. The Strykers and Bradleys are armored personnel carriers.

Undersecretary for Defense Policy Colin Kahl told reporters Wednesday that a new phase of the war is looming as Russia digs deeper and that Ukraine needs mechanized infantry to break through those lines.

“The Russians are really digging in. They dig in. They dig trenches, they put in those dragon teeth, they lay mines. They’re really trying to reinforce that FLOT, that front line of troops,” Kahl said. “To enable the Ukrainians to breach given Russian defences, the focus has shifted to allowing them to combine fire and maneuver in a way that will prove more effective.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told political leaders at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland on Wednesday that Western arms supplies must outpace Russia’s attacks and urged the world to act faster because “tragedies overtake life; tyranny overtakes democracy.”

The Stryker can transport a full squad of nine infantry troops and a crew of two. It is equipped with a 30mm cannon, a machine gun and/or a grenade launcher and can fly at up to 60 miles per hour (almost 100 kilometers per hour). It rides on eight wheels, making it more manoeuvrable, faster and more fuel efficient than the Bradley.

The first delivery of 50 Bradleys was announced two weeks ago. Known as the “tank killer” for the anti-tank missile it can fire, the Bradley rides on tracks, making it more useful in muddy terrain than the Stryker.

The two vehicles serve different purposes. The Bradley brings more firepower but carries fewer troops. The lighter armored Stryker can move much faster on paved roads, meaning it can get squadrons of infantry into battle quicker since it’s on wheels.

Ukraine has tried for months to be supplied with heavier tanks, including the US Abrams and German Leopard 2 tanks, but Western leaders have tread cautiously. The UK announced last week that it would send Challenger 2 tanks to Ukraine, but the US and Germany have held back.

Kahl said the M1 Abrams has complex maintenance needs and may not be the best solution.

“The Abrams tank is a very complicated piece of equipment. It’s expensive, it’s hard to train on. It’s got a jet engine, I think it’s about three gallons per mile of jet fuel. It’s not the easiest system to maintain. It may or may not be the right system,” Kahl told reporters.

“One of the things that Secretary of State (Lloyd) Austin has been very focused on is that we should not provide Ukrainians with systems that they cannot fix, that they cannot maintain, and that they cannot afford in the long term, because it’s not helpful.”

Poland has expressed its willingness to provide a company of Leopard tanks. However, Polish President Andrzej Duda stressed during his recent visit to the Ukrainian city of Lviv that Poland will only do so as part of a larger international coalition of tank aid to Kyiv.

German officials have expressed hesitation in allowing allies to give Ukraine the German-made Leopards unless the US sends, according to a US official who was not authorized to comment and spoke on condition of anonymity Ukraine also the Abrams.

Poland and the Czech Republic have provided Ukrainian forces with Soviet-era T-72 tanks, and France has announced it will be sending AMX-10 RC armored fighting vehicles, dubbed “light tanks” in French, to Ukraine .

The influx of tanks and armored personnel carriers comes as Ukraine faces intense fighting in eastern Ukraine around the town of Bakhmut and the nearby salt mining town of Soledar. Fighting is expected to intensify in the spring.

In addition to the Bradleys, the previous US aid package included 100 M113 armored personnel carriers and 55 mine-resistant ambush vehicles, or MRAPS. These types of armored carriers, along with the Strykers, will better protect the Ukrainian troops waging a brutal campaign against the Wagner forces, made up largely of convicts from Russian prisons.

The US Army has a large number of Strykers that it can send. Just last year, the Army announced plans to convert its Alaskan Stryker Brigade combat team into a more mobile infantry unit better suited to the frigid Arctic regions.

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Associated Press writers Tara Copp and Aamer Madhani contributed to this report. Baldor reported from Brussels.