$2.5 billion US aid sends Strykers, but no tanks, to Ukraine

Source: Associated Press

$2.5 billion aid sends Strykers, but no tanks, to Ukraine

By TARA COPP and LOLITA C. BALDOR
January 19, 2023

WASHINGTON (AP) — The U.S. will send 90 Stryker combat vehicles and an additional 59 Bradley fighting vehicles to Ukraine, in addition to hundreds of thousands of rounds of ammunition, the Pentagon announced on Thursday. It is the latest aid package timed to help Ukraine push back against Russia’s entrenched forward lines.

The package, valued at $2.5 billion, does not include tanks, which has become a point of contention as Germany has indicated it will not send its own Leopard tanks to Ukraine unless the U.S. sends the Abrams. The U.S. has said that the Abrams tank, which is propelled by a complex turbine engine similar to an aircraft jet engine, would not be a good fit for the current fight because of its frequent maintenance and fueling needs.

The ammunition included in the package will replenish the U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket artillery systems, the NASAMS air defense systems, the Bradleys’ 25 mm cannon and hundreds of tow missiles for the Bradleys’ anti-tank weaponry. The package also includes eight additional Avenger air defense systems, 350 Humvees, 53 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, or MRAPS, thousands of anti-armor rockets and an additional 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-politics-1f7c78eb5fb9e758413385f36a37aef2