US Announces $3.75bn Ukraine Military Support Package

The US has unveiled a new $3.75bn military support package for Ukraine and its neighbors on NATO’s eastern border, with Russian aggression set to continue through 2023.

Ukraine will receive its first Bradley armored vehicles as part of the most recent assistance package. Due to its ability to fire anti-tank missiles, the armored carrier is known as a “tank-killer” and is employed to transport troops into combat.

According to the White House, the largest US assistance package for Kyiv to date comprises a $2.85bn drawdown from the Pentagon’s inventories that will be given directly to Ukraine and $225m in foreign military funding to build long-term capabilities and support the modernization of Ukraine’s military. It also includes $682 million in foreign military financing for European partners to supplement military equipment donations provided to Ukraine.

“The war is at a critical point and we must do everything we can to help the Ukrainians resist Russian aggression,” said White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre.

The direct support for Ukraine comprises fifty Bradleys, 500 anti-tank missiles, and two hundred and fifty thousand rounds of ammo for the carriers. According to US authorities, the US is also supplying 100 M113 armored personnel carriers, 55 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, or MRaps, and 138 Humvee, along with ammunition for high mobility artillery rocket systems and air defense systems, as well as other weapons.

The new US package was outlined by the White House as Germany stated it will provide Ukraine with approximately 40 Marder armored personnel carriers in the first quarter of this year.

On Thursday, following a phone contact between Chancellor Olaf Scholz and President Joe Biden, Germany declared its intent to provide Marder APCs.