The US on Friday announced that it would provide Ukraine with US$820 million in new military aid, including new surface-to-air missile systems and counter-artillery radars to respond to Russia’s heavy reliance on long-range strikes in the war.
Russia has in the past few days launched dozens of missiles across Ukraine and pinned down Ukrainian forces with continuous fire for sometimes hours at a time.
Ukraine’s leaders have publicly called on Western allies to quickly send more ammunition and advanced systems that would help them narrow the gap in equipment and personnel.
Photo: AFP
All told, the US has committed more than US$8.8 billion in weapons and military training to Ukraine, whose leaders have sought more help from Western allies to repel larger and heavily equipped Russian forces. About US$7 billion of that aid has been announced since Russia’s February invasion.
“We are going to support Ukraine as long as it takes,” US President Joe Biden told a news conference this week during the NATO summit in Madrid.
He said that Russia had already suffered a blow to its international standing and major damage to its economy from Western sanctions imposed over the invasion.
The US is giving Ukrainians “the capacity” so that “they can continue to resist the Russian aggression,” Biden said. “And so I don’t know how it’s going to end, but it will not end with a Russian defeat of Ukraine in Ukraine.”
Much of the aid formally announced on Friday would take weeks or months to reach Ukraine.
As part of the new package, the US would purchase two systems known as NASAMS, a Norwegian-developed anti-aircraft system that is used to protect the airspace around the White House and the US Capitol in Washington.
A senior defense official told reporters that the NASAMS are intended to help Ukraine transition away from using Soviet-era air-defense systems that, besides being well-known to the Russians, have to be repaired with spare parts that are hard to procure.
The official briefed reporters on condition of anonymity to discuss military assessments.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy expressed his gratitude.
“I am especially grateful today to the United States and to Biden personally for the package of support for Ukraine announced today, which includes very powerful NASAMS — an anti-aircraft missile system that will significantly strengthen our air defense. We have worked hard for these supplies,” Zelenskiy said late on Friday in his nightly video address.
The Pentagon would also provide Ukraine with up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition. Given the high usage of artillery on both sides, it is unclear how long those new rounds would last.
The official declined to say how many estimated rounds Ukraine and Russia are firing daily.
The Pentagon is also to buy four counter-artillery radars for Ukraine.
Those new purchases, funded by the Pentagon’s Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, require weeks at a minimum for defense companies to build. Ukrainians are also being trained to use the newly provided systems.
The Pentagon is also to provide additional ammunition for medium-range rocket systems known as the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, which it provided Ukraine last month. The ammunition would come from the US Department of Defense’s own inventory under what is known as drawdown authority and would be made available to Ukraine more quickly.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source