The United States announced on Friday new military aid to Ukraine of more than 2 billion dollars, including bombs fired from the ground. France and Italy will, for their part, deliver a Mamba missile defense system in the spring.
Able to fly up to 150 km, the “GLSDB” promised by Washington should allow the Ukrainian army to reach Russian positions behind the front lines. These small-diameter bombs manufactured by Boeing and Saab will allow the Ukrainians “ to carry out operations to defend their territory and to retake their sovereign territory Pentagon spokesman Pat Ryder told reporters.
These GLSDBs can thus give Ukrainian forces the ability to strike positions in Donbass, the regions of Kherson and Zaporizhia, and northern Crimea. This could in particular threaten Russian arms depots.
This new aid of almost 2.2 billion dollars announced this Friday by Washington also includes “dcrucial air defense capabilities to help Ukraine defend its people », « armored infantry vehicles and ammunition for the Himars rocket launcher system, the Defense Ministry said. It brings to more than $29.3 billion the total amount of military assistance given by the United States to Ukraine since the Russian invasion last year.
A Franco-Italian anti-missile system
At the same time, the French Foreign Ministry announced that Paris and Rome will deliver a medium-range SAMP/T-Mamba air defense system to Ukraine in the spring. And this while Ukraine has been ardently demanding for months the strengthening of its ground-to-air defense, in particular after a wave of Russian strikes on its critical infrastructure using Iranian drones.
A Mamba – equivalent to the American Patriot system – had already been deployed in Romania to protect the highly strategic region of the port of Constanta, on the Black Sea. This system is supposed to counter both short-range ballistic missiles, fighter jets, drones and even cruise missile salvoes.
France had already announced on Tuesday the delivery in the coming weeks of twelve additional 155 mm Caesar guns, allowing kyiv to have 49 copies in total. It also promised a Ground Master 200 (GM200) radar, capable of detecting an enemy aircraft at 250 km and fighting it at 100 km, whether it flies at low speed and low altitude like drones, or at high altitude like fighter planes.
Berlin validates the sending of Leopard 1 tanks
Ukrainian forces may soon have an even wider array of German armored vehicles. The 37 Gepard, soon to be 44, these air defense vehicles were very much appreciated on the spot. The delivery of 40 Marder light tanks was announced a month ago by Berlin. Last week, Germany announced the dispatch to Ukraine of 14 Leopard 2 combat tanks after a long discussion and authorized the countries which hold these very effective armaments for an offensive to cede them to kyiv.
It is now Leopard 1, older tanks that the Bundeswehr has not used for 20 years, which can be delivered to Ukraine by the manufacturers who hold them. Two companies have about 200 units that need to be repaired, which can take several months. kyiv welcomed this authorization granted by Berlin, but regrets that it comes so late, the Leopard 1 tanks having been offered to Ukraine as early as last spring. A sensitive problem for its various armaments is that of missing ammunition. Countries that have them, such as Switzerland or Brazil, refuse to deliver them. Germany is moving everywhere to solve this problem.