What would $60 billion in war aid buy Ukraine?

US arms shipments could start flowing to Ukraine again soon after a long-stalled aid program takes effect, US officials say, with goods from Pentagon stockpiles in Germany expected to be shipped quickly by rail to the Ukrainian border.

This measure would provide the war effort in Ukraine with approximately $60 billion. A considerable sum is earmarked for replenishing U.S. defense stockpiles, and billions more would be used to purchase U.S. defense systems, which Ukrainian officials say are absolutely necessary.

In a statement Saturday after the House approved the aid package, President Biden urged the Senate to quickly pass the measure to help meet the urgent needs of Ukraine's forces on the battlefield. This should be done on Tuesday.

For months, Ukrainian military officials have complained that political paralysis in the U.S. Congress has led to a severe ammunition shortage in the war against Russia. Ukrainian troops on the front line had to ration their shells and their morale suffered.

U.S. officials have not explicitly said what weapons the United States would send to kyiv as part of the package, but Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters Thursday that more defense munitions air and artillery would likely be included. .

“We have a very strong logistics network that allows us to move equipment very quickly, as we have done in the past,” General Ryder said.

We can move in a few days, he added.

Transfers from the United States by cargo planes and sea vessels are usually arranged by the headquarters of the US Transportation Command in rural Illinois, which maintains extensive databases on cargo ports, railroads and routes that can be used by military and civilian transport ships around the world. .

Weapons and munitions sent to Ukraine often come from Pentagon assets in Europe, with shipments coordinated by an organization created in late 2022 called Security Assistance Group-Ukraine, based in Germany and operating within the Pentagon's European Command. It has a staff of around 300 people.

Military leaders sent Ukraine 55 weapons packages called PDAs for presidential authorization of withdrawal, containing a mix of vehicles, ammunition, drones and other items worth at least 26, 3 billion dollars since August 2021.

Aid packages, which often arrived twice a month after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, slowed significantly last fall, with some Republicans fiercely opposed to sending aid. additional aid to the country.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Saturday welcomed congressional movement on the aid package.

The world is still watching, he warned in a statement. Lives are still at stake. The long-term security of the Americas is still at stake. We must never give our friends, rivals, or enemies any reason to doubt America's resolve.

The latest aid package, announced March 12, included Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, guided rockets for HIMARS launchers, small anti-tank rockets and 155-millimeter artillery munitions including cluster munitions.

Gen. Ryder was asked about a non-binding measure in the House legislation to send weapons called ATACMS, which have been the Pentagon's longest-range guided missiles since the late 1980s, to kyiv.

The Biden administration agreed to provide a small number of these missiles last year, and Ukrainian forces used them to strike two air bases in Russian-occupied territory in October. Ukrainian special operations forces said the attack damaged runways and destroyed nine Russian helicopters, among other targets.

Of course, as you know, we have always said that nothing is off the table, the general said of potential new ATACMS provisions. But I have nothing to announce today.

The United States has a limited number of these weapons, and officials have said the rest of its ATACMS arsenal is reserved for contingency plans in case the United States wages war with Russia, South Korea. North or China.

Officials also signaled that additional ATACMS could be supplied to Ukraine once replacement weapons, called precision strike missiles, begin entering the Pentagon's inventory.

On Wednesday, a spokesperson for Lockheed Martin, the maker of the two missiles, said the company delivered the first four operational precision strike missiles to the U.S. military last year. A $220 million contract signed in March will provide more to the U.S. military, although it was not immediately clear how many would be purchased.

The exact number of weapons the Pentagon sent to kyiv from its stockpiles is also unclear.

The last time the Defense Department updated the number of 155-millimeter artillery shells it had supplied to Ukraine was in May, when it said more than 2 million shells of this type had been sent until now. Each of the 17 aid programs announced since then for Ukraine includes 155-millimeter munitions.

But sending more weapons to Ukraine does not only depend on political will. The United States has also had to ramp up production of the munitions Ukraine needs most to meet its demand.

In the United States, manufacturing artillery ammunition takes several weeks, as heavy steel bars are forged into empty projectiles in Scranton, Pennsylvania, then shipped to rural Iowa, where they are filled with explosives and prepared for delivery.

General Dynamics, which operates the Pennsylvania plant, is opening a new plant to make metal bodies outside Dallas to help increase the total number of completed shells. The military says it makes about 30,000 explosive shells each month, compared to about 14,000 a month before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The Army's goal is to produce 100,000 155-millimeter artillery projectiles per month by 2025.

The United States is not the only one providing military aid to kyiv.

Since April 2022, the Secretary of Defense has convened meetings of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group approximately every month. Participants included NATO countries, several of the United States' major non-NATO allies, and at least two South American countries that previously purchased weapons from the Soviet Union and Russia.

The group is seeking requests directly from Ukraine's military and civilian leaders.

After a virtual meeting of NATO defense ministers on Friday, Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance's secretary general, said Germany would provide an additional Patriot air defense missile system to Ukraine as well as a military support of around $4.3 billion from the Netherlands, among other aid from NATO members. .

Ukraine uses the weapons we provide to destroy Russian combat capabilities, Stoltenberg said in a statement. It makes us all safer.

Support for Ukraine is therefore not charity, he added. It is an investment in our security.

Robert Jimison and Helene Cooper contributed reporting.

Sources 1/ https://Google.com/ 2/ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/20/us/politics/weapons-aid-ukraine-military.html The mention sources can contact us to remove/changing this article

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos