Amid the ongoing Russian invasion on Ukraine since months, the United States on 19 August for the first time said it will give Ukraine Scan Eagle surveillance drones, mine-resistant vehicles, anti-armour rounds and howitzer weapons to help Ukrainian forces regain territory and mount a counteroffensive against Putin’s forces.
The US will send a package of $775 million aid package which would include 15 Scan Eagles, 40 mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles known as MRAPs with mine-clearing rollers, and 2,000 anti-armour rounds. The US official said that it would help Ukraine troops move forward in the south and east, where Russian forces have placed mines.
“These capabilities are carefully calibrated to make the most difference on the battlefield and strengthen Ukraine’s position at the negotiating table,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his appreciation for the package on Friday, saying “We have taken another important step to defeat the aggressor.”
With this new aid, the the total US military aid to Ukraine reached to about $ 10.6 billion since the beginning of the Biden administration. Since August 2021, it is the 19th time the Pentagon has provided equipment from Defense Department stocks to Ukraine.
In the past, the US has provided howitzer ammunition, but this is the first time it will send 16 of the weapon systems. The aid package also includes 1,500 anti-tank missiles, 1,000 javelin missiles and an undisclosed number of high-speed, anti-radiation or HARM missiles that target radar systems.
