According to reports this week, the regime has agreed to provide an additional $1.1 billion worth of military aid to Kyiv including sophisticated rocket artillery to the Ukrainian military known as HIMARS, but it's going to take Lockheed Martin at least two years and maybe longer to build the systems.
"The US announced it would send 18 High Mobility Artillery Systems, made by Lockheed Martin Corp., as part of the new assistance package. Unlike the 16 HIMARS already sent from existing Pentagon stocks, the new ones will have to be built under contract through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, according to the official, who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity," Bloomberg News reported.
"The latest security assistance package is meant to be the beginning of a contracting process for Ukraine’s mid-to-long-term defense, the US defense official said. Other equipment will take six to 24 months to get to Ukraine as well, the official added," the report added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised the rocket systems, claiming they have helped turn the tide of the war against Russia and leading President Vladimir Putin to call up 300,000 reservists and institute a wider draft. The U.S.-made systems allow Ukrainian forces to target Russian logistics hubs and ammo dumps as well as cutting off routes of escape by targeting critical roads and bridges. Last week, he tweeted a note of gratitude to President Joe Biden for "a very timely decision showing that Russian blackmail doesn't work."
Today ?? @DeptofDefense announced a new $1.1 billion security support package for ??. We'll get 18 more HIMARS, other critical equipment that'll bring ?? victory closer. A very timely decision showing that Russian blackmail does not work. Gratitude to @POTUS & all our ?? friends!
— ????????? ?????????? (@ZelenskyyUa) September 28, 2022
The report added:
The US is also planning to send 150 Armored High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles, better-known as Humvees,; 150 tactical vehicles to tow weapons; and 40 trucks and 80 trailers to transport heavy equipment. Ukraine is slated to receive two radars to detect drones as well as systems to combat the pilotless aircraft, secure communications and surveillance systems, explosive ordinance disposal equipment and body armor.
Regarding the length of time for delivery of the HIMARS and other weapons and equipment, Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s chief of staff, said in an interview that he believes the war in his country will be over in a matter of months, not years, Bloomberg News reported separately.
The outlet also added that Ukraine's forces have managed to make "substantial gains" around the town of Lyman in the northern Kherson region this week, according to an assessment from the U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War. Russian units that were beaten back in those areas had previously been considered to be among Putin's top conventional forces.
Then, overnight, Russian forces launched a massive missile attack on the city of Kharkiv killing one woman, regional governor Oleh Synyehubov said on Telegram.
Meanwhile, Joe Biden has been ordering U.S. weapons stocks sent to Ukraine at alarmingly high numbers, putting American forces at a distinct disadvantage, as Natural News has reported.
Analysts from the Bank of America are now warning that the support the United States is providing Ukraine is pushing the country’s military stockpiles to “dangerously low levels” not seen in decades.
“Presidential drawdowns have pushed U.S. weapons stockpiles to dangerously low levels that have not been seen for decades,” wrote the analysts. “On several ground systems, DOD officials have indicated that ammunition stocks have dwindled to levels that would be considered problematic during wartime.”
It should be noted that if it will take years to build new systems for Ukraine, it's going to take years to replenish U.S. war stocks -- amid an ongoing labor shortage, by the way.
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