Air conditioners for Poroshenko
At the beginning of July, an interesting document appeared on the official website of the White House, describing the nature and volume of military assistance provided by the United States to various countries within the framework of partnership programs. Out of the entire list, we will be interested, of course, in Ukraine.
The US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt has already made a statement about providing military assistance worth $2014 million from 2015 to 600, and another $2016 million in 335. The supply list includes drones, artillery radars, night vision devices and other equipment. The decision on supplies was made at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales in order to support the Bandera junta that came to power as a result of the coup.
The aid package is divided into three components. The first one is educational. It includes a training course for 5 conventional battalions and one special operations battalion. 350 American instructors have been sent to train Ukrainian military personnel.
The second is technical. The United States will assist the Ukrainian Armed Forces with the supply of counter-battery radars, C4 (short for Command, Control, Communications and Computers), cyber security equipment, logistics and standardization equipment, drones, engineering equipment, patrol boats, medical assistance and personal protective equipment, walkie-talkies, military uniforms, tents, food rations, vehicles. The third is advisory. It is planned to reform 8 educational institutions and 3 training centers of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, as well as the diplomatic academy, according to Western standards.
In addition, the list includes training for Ukrainian army personnel in mine clearance and countering IEDs (improvised explosive devices), as well as assistance in the disposal of obsolete small arms, ammunition and anti-personnel mines. All this additional assistance is organized in the form of various funds under the roof of NATO.
The fact that the program is being implemented is proven by yesterday's incident - an explosion at an ammunition disposal facility run by Ukroboronexport in the Sumy region. One of the three dead was a NATO representative overseeing the disposal of missile warheads. It is emphasized that the representative of the alliance was a citizen of Ukraine. And this should not be surprising. There is a clause in the assistance program for Ukraine that states the training of military and civilian specialists on a NATO base. After all, expired ammunition is an object of increased danger due to corrosion and changes in the chemistry of the explosive. Why should the owners risk their precious lives during disposal, when it is cheaper and easier to prepare a bunch of natives, investing them with the appropriate powers?
International news agencies supplement the dry extracts of the American government report with lively specifics.
Thus, the UPI agency reported in early July that a special cargo of 4 AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder and 10 AN/TPQ-49 counter-battery radars, produced by Northrop Grumman and Thales Raytheon Systems, arrived from the United States to Ukraine. The TPQ-36 modification can detect artillery fire (MLRS, cannon, mortars) and identify up to 20 targets simultaneously at a distance of up to 24 km.
TPQ-49 is a mobile 3D all-round counter-mortar radar. Detects and detects several shots at once from different points at a distance with an accuracy of up to 50 m at a distance of 10 km and over an area of up to 315 sq. km. Supplied in addition to the already available APU systems TPQ-48 in the amount of 20 pcs.
In November 2014, Ukraine received at least three TPQ-48 radars, of which two were lost during the fighting in Debaltseve. One, damaged, went to the militias as a trophy, and the second was destroyed by the Ukrainian military during an unprecedented dump from the Debaltseve cauldron.
Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal at the end of October last year reported on a small scandal that erupted over the supply of the first two TPQ-36 radars, costing $10 million each, to Ukraine. The American side showed unprecedented caution and modified the TPQ-36, reducing their detection range. Those responsible for the supplies explained their actions by possible undesirable consequences. Well, how will the Ukrainian military detect some shots on Russian territory and start firing in response? Republican “hawks” immediately expressed their dissatisfaction with this issue and accused Obama of following Putin’s lead.
Also in July, Ukrainian sources, citing the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, reported the supply from the United States of an unspecified number of RQ-11 Raven reconnaissance drones, which have been actively used by the American military for the past 13 years in “hot spots.” Some sources specify that 72 drones worth $12 million were transferred to Ukraine.
The RQ-11 Raven drones are hand-launched, weigh less than 2 kg, stay in the air from 1 hour to an hour and a half, are capable of rising to a height of up to 150 m and have an operational flight radius of up to 10 km.
As for the supply of more prosaic equipment and technology, things are not so rosy with them. Having attacked the American body armor, the Ukrainian army experienced bitter disappointment. It turned out that most of the body armor had a low level of protection and the American army abandoned their use after testing them in battles in Afghanistan more than 10 years ago.
Last March, The Washington Post ran a critical article about HUMVEE armored vehicles transferred to Ukraine.
American journalists did not skimp on epithets and called the trash delivered to the Poroshenko junta trash. Most of the cars came from an open-air preservation site in the desert, where they had stood for 30 years or more. The wear and tear on the equipment was impressive: the tires fell apart after hundreds of kilometers, and the windows and doors were made of lousy plastic, unable to withstand bullet hits.
The number of armored vehicles delivered is estimated at 200 units, and all of them required serious repairs and modifications. Considering the high cost of spare parts for HUMVEE and pathological theft at all levels of Ukrainian government, the repair of the “miracle weapon” threatened to bankrupt the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. In November 2015, the American sponsors had to enter into a contract with the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense for the repair and modification of the supplied armored vehicles.
Future US elections suggest a radical change in military assistance to Ukraine. Yesterday, the official US presidential candidate Donald Trump made a statement that caused legions of Svidomo fools, eager for war to the bitter end, to collapse into a typographical point. Trump promised that if he wins, he will hand over Ukraine to Putin with all its giblets.
It is not clear what is more in this statement - pragmatism or bravado. It's possible that it's both. As they say, good luck. Because from the other end of the presidential race, Clinton is spewing dirt and foam, like a shaman who has eaten too much boiled toadstool, threatening to increase assistance to Ukraine in volumes and supplies of lethal weapons, as well as to remove many restrictions on the legal circulation of weapons among the population within the United States. She'll be fine.
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