The US has agreed to support Ukraine with newly manufactured weapons rather than stockpiled ones.
According to the New York Times (NYT) on the 28th (local time), a senior US Pentagon official told reporters, “The military authorities have delivered stockpiled weapons to Ukraine from before, but this time they intend to send new ones. We plan to place an order with Lockheed Martin, a weapons manufacturer,” he said.
The new weapons that the United States will provide to Ukraine include 18 high-speed mobile artillery rocket systems (HIMARS). The US Department of Defense plans to provide a total of $1.1 billion (about 1.584 trillion won) of additional security assistance, including Hymas.
As a weapon that emerged as a ‘game changer’ in the Ukrainian War, it has a range of 80 km and has been evaluated as contributing to blocking the advance of Russian troops in eastern and southern Ukraine and destroying military bases and chains supply
“This plan by the United States shows that the White House and military leadership are moving to a model of arms supply that will support the possibility of an indefinite war in Ukraine,” said the New York Times.
It is also known that the decision of the US Department of Defense to provide Ukraine with new weapons has contributed to concerns about the shortage of US military supplies.
US commanders were concerned that if the US sent more of its stocks from Haimas at once, the Ukrainians could use up the ammunition too quickly, jeopardizing US military readiness in months.
A senior US official said it would take weeks to 24 months for these weapons, ordered by defense contractors, to be delivered to Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on the 21st that he was mobilizing 300,000 troops, and it was revealed that he was following a plan to increase spending on the defense ministry by more than 40% compared to the original.
[서울=뉴시스]
