You don’t need me to tell you that misinformation in the news is at an all time high, especially
when it comes to topics with huge global implications like the conflict in Ukraine.
One of the hardest parts about researching topics like today’s video on weapons the
US is sending to Ukraine, is being able to find sources untainted by bias or by their
own financial motivations, which is why I’ve started using Ground News.
Ground News is the world’s first news comparison platform, and I mean that you can literally
compare news.
Like with this article about the US shipping weapons stored in Israel to Ukraine where
you can see that the headlines are subtly different depending on the outlet, with right-leaning
sources using terms like "quietly shipping" or "secret stockpile" while left-leaning ones
make no mention of it being “quiet” or a “secret.”
You also get a breakdown of what type of news sources are covering a story, making it easy
to spot media biases.
Like how that same story about stockpiles of weapons in Israel has 57% right-leaning
reporting coverage versus just 19% from left-leaning sources.
Led by a former NASA engineer, Ground News is a small team of independent media outsiders
concerned about the future of news, and they’re on a mission to make sure the world is well-informed,
where it’s easy for readers to think freely about the issues of our times.
So if you’re looking for a better way to stay informed about current events around
the world, check out Ground News by going to ground.news/infographics
Since Russia invaded Ukraine back in February, the US has sent a literal mountain of lethal
aid to the Ukrainian military.
While support has largely gone to the Ukrainian army, the country’s air force and navy have
also gotten a huge helping hand.
Totaling almost 20 billion dollars as of November 2022, let’s take a look at some of the weapon
systems the US has sent to Ukraine so far.
This war has frequently proven that being part of a tank crew is the most dangerous
job on the battlefield, and for a good reason.
The US has sent tons of anti-tank weaponry to Ukraine.
With thousands of armored vehicles flooding the Ukrainian countryside and little armor
to face the Russians, the Ukrainian military needed a big helping hand to deal with them.
One of the most famous anti-tank weapons is the Javelin.
The Javelin anti-armor missile system has been a mainstay of US forces since the mid-1990s.
Part of the reason it’s so effective is due to its ability to be a fire and forget
weapon while also attacking its target from the top down.
Because it is fire and forget, the operator can quickly run away once the missile leaves
the tube to avoid enemy counterfire.
This is because the missile will continue tracking the target once it has locked onto
it.
The top-down attack feature allows the operator to attack the most vulnerable part of a tank:
its top armor.
Most tanks have their heaviest armor up front, followed up by the sides, rear, and lastly,
the underbelly and top of the tank.
Because the top is much weaker, a strong attack here will likely cause a catastrophic kill.
A catastrophic kill is when the entire tank blows up and is completely destroyed rather
than just being damaged, meaning enemy forces would be able to repair it later on.
These attack platforms have proven themselves to be very effective, so the US military has
sent over 8,500 of them to Ukraine.
Now, it’s important to note that it’s unclear if 8,500 means CLUs or disposable
missile tubes.
This is important because the brains of the Javelin is the Command Launch Unit or CLU.
This attaches to a disposable missile tube that, when combined, makes the weapon system
up.
Regardless, Ukraine has gotten a ton of these!
The US has not only been sending Javelins but also 38,000 other anti-armor systems.
While it’s unclear what these could be, more than likely, these are AT-4 rockets.
Used as the replacement to the Vietnam-era LAW for decades, the AT-4 is a mainstay of
man-portable anti-armor firepower.
Its simple use-it-and-lose-it design makes it a simple but effective weapon system for
engaging light armored vehicles, buildings, bunkers, and anything else a soldier needs
to blow up from a distance.
While AT-4s are not a good alternative to Javelins for taking out tanks, they are a
great force multiplier for the hundreds of thousands of citizen soldiers Ukraine has
recruited into its National Guard.
These troops were being thrown into combat, often without a lot of training at the beginning
of the war.
Putting this simple but effective weapon system in their hands makes them a force multiplier
and boosts their confidence on the battlefield.
Another great confidence booster has been the huge amount of artillery and artillery
shells the US has sent over.
After Ukraine repulsed the initial invasion and the Russians pivoted to eastern Ukraine,
the war became a war of artillery.
Numerous observers have noted that the Russian army blasts their artillery day and night
without end.
On the other hand, Ukrainian artillery has been literally outgunned by both number of
guns and the amount of ammunition each one could fire.
With Ukrainian troops suffering almost constant bombardment, the US decided to give them some
tools to help even the playing field.
As part of its comprehensive aid package, the US has sent 142 155mm guns and 36 105mm
guns along with over a million shells to feed them.
The US sent more heavy artillery systems because the Ukrainians needed longer-range artillery.
Since older Soviet artillery systems did not have the range of modern Russian equipment,
the Russians could move outside the effective range of those systems and blast away at them.
With heavy American artillery, Russian guns can no longer shoot away with impunity since
now they risk counterfire from a donated M777 howitzer.
Another artillery system that has been in the news lately has been the 38 38 High Mobility
Artillery Rocket Systems donated to Ukraine.
These systems, known as HIMARS for short, are revolutionary weapons.
Link 16 is one of the common data links that the US military uses to send and receive encrypted
data over a secure pathway.
It is unbreakable and allows a free flow of communication without fear of being knocked
out or intercepted.
While mostly a navy system, other branches have started using it, like the Marine Corps.
This is important because the HIMARS was the first Link 16 capable mobile rocket system
the US has ever built.
This matters because Ukrainian defenders on the land, sea, or air who are up-link can
send data to the firing units.
Instead of a cumbersome patchwork of different networks and communication paths between other
units or branches, Link 16 allows multiple units over a wide area to build a near-instantaneous
fire control solution.
With that data, the HIMARS system can attack Russian troops anytime, anywhere in real-time
within its range.
With the huge number of troops involved, the US also sent a ton of ammunition to the Ukrainian
army.
Since February, the US has sent over 104,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition.
As we have talked about before, the Ukrainians use a wide range of weapons dating back from
World War Two to more modern weapons we are used to seeing on a 21st-century battlefield.
We should be clear that most WWII weapons go to National Guard units; the bulk of their
military is armed with modern equipment.
The breakdown of the ammunition types is unclear.
Most likely, it is 7.62x39 and 5.45x39, which are the calibers for AK-47s and AK-74s, respectively.
These two rifles make up the bulk of the current small arms inventory of Ukraine, so these
are the most likely calibers.
Other Soviet ammunition types used for their machine guns have likely come from Eastern
European stocks, but the US did have large inventories of arms and ammo for the Afghan
army, which is where our next weapon systems came from.
Among the mix of ordnance, the US sent 20 Mi-17 Hind attack helicopters to the Ukrainian
air force.
The last time we checked, this was still a Russian-made attack helicopter.
It ended up in the US inventory because the US purchased a bunch of these for the Afghan
military.
These were being refurbished in the United States.
But after the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban government, these helicopters were no longer
needed, so the US sent them to Ukraine.
This is the perfect solution for this seemingly useless surplus of helicopters as many Ukrainian
helicopter pilots trained on similar Soviet legacy platforms.
This is the main reason why the US has not flooded Ukraine with F-35s and other aircraft
because it would take years to train Ukrainian pilots to fly them.
Another interesting weapon the US has sent includes 45 T-72B main battle tanks.
While these have been a mainstay on both the Ukrainian and Russian sides, the US has never
fielded this legacy Soviet gear.
But while you might think the US brought some home from its two invasions of Iraq, you would
be mistaken.
As part of a deal with Eastern European countries to empty their Soviet stocks and receive Western
equipment, the Czech Republic donated its reserve tanks to Ukraine.
However, these tanks had not been retrofitted with modern gun sights, night vision, or fire
control computers.
These upgrades and many more had to be done in the Netherlands before shipping them to
Ukraine.
In total, the Czechs donated 90 tanks to be refurbished, and the US-funded half the cost,
which gives the figure of 45 T-72s.
Ukrainian air defenses have also gotten a laundry list of early Christmas presents.
Probably the most potent air defense system the US has sent has been eight National Advanced
Surface-to-Air Missile Systems.
NASAMS are arguably the world's most potent ballistic missile defense system.
Due to their high cost, the US only has a select few of these guarding the skies over
Washington, DC.
And there is a reason why they cost so much.
It doesn't matter how high, low, or fast a missile is; the NASAMS can shoot it down.
US Air Force testing proved it was the best anti-air defense system the service had ever
operated.
Gifting these to Ukraine has been a blessing since, during their first day in action, the
NASAMS fired ten missiles and brought down ten Russian ballistic missiles.
Another equally deadly but less sexy anti-air system is the good old-fashioned Stinger missile.
This weapon system has resulted in Russian servicemembers seeing their helicopters and
aircraft knocked out of the sky at an alarming rate.
In fact, Russia has lost so many aircraft that the fear of losing many more has rendered
the Russian air force combat ineffective in Ukraine.
This is because the US has sent over 1,600 Stinger missiles.
Because of this, any bush, building, or tree could turn one of Russia’s prized fighter
planes into scrap metal.
The US has not forgotten about the Ukrainian navy.
Arguably the most shocking part about this war is the fact that Ukraine is beating the
world's third-largest navy without a navy.
After the Russians illegally annexed Crimea, they seized the bulk of the Ukrainian navy.
Once the invasion started, the remaining ships in the Mykolaiv region were scuttled by their
crews to prevent their capture by the rapidly advancing Russian army.
Now totally, without a navy, Ukraine has still managed to punch back through the use of long-range
ballistic missiles.
In March, the Ukrainians damaged or sunk three Russian amphibious ships in port.
In April, they sunk the Russian flagship Moskva with Neptune anti-ship missiles.
While the US provided neither of these weapons, the US has provided two Harpoon anti-ship
missile batteries that could be used.
The US has also sent over 58 coastal patrol boats.
These are likely the now-retired Mark VI patrol craft.
Serving in the waterways of Iraq and the Arabian Gulf, these potent attack craft can move fast
and punch well above their weight.
But what is more interesting than that are the unmanned surface vessels.
In the DoD report, there is a small section that lists an undefined number of Unmanned
Coastal Defense Vessels.
Currently, the US Navy does not employ any unmanned surface craft in its fleet.
However, the navy has been experimenting with them for years.
Perhaps wanting to test out what they could really do, the US donated what they have developed
so far to Ukraine.
If they have, these craft may have already been used in combat.
Back in October, unmanned surface vessels attacked the Russian fleet inside its homeport
of Sevastopol.
The new Russian flagship and a minesweeper were damaged by the suicide boats.
Ukraine never admitted where they had gotten these attack craft from, but they were likely
of US origin.
All the items mentioned in this video are just a tiny part of the vast amounts of weapons
and equipment sent by the US to Ukraine.
We have not even touched on the huge number of different UAVs, other anti-air defenses,
and radar systems.
We also have yet to discuss the enormous numbers of mundane but equally important equipment
like mobile hospitals, generators, body armor, and light armored vehicles.
So watch out for another video explaining part two of US aid to Ukraine!
Now watch “Why Putin's Invasion of Ukraine is a Failure.”
Or check out this video instead!