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Cameron Manley
- The US has sent more than $50 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine,said the State Department.
- The assistance has included advanced US weapons like HIMARS missiles and Abrams tanks.
- The US has also sent weapons of Russian origin, including the T-72 tank and Mi-17 helicopter.
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The US has spent $51.2 billion in military assistance for Ukraine since Russia invaded in 2022, according to a recent fact sheet published by the State Department. This total rises to $54 billion when the years since Russia's initial invasion of Ukraine in 2014 are included.
The range and quantity of weapons is far-reaching. Ukraine has received over four million shells, 400,000,000 small arms rounds, and grenades, as well as hundreds of advanced missile systems, tanks, armored vehicles, artillery pieces, river patrol boats, and electronic warfare technologies.
The US has even sent Ukraine weapons of Russian origin including 45 T-72s (versus 31 US Abrams tanks), Mi-17 helicopters and 122mm GRAD rockets.
Check out the range of military hardware the US has supplied Ukraine, according to the comprehensive list compiled by the US State Department.
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Tanks
The US delivered 31 M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in the fall of last year.
More surprisingly, Ukraine has received 45 tanks of Russian origin from the US, 14 more than the US's own Abrams. These T-72B tanks are cheaper and less advanced than the US-made Abrams.
The Abrams were a major addition to Ukraine's arsenal of mostly aging Soviet armor and augmented previous deliveries of the German-made Leopard tanks and British Challengers.
Robert Greenway, a Hudson Institute expert who served in the Army with the Abrams, previously told Business Insider that the Abrams "can do other things, but it's built to kill tanks."
"The A1 may be old in the sense that it's been in our inventory for quite some time, but it's far superior to anything that the Russians have," he said.
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Soviet-designed choppers
Ukraine has also been sent 20 Mi-17 helicopters. Like the T-72B tanks, these aircraft are Russian in origin.
Ukraine has also received many unmanned aerial systems (UAS), such as the Cyber Lux K8 and the Phoenix Ghost drones.
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Artillery rounds by the million
Ukraine has received a colossal number of artillery shells from the US, including More than 3,000,000 155mm, 800,000 105mm, and 400,000 152mm artillery rounds.
It has also supplied tens of thousands of precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds.
However, these prodigious supplies didn't satisfy Ukraine's armed forces' appetite for munitions. Over the winter months, it faced a severe shortage of artillery shells, partly due to a US military aid package being stalled in Congress.
Ukraine's defense minister, Rustem Umerov, wrote in a February letter to EU counterparts that the shortages had left Ukraine unable to fire more than 2,000 artillery shells a day, roughly one-third of Russia's capacity.
In May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said for the first time since Russia's invasion, Ukraine's forces had reported no shortages of artillery shells.
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Patriots
Since February 2022, the US has provided Ukraine with one MIM-104 Patriot air defense system and munitions for the battery. The $1-billion Patriot is a ground-based, mobile surface-to-air missile battery that can down crewed and uncrewed aircraft, cruise missiles, and short-range and tactical ballistic missiles.
According to Frederik Mertens, a Hague Center for Strategic Studies analyst, their performance in Ukraine has been "an unmitigated success."
After months of pleas from Ukrainian officials, President Joe Biden approved the transfer of a second battery from the US last week, unnamed senior military and administration officials told The New York Times.
Ukraine has received one other Patriot battery jointly provided by Germany and the Netherlands. Germany has also pledged three more Patriots and is considering pledging a fourth, per Bloomberg.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told NATO that Ukraine needs at least seven in April, Reuters reported.
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Surface-to-air missiles
Ukraine has received 12 National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS).
According to one developer, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, NASAMS are short-to-medium-range ground-based air defense systems that target UAVs and cruise missiles, perform counter-fire operations, and provide coastal defense.
Though not on the list published by the US State Department, America has also supplied Ukraine with a mixture of shorter and, more recently, longer-range MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems (or ATACMS).
The longer-range ATACMS could prove crucial for Ukraine, as they can travel about 190 miles and hit higher-value targets in places like Crimea, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014.
According to the US Department of Defense, Ukraine has also received Avenger air defense systems and the HAWK (an acronym for "Homing All the Way Killer"), a medium-range surface-to-air missile.
Ukraine has also received equipment to help integrate Western launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukrainian systems, often older Soviet models.
This suggests a link to the Pentagon's FrankenSAM project, a hybrid air defense system that combines Soviet launchers with US missiles.
Ukraine published photos of the finished products in May after months of experimenting with US engineers. Ukraine's existing inventory of Soviet-era Buk systems has been developed to fire old RIM-7 Sea Sparrow missiles supplied by Washington.
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HIMARS and howitzers
Ukraine has received 12 National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missiles, more than 40 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (or HIMARS), and the accompanying ammunition. The HIMARS can fire rockets up to 50 miles and be hailed as a lifeline for Ukraine in the early months of the war.
However, recent reports suggested that US-supplied HIMARS rocket launchers had been rendered "completely ineffective" as a result of Russian electronic jamming systems.
Ukraine also received 72 105mm Howitzers.
The howitzer requires five people to operate it and can launch 100-pound, 155-millimeter shells 18 miles without rocket assistance.
They are among the best big guns in the Ukrainian armory. "The reason is its precision," one Ukrainian gunner told Radio Free Europe.
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Russian rockets
Ukraine has been sent thousands of rockets, including 60,000 122mm GRAD rockets for the Russian launchers still used by Ukraine's army.
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The highly-rated Bradley fighting vehicle
Ukraine has received 300 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles capable of transporting troops on the battlefield, providing fire support, and conducting reconnaissance missions.
These vehicles, which are quick and highly maneuverable, are operated by a three-person crew consisting of a driver, the commander, and a gunner and can carry up to half a dozen fully equipped soldiers.
Ukraine's soldiers highly rate the Bradley.
Last week, a war video released by Ukraine appeared to show a US-supplied M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicle in a head-on clash with a Russian armored personnel carrier.
Ukrainian troops have reported that Russian soldiers are "afraid" of facing US-supplied Bradley fighting vehicles.
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Javelins missiles have helped destroy Russian armor
The US has supplied over 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems. Ukraine has successfully used the weapons to strike Russian tanks and vehicles.
Maritime weapons
Ukraine has received two Harpoon coastal defense systems, anti-ship missiles from the US, and over 80 coastal and riverine patrol boats.
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Body armor
More than 100,000 body armor and helmets have been sent to Ukraine from the US. Various Medical supplies, including first aid kits, bandages, monitors, and other equipment, as well as field equipment, cold weather gear, generators, and spare parts, have also reached the front line.
More serious protective equipment like chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protective gear, along with bomb disposal equipment and protective gear, have been received by Ukraine.
They've also had night vision devices, surveillance and thermal imagery systems, optics, and rangefinders.
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Satellites and electronic warfare equipment
Russia has a sophisticated electronic warfare program and has improved at disabling high-tech missiles provided to Ukraine by its Western allies, such as HIMARS.
Ukraine has received various types of Electronic warfare (EW) and counter-EW equipment from the US, four SATCOM antennas, SATCOM terminals and services, and secure communications systems.
The US has also sent 21 air surveillance radars to support Ukraine's existing air defense.
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