Germany is likely to slash its military aid to Ukraine next year from about €8bn to some €4bn when Ukraine is set to get new weapons from a newly approved US aid package.
In April, President Joe Biden signed military assistance of nearly $61bn (£49bn), adding more munitions for Patriot air defense systems, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. However, the US Department of Defense was won over to reassurance by citing a G7 scheme that aimed at raising $50bn from interest on the frozen Russian assets, which would “have Ukraine’s financing “secure for the foreseeable future”.
Germany has so far provided €10.7bn worth of weapons and equipment to Ukraine. It is followed by the UK donating €5.7bn, Denmark €5.2bn, and the Netherlands €4.1bn. Even with these large contributions to help Ukraine, the nation still faces major shortages in arms, particularly artillery supplies. These deficiencies have led to the loss of huge tracts of land in the eastern part of the country to Russian forces since October 2023.
In February 2022, when Russia finally invaded, Western nations provided Ukraine with defensive weapons to overcome Russian armored brigades. Thousands of US and UK anti-tank missiles like Javelin and NLAW proved instrumental in halting the advance of Russian forces on Kyiv. To fend off Russia’s air superiority and attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, several air defense systems were dispatched: Starstreak from the UK; Nasams from the US and Norway; and Germany’s Iris-T.
As the conflict shifted to the eastern areas of focus, so were artillery and missiles broadened for heavy use. Artillery, in the form of M777 howitzers and munitions, came from countries such as Australia, Canada, and the US. Missile systems came from the US and UK—Himars and M270 MLRS respectively. On its part, Ukraine got long-range missiles—Scalp from France, Storm Shadow from the UK, and ATACMS from the US.
In early 2023, Western nations agreed to send their tanks into Ukraine in hopes of breaching Russian lines of defense. The UK contributed Challenger 2s, while the US dispatched 31 Abrams fighting vehicles; European nations supplied several German-made Leopard 2s. The new armor has so far failed to enable Ukraine to realize a breakthrough in its counter-offensive.
Drones have been in operation throughout the war, primarily for reconnaissance and targeting, launching missiles, and as “kamikaze” weapons. Turkey donated Bayraktar TB2 drones, while the US offered “Switchblade” kamikaze drones and several countries provided commercial surveillance drones like the Chinese-made DJI Mavic 3.
Ukraine has been begging the US to send its fighter jets to offset Russia’s air superiority. US President Joe Biden finally agreed in May 2023 for other countries to provide US-made F-16s. Denmark and the Netherlands agreed to provide such planes, and transferring F-16 jets is already underway, confirmed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The Netherlands and Denmark are on course to replace F-16s with F-35s but intend to deliver up to 24 and 19 F-16s, respectively. Belgium and Norway also pledged F-16s, which are also aimed to be delivered this year. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude, stating that these jets will be able to defend Ukrainians better from the attacks by Russia.
Any delivery schedule for the F-16s is hinged on the replacement of the jets with F-35s in donor countries, how far along the training of Ukrainian pilots and maintainers goes, and a continuous commitment by the West to Ukraine’s armed forces. This coalition for supporting Ukraine’s air force capability will grow larger; there will be more participants in the future.
Meanwhile, NATO announced a coalition to arm Ukraine with “dozens of additional tactical air defense systems,” and research into the Patriot batteries and other modern AD systems. Also, NATO is going to develop the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine and the NATO-Ukraine Joint Analysis, Training, and Education Centre to increase Ukraine’s military potential and interoperability with NATO.
As NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated, “As Ukraine continues this vital work, we will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.”