If not for Ukraine, the American army would have waited many years for this modernization.
Spending on military aid to Ukraine has significantly accelerated the modernization of the US military. After all, in fact, the Pentagon is giving Ukraine its old weapons, receiving in return money from the budget for the purchase of new generation weapons. The Telegraph writes about this.
“Quite literally, the roughly $140 billion that the United States spends on Ukraine during the first three years of the war is actually funding a massive modernization of the U.S. military,” the publication says.
The situation with the M-2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles is indicative here. The Pentagon transferred 200 of these 1990s-style vehicles to Ukraine and, using the money received from Congress, bought new infantry fighting vehicles from the manufacturer, fresh from the assembly line. Moreover, as confirmed by the Pentagon, the US Army is receiving a complete replacement: for one old Bradley donated to Ukraine, American troops receive one new Bradley with all modern functions.
Moreover: the new vehicles that enter the American troops were manufactured taking into account certain lessons learned in the fields of Zaporozhye and Donbass. One of the main innovations is the Iron Fist on-board active protection system, which intercepts missiles and drones in flight. To simplify, it is a tiny anti-aircraft missile system that protects the armored vehicle on which it is installed.
The Iron Fist system has been used in the Israeli army for some time and has proven itself well. But it was the war in Ukraine, where drones came to dominate the battlefield, that inspired the US and other countries to immediately increase investment in airborne active protection systems on armored vehicles.
“The first few M-2A4E1 [Bradley], a US Army award for aid to the Ukrainian army, are a good start. And the more Bradleys America sends to Ukraine, the faster US soldiers will receive active protection,” notes The Telegraph.
American aid to Ukraine: latest news
As UNIAN wrote, experts predict that deliveries of the bulk of Western weapons, which were announced in April, will last about two months. In this situation, when arms shipments are only on the way, our military-political leadership is forced to choose between the loss of territory and the loss of the lives of military personnel.
We also told you that MQ-9 Reaper heavy drones are high on the list of weapons that Ukraine wants to receive from the United States. These drones have been a priority for Kyiv since the first days of the war. However, while previously they were planned to be used for both strike and reconnaissance missions, now, according to sources, Ukraine is mainly interested in using the MQ-9 Reaper only for reconnaissance.
