Theo Reuters, The same officials also said the military aid package is expected to be announced within the week. The list of weapons will include suitable support equipment for the Patriot air defense system, which the country announced it will deliver at the end of December 2022 and has been harshly criticized by Russia.
The package also includes precision-guided ammunition, Javelin anti-tank missiles and many other weapons and ammunition.
Javelin anti-tank missile – Photo: REUTERS
One of the two officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said part of the $2 billion package, expected to cost $1.725 billion, would come from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a fund that allows the government of Ukraine to US President Joe Biden gets weapons from industry instead of weapons currently in stock in the US.
The USAI funds will be used to purchase a new weapon, the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), which is a combined missile bomb with a range of up to 150 km. However, the US refused Ukraine’s request for a missile with a longer range, the ATACMS (297 km range).
With the GLSDB, a modern glide bomb, the Ukrainian military will be added to the ability to hit targets out of reach previously, helping the country to step up counterattacks. It is expected that GLSDB will be available in Ukraine in the spring.
The GLSDB, jointly built by Boeing of the United States and SAAB AB of Sweden, combines the GBU-39 small-diameter bomb (SDB) with an M26 rocket engine. According to SAAB AB, the weapon is GPS-guided and can defeat some electronic jammers, possibly against armored vehicles.
Poland accelerates training Leopard 2
Also follow Reuters, The Polish military said it is aiming to reduce the training time for soldiers tasked with using Leopard 2 tanks – a modern weapon that Germany has just announced to send to Ukraine – to 5 weeks.
Leopard 2 tank – Photo: BBC
This special process is applied at a special training center, where Ukrainian soldiers are taught how to operate this main battle tank. The Polish military declined to confirm the exact location of the center, but military experts say Swietoszow (a village in southwestern Poland) is the most likely site.