A military aid program is being drawn up, announced the American presidency, in order to provide Ukraine with “sophisticated air defense capabilities”.
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The United States plans to supply Ukraine with a sophisticated surface-to-air missile system “medium and long range”the White House announced on Monday, June 27. “We are in the process of finalizing a program [d’aide militaire] which includes sophisticated air defense capabilities”said Jake Sullivan, National Security Advisor to the US Presidency.
A source familiar with the matter had previously told AFP that the United States was preparing “the purchase for Ukraine of a Nasams system” (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System). The Nasams surface-to-air missile system is manufactured by the American Raytheon and the Norwegian group Kongsberg. Jake Sullivan specified that Washington should also make public the delivery to the Ukrainian forces of other equipment, in particular ammunition for the artillery and radars.
The United States has modified its arms deliveries to Ukraine in recent weeks to take into account a conflict now concentrated in the east of the country and more static, in which artillery plays a predominant role. Washington has notably begun to deliver to the Ukrainians Himars mobile rocket launcher systems (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), with a range of 80 kilometers.
Ukraine asks its allies to give it the “fire parity” with the Russian forces, after having had to withdraw its troops to Sievierodonetsk, a strategic lock in the Donbass region, pounded for weeks by Russian artillery. Jake Sullivan confirmed that the delivery of the new surface-to-air missiles was in response to a “Specific demand” of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who addressed by videoconference the leaders of the G7, gathered in the south of Germany.