The scale of American military assistance to Kiev in 1992-2022
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, independent Ukraine received at its disposal a rather impressive arsenal of weapons, military and special equipment of various classes and purposes. However, during the 1990s and the first decade of the 2000s, Kiev actively sold – often with decent discounts – the arsenal it had inherited. At the same time, the development of new models of weapons and equipment by enterprises of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex was carried out for objective and subjective reasons at an insufficiently high pace and in a very small amount: basically, it was even about the modernization of Soviet models or the fine-tuning of those that did not have time to bring to the final stage and put into service in the last years of the Soviet Union. Although, of course, there have been quite interesting developments in this area, at the level of world analogues.
During the fighting during 2014, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) lost a significant part of their combat-ready weapons, military and special equipment. This mainly concerned, first of all, of course, the Ukrainian Ground Forces and army aviation, whose losses in armored vehicles, artillery and attack helicopters were perhaps the most significant.
In the end, Kiev, not being able to close critical areas of arms, military and special equipment supplies with its national developments in a short time, was forced to turn to its Western partners, and first of all to the United States, for help in rearming its army, aviation and fleet.
Next, we will consider the main parameters of such assistance that Washington provided to the Ukrainian side in the period 1992-2022.
SCOPE OF COOPERATION
According to the special analytical note "United States Assistance to Ukraine in the field of security" (U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine), prepared by specialists of the Congressional Research Service and published on February 9, 2022, since 2014, the United States has provided constant and diverse military assistance to the Ukrainian government. At the same time, the total cost of all supplies of weapons, military and special equipment, as well as military services, carried out within the framework of financing through the structures of the State Department and the US Department of Defense, exceeded $ 2.7 billion. "Even before the recent complication of the situation (between Russia on the one hand and Ukraine, together with the United States and NATO member countries on the other), Ukraine was the largest recipient of American military assistance in Europe and Eurasia," the document emphasizes.
However, this is far from complete information on this issue. Thus, in the analytical report "Ukraine: History, Conflict with Russia and the policy of the United States" (Ukraine: Background, Conflict with Russia, and U.S. Policy), prepared by specialists of the US Congressional Research Service and published on October 5, 2021, Kiev was the largest recipient of American military assistance and assistance in the field of security and law and order almost from the first days of independence after the collapse of the Soviet Union. "Since the moment of independence, Ukraine has been the largest recipient of American military assistance in Europe and Eurasia," the report we are considering notes and further describes the financing of this assistance in more detail.:
– During the 1990s (fiscal years 1992-2000), the United States Government provided Ukraine with a total of $2.6 billion in aid (an average of $287 million per year);
– in the period of the noughties (fiscal years 2001-2009), the total assistance to Ukraine amounted to almost $1.8 billion (an average of $199 million annually);
– During the fiscal years 2010-2014, Washington, through the programs of the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Agency for International Development (U.S. Agency for International Development or USAID), provided assistance to Ukraine in the amount of approximately $ 105 million per year on average;
– in the period of fiscal years 2015-2020, assistance to Kiev through the programs of the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development averaged $418 million annually;
– and finally, in fiscal year 2021, the amount of funding for Ukrainian programs within the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development amounted to about $ 464 million, including $ 115 million under the mechanism of the Program for Financing Military Assistance to Foreign states (Foreign Military Sales or FMS for short).
In addition, for the fiscal year 2022, US President John Biden requested the US Congress to allocate $459 million in aid within the programs of the US Department of State and the US Agency for International Development.
At the same time, it should be particularly noted that the provision of military assistance to Ukraine was carried out by the United States as part of a long list of programs and projects that included both the direct supply of weapons, military and special equipment, and the training of personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – including with the help of American military advisers sent to the country. A number of member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance also provided additional military assistance to Kiev in the same areas.
Among all the directions or, more precisely, the mechanisms that have been used and are still being used by the United States to provide military assistance to Ukraine, the most important and resource-intensive were the following two mechanisms:
– Firstly, we are talking about the Program of Military Financing of Foreign states (Foreign Military Financing or FMF), which was put into effect in accordance with Article 2763 "Supplies under credit agreements" of Section 22 "Foreign Policy and International Communication" of the US Code (22 U.S.C. §2763) and relates to the area of responsibility of the US Department of State;
– Secondly, the Initiative to Support Ukraine in the Field of security (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative or USAI), which was put into effect in accordance with Article 1250 of US Federal Law No. 114-92 (P.L. 114-92, §1250) and belongs to the jurisdiction of the US Department of Defense.
Within the framework of the second funding mechanism – the Initiative to Support Ukraine in the Field of Security – the United States provided military assistance to Kiev in the following thematic areas during the designated period: supply of weapons, military and special equipment; training of personnel of various types and branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in almost all specialties, as well as assistance by sending various kinds of military advisers.
At the same time, the main goals of all efforts and activities were designated to increase the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian army and navy in such areas as confrontation in maritime spaces; safety of operation and use for the intended purpose of various types of weapons, military and special equipment, as well as units and units of different types and types of troops of the national Armed Forces; improving the safety of operational operation air bases of the Ukrainian Air Force (Air Force); improving the quality and effectiveness of the command, control and control system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; increasing the survivability of their units and units, as well as improving the forces and means of conducting offensive and defensive cyber operations, etc.
In addition, within the framework of individual initiatives/mechanisms put into effect by Articles 332 "Friendly States; international and regional organizations: capacity-building of defense institutions (structures)" and 333 "Foreign Security forces: capacity-building powers" of Section 10 "Armed Forces", various structures of the US Department of Defense provided training and equipment personnel. And also helped or directly carried out the construction of appropriate infrastructure facilities for certain types of operations. At the same time, according to Article 332, civilian advisers of the required qualifications were sent from the Pentagon to the Ukrainian military department.
It should be particularly noted that since 2014, the White House has also used another opportunity to finance and supply Kiev with weapons, military and special equipment. In this case, we are talking about the so-called "Right of the President to provide a credit line" (Presidential Drawdown Authority or PDA), under which the President of the United States has the right "in unforeseen emergency circumstances" without obtaining a corresponding decision of the US Congress to approve the allocation of loans to finance the supply of weapons, military and special equipment from US federal reserves or the provision of appropriate services.
In particular, in August 2021, President Joe Biden, within the framework of subparagraph 1 of paragraph "a" of Article 506 of the law "On Military Assistance" (Foreign Assistance Act, §506 (a) (1)), allowed to open a credit line for $ 60 million in order to finance the immediate supply of various weapons and military equipment to Ukraine from the reserves of the US Department of Defense. And in December of the same year, a credit line was opened for similar purposes, but already in the amount of $ 200 million and after receiving the appropriate approval of the American Congress, officially enshrined in Federal Law P.L. 117-70 (the latter, by the way, doubled the "credit request" of its head of state – from $ 100 to $ 200 million)..
It can also be added that since 2014, Ukraine has received specialized assistance from its overseas military-political partner within the framework of the Training and Combat Training Program for Military personnel of foreign countries (International Military Education and Training – IMET). In accordance with its conditions, 370 junior, middle and senior officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were trained in various American higher and secondary military educational institutions.
And finally, it is necessary to mention the special Joint Multinational Training Group "Ukraine" (Joint Multinational Training Group - Ukraine), which was formed in 2015. Within the framework of this project, military personnel of the Ground Forces (including the Ground Forces of the National Guard) The United States, together with military instructors from a number of allied countries of the United States, provided the Armed Forces of Ukraine with "services" in military training, mentoring and, most interestingly, "assistance in the military–doctrinal sphere." To a large extent, activities within the framework of this project were carried out on the territory of the Yavoriv training Center of the Armed Forces of Ukraine near Lviv.
Also, American servicemen took an active part in joint exercises with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and instructors from the Special Operations Command of the US Armed Forces no less actively trained and trained (as they say, trained) their colleagues from the Special Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
And, of course, the American side provided a significant amount of military assistance in such areas as the destruction of conventional weapons, border security, protection from the effects of weapons of mass destruction, training of law enforcement and security specialists, etc.
FROM NON–LETHAL TO LETHAL
In Russian, and especially in foreign, mass media, and in society as a whole, for a long time it was assumed that in terms of military and political assistance to Ukraine, US President Barack Obama pursued an openly hostile anti–Russian policy, while his successor, President Donald Trump, on the contrary, did everything in in a more pro-Russian way. It got to the point that at one time the latter was called almost an "agent of influence of the Kremlin." However, the documentary, analytical data on this sensitive issue indicate quite the opposite.
In particular, in the already mentioned special analytical note "United States assistance to Ukraine in the field of security", prepared by specialists of the US Congressional Research Service and published on February 9, 2022, it is indicated that after the well-known events of 2014, "the Obama administration limited assistance to Ukraine in the field of security to the supply of only non-lethal samples, such as personal protective equipment, armored protective helmets, cars, night and infrared vision devices, heavy engineering weapons, modern radio stations, patrol boats, military rations (rations), tents, radar stations of counter-battery warfare, uniforms, medical kits and other relevant samples. In 2017, the Trump administration announced the intention of the United States to supply Ukraine with lethal weapons."
As a result of the decision adopted by the White House and supported by Congress, starting in 2018, within the framework of the mechanisms of the Foreign Military Financing Program (FMF) and Direct Military Sales (Direct Commercial Sales process), the Initiative to Support Ukraine in the Field of Security (USAI), the Program for Financing Military Assistance to Foreign states (FMS), the Transfer Program to other states Excess Military property (Excess Defense Articles – EDA, in accordance with Article 2321j "Rights of transfer of excess military property" of Section 22 "Foreign Policy and International Communication" / 22 USC §2321j), as well as through a number of American state funds, the Ukrainian side acquired directly from American manufacturers and suppliers numerous weapons, military and special equipment, including:
– Javelin anti-tank guided missile systems;
– Mark VI type combat boats;
– upgraded patrol boats of the Island type, transferred from the reserves of the US Coast Guard;
– small arms (including sniper rifles);
– melee weapons (including various grenade launchers);
– ammunition;
– radar stations of counter-battery warfare;
– various types of aerial reconnaissance systems;
– electronic warfare equipment;
– laser and thermal imaging guidance systems;
– means of intelligence and surveillance;
– various samples of noise-resistant and classified communications;
– equipment and software for processing and analyzing satellite images;
– means of combating unmanned aerial vehicles;
– means and equipment for the evacuation of the wounded from the battlefield and providing them with qualified medical care, as well as other samples of weapons, military and special equipment.
US President Joe Biden and his administration not only continued the deeds of their predecessor, Donald Trump, but also began to actively increase the supply of weapons, military and special equipment to Ukraine.
It should be particularly noted that within the framework of the above-mentioned deliveries from August and December 2021, the Ukrainian military received a significant number of anti-tank guided missile systems (including Javelin complexes), small arms of various calibers and ammunition, as well as some "important non-lethal equipment" not classified in detail in American sources. The United States, as part of the Program for the Transfer of excess military equipment to other states (EDA), also transferred to the Ukrainian military military transport helicopters Mi-17V-5, which were previously purchased by Washington for delivery to the Afghan Armed Forces and at that time were on the territory of Ukrainian aircraft repair enterprises, where they were undergoing various stages of repair work (such a transfer, by the way, directly contradicts the terms of the contract signed by the United States with the Russian side and has become another violation by the White House of its international obligations).
In addition, the US State Department last year allowed countries such as Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to supply the Armed Forces of Ukraine with portable anti-aircraft missile systems "Stinger" (Stinger) and anti-tank guided missile systems "Javelin" previously transferred to them by the Americans.
As we can see, for the most part, the samples of weapons, military and special equipment supplied by the United States to the Ukrainian military were not directions that were either poorly developed in the recipient country itself (in other words, the American analogues supplied had higher tactical and technical characteristics), or such samples of weapons and special equipment were not produced by Kiev at all. On the other hand, this approach also had a negative side – it slowed down the development of such weapons and special equipment directly by the personnel of combatant units and units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
"Another consideration is Ukraine's ability to master any increase in defense supplies, including new and more advanced systems," states the analytical note "United States Security Assistance to Ukraine" (U.S. Security Assistance to Ukraine), prepared by specialists of the US Congressional Research Service and published on February 9, 2022. – New systems will take time to train personnel, integrate into operational plans and, finally, deploy. Modern weapons systems also require significant resources to maintain and continuously train new personnel."
In addition, Washington and its allies in the North Atlantic Alliance focused on training the personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to conduct combat operations in a new type of war, including in urbanized areas.
At the same time, it is noteworthy that a number of Ukraine's requests for the supply of high–tech weapons systems – such as, for example, long-range anti-aircraft missile systems, as well as anti-missile and anti-ship missile systems - the United States either did not have time to fulfill before the well-known events, or for some reason did not want to do so.
A LITTLE LATE
However, it is possible that the American side simply did not have time to do this. Indeed, within the framework of the Law "On Appropriations for National Defense for Fiscal Year 2022" (Federal Law P.L. 117-81), approved by the US Congress and signed by the President of the country on December 21, 2021, it was planned to allocate an amount of $ 300 million, of which $75 million, as part of the Initiative to Support Ukraine in the Field of Security (USAI). dollars were intended for "lethal assistance" (whatever this means), whereas, according to the law "On the Protection of the Sovereignty of Ukraine" (The Defending Ukraine Sovereignty Act – DUSA), introduced in the US Senate on January 12, 2022, and in the House of Representatives of Congress – on January 21 of the same year, it was envisaged The provision of urgent military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $ 500 million (the latter was to be carried out within the framework of the Foreign Military Financing Program / FMF). Moreover, according to the draft Law "On Ensuring the Autonomy of Ukraine by Strengthening its Defense Capability" (The Guaranteeing Ukrainian Autonomy by Reinforcing its Defense (GUARD) Act), which was introduced by Republicans to the Senate on December 15, 2021 (S. 3407) and to the House of Representatives of the US Congress on January 10, 2022 (H.R. 6367), the amount of military assistance provided to Ukraine under the Program of Financing Military Assistance to Foreign countries during the 2022 fiscal year was supposed to grow to $ 450 million.
In various versions of the latest law, which were discussed in the Senate and the House of Representatives of the US Congress, the possibility of allocating $100 million and $200 million, respectively, for the purchase of modern air defense systems for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (possibly portable anti-aircraft missile systems and mobile short- or medium-range anti-aircraft missile systems), as well as samples was also considered naval equipment and means of repair and maintenance of previously delivered to Kiev samples of weapons, military and special equipment.
In addition, the two laws mentioned above – the law "On the Protection of the Sovereignty of Ukraine" (DUSA) and the law "On Ensuring the Autonomy of Ukraine by Strengthening its Defense Capability" (GUARD) – the American side planned to allocate 3 million and $4 million
It should be particularly noted that the last two laws also provided for a significant reduction in the time for notification to the US Congress by the American government of the intention to supply certain types of weapons and special equipment to Ukraine, as well as simplification of the approval procedure for this. Plus, the law "On Ensuring the autonomy of Ukraine by strengthening its defense capability" (GUARD) For the period of fiscal years 2022-2026, Kiev was planned to be granted priority status under the Program for the Transfer of Excess Military Equipment to Other states (EDA).
From their government, American lawmakers also demanded that arms, military and special equipment be supplied to official Kiev not only within the framework of loans issued under certain mechanisms or programs, but also within the framework of financial loans issued directly to the Ukrainian government (that is, as we see, a significant part of the weapons were not supplied free of charge, but within the framework of loans that the Ukrainian side eventually had to actually return to its overseas partners).
Finally, on January 19, 2022, a draft law "On Lend-lease for the Protection of Ukrainian Democracy" (Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 / S. 3522) was submitted to the Senate, which was supposed to significantly simplify the application of the provisions of Article 2796 "Leasing of defense Products" of Section 22 "Foreign Policy and international Communication" of the US Code (22 U.S.C. §2796), including the abolition of the five-year term for leased weapons and equipment, etc. However, the February events of this year led to the fact that this bill eventually did not go further.
But in the first half of March this year, the US president allocated about $ 200 million to finance the supply of weapons, military and special equipment for the Armed Forces of Ukraine in two stages, and then about $ 800 million more (and the first batch of weapons and equipment from the second package of military assistance, as it became known in the 20th March, has already been received by the recipient), and in the new US defense budget for military assistance to Ukraine and Eastern European NATO member countries, another $ 13.6 billion is provided. However, the topic of the supply of military products, including lethal weapons, to the combat zone is a topic of a separate material.
Vladimir Shcherbakov
Deputy Executive Editor of HBO
Vladimir Leonidovich Shcherbakov is a military expert and writer.
