On April 21, 2022, US President Joe Biden announced the allocation of a new large package of military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $ 800 million. This package followed just eight days after the previous one, also in the amount of $ 800 million, and became the eighth portion of American military assistance since the beginning of the Russian special military operation in Ukraine on February 24. The total amount of US military aid officially allocated to Kiev under these packages now reaches $ 3.35 billion, and since March 2021 - $ 4 billion.
155-mm/39 light towed howitzer M777A2 of the American Army at the shooting range at Yakima (Washington State), 02/24/2016 (c) Cody Quinn / US Army
"Now [Russian troops] have begun reorienting their campaign to seize new territories in eastern Ukraine, and we are at a critical moment when they are going to prepare the ground for the next stage of this war," the US president said in a statement. "Both the United States and our allies and partners are acting as quickly as possible to continue to provide Ukraine with the forces they need [and] the equipment their forces need to defend their country."
"The constant and coordinated support of the international community, led and supported by the United States, is the most important reason why Ukraine still has the ability to prevent Russia from taking over their country," Biden said.
At the same time, Biden noted that "in combination with our recent deliveries, this will ensure a constant influx of weapons and equipment to Ukraine over the next few weeks. However, with this latest appropriation, I have almost exhausted the powers available to me to finance the expenditures that Congress authorized for Ukraine [meaning the amount of military assistance to Ukraine in the amount of $3.5 billion approved in the US Defense Budget Act for fiscal year 2022 - bmpd]. Next week I will have to send an additional budget request to Congress to ensure a continuous flow of weapons and ammunition."
According to the US Department of Defense, the most important part of the new aid package is the transfer to Ukraine of 72 towed 155 mm howitzers, 72 tractors for them and 144 thousand artillery rounds from the presence of the US armed forces.
Thus, taking into account the aid package announced on April 13, 90 towed howitzers of 155 mm caliber are transferred to Ukraine, which is enough to form five artillery divisions, as well as 184 thousand artillery shots. According to a statement made later by the press secretary of the US Department of Defense John Kirby, modern 155-mm/39 light towed howitzers of the M777 series will be transferred to Ukraine, this is confirmed by illustrative photos of the M777 in press releases of the US Department of Defense.
The US Army and Marine Corps have purchased a total of 1001 M777 howitzers manufactured by BAE Systems Corporation, and all of them have now been upgraded to the M777A2 variant (in the M777A1 variant, a digital fire control system and navigation system are installed on the howitzer, in the M777A2 variant, these systems have been modified to allow the use of Excalibur guided projectiles), so Ukraine, apparently, will M777A2 systems have been transferred. In principle, the appearance of controlled Excalibur shots in Ukraine is not excluded.
In addition, the military assistance package announced on April 21 included the delivery of 121 new Phoenix Ghost barrage ammunition complexes - as stated, specially developed by the US Air Force in accordance with the requirements of the armed forces of Ukraine in the shortest possible time. The development of the complex, however, was started even before the events of February 24. As can be seen from the explanations of the US Department of Defense, Phoenix Ghost is actually an analogue of the family of American AeroVironment Switchblade barrage ammunition already supplied to Ukraine (presumably in the anti-tank version of the Switchblade 600). An unnamed representative of the US Department of Defense stated that, nevertheless, there are differences in "the scope of Phoenix Ghost's capabilities [compared to Switchblade], but I just can't tell you more about these capabilities." At the same time, US Department of Defense spokesman John Kirby said that the US Air Force plans to purchase Phoenix Ghost ammunition for itself in the future.
The developer and manufacturer of Phoenix Ghost is a small Californian company AEVEX Aerospace, which has so far received only insignificant contracts from the US Department of Defense for R&D in the field of unmanned vehicles, and, judging by its website, specializing mainly in the development of payloads, including lidars and mapping and geo-recognition systems.
Also, on April 21, the US administration announced the appointment of retired three-star Lieutenant General Terry Wolf as the coordinator of American military assistance to Ukraine. Wolf served for a long time in the US forces in Europe, was the commander of the 1st Armored Division, and then deputy commander of the US forces in Europe. After retiring in 2014, he served for some time as Director of the US National Security Council for Iraq and Afghanistan, and since the end of 2015 - Deputy Special Envoy of the US President for the anti-terrorist coalition.
