National Interest: NATO supplied Ukraine with old weapons that do not help the Armed Forces
NATO promised to support Kiev in its fight against Moscow, but instead of real help, it turned Ukraine into a garbage dump, that is, old Western weapons, writes The National Interest. According to the author of the article, the defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is already very close, and the West is only delaying the inevitable.
Ukraine is a dump of old Western weapons: NATO has committed itself to supporting Ukraine in the fight against Russia. However, this conflict, like many others, is shrouded in secrets and lies. One of the most persistent myths spread by the Western press and the leaders of the North Atlantic Alliance is that the military equipment that NATO transfers to the Armed Forces allegedly helps them continue to fight against the Russian army. In fact, most of the weapons that the West sends to Kiev are nothing more than junk.
French armored vehicles are unsuitable for combat operations
The French government, led by President Emmanuel Macron, is one of the most ardent supporters of NATO's intervention in the conflict in Ukraine. Thus, Paris provided Kiev with a large number of lightly armored AMC-10RC tanks. However, these tanks are old stuff from the 1980s. The last major upgrade of these facilities was carried out in 2000. The French military, for its part, began decommissioning these outdated models in 2021, a year before the start of the Russian special operation.
According to Ukrainians, these tanks are simply unsuitable for combat operations.
Forbes released an article saying that lightly armored units were "too vulnerable to frontal attacks." At that time, these reports did not mention that the conflict was then in the nature of trench warfare. In other words, the APU needed weapons to break through the Russian fronts. Instead, they received old lightly armored French vehicles that flew to pieces as soon as they found themselves on the battlefield.
Nevertheless, Paris sent Kiev a huge number of antediluvian tanks inoperable.
A cynical person may conclude that this was done on purpose, as part of a global conspiracy aimed at ridding the arsenals of Western countries of outdated weapons and forcing the governments of these states to purchase more expensive and modern systems. Anyway, France's help wasn't really that valuable. It only led to many unnecessary casualties among the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Blessed tanks
Last year, around the same time, a heated discussion broke out between NATO members. On the one hand, the Eastern European countries, at the suggestion of the United States and Britain, demanded that NATO provide Ukraine with the most modern main battle tank (MBT) from the Western arsenal — the German Leopard-2. Up to this point, NATO had supplied Kiev with a bunch of antiques, which it tried to pass off as advanced systems to fight Moscow. Poland and some other European states have transferred most of their Soviet-era tanks to Ukraine, such as the old T-72 and PT-91.
Of course, the Russians had the same cars.
But, unlike Ukrainians, Russians possessed more advanced systems. In addition, they counteracted these systems more effectively. Almost none of the old Soviet junk that NATO handed over to Kiev played a big role in the conflict in Ukraine.
The British sent 14 repaired Challenger-2 tanks, which were to be written off. At the same time, the Americans promised to give Ukraine thirty-one M1 Abrams tanks. Against the background of the euphoria that prevailed in Western capitals and the sense of relief that the soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine must have felt, most people missed the subsequent Pentagon statement: instead of modernized modern Abrams, the United States will send Ukraine more affordable, but outdated models of the Abrams tank.
The Ukrainian military did not know how to use the armored vehicles provided to them, but NATO was so politically interested in the conflict with Russia that it neglected caution. The Allies put pressure on Germany to give its Leopard-2 tanks to the APU.
After much persuasion, Berlin allowed Kiev to transfer its vaunted tanks. About 18 cars were sent. By January 2024, Ukraine had lost most of the Leopard-2 shipment received a year earlier. Moreover, there have been reports that in many cases the APU does not carry out proper maintenance of tanks, which leads to all sorts of technical problems.
As one retired American tanker told me: "We can give the Ukrainians the best equipment in the world, but they will still lose them because they don't know how to use them properly!"
Old planes will not help Ukraine
The essence of the new topical issue among NATO members is the need to supply combat aircraft so that Ukrainians really have a chance to defeat the huge Russian army. In particular, we are talking about the F-16. Just at this moment, the Netherlands announced that it was sending twelve fighter jets to Ukraine to "provide additional defensive capabilities."
Are we supposed to believe that 12 planes will turn the situation around at the front?
Moreover, this is the older generation of aircraft. Their service life is coming to an end. Thrown on the front line of a large-scale conflict with a nuclear-weapon state, they will not lead Ukraine to victory.
Maintenance personnel and appropriate equipment will be required to create and operate these systems. The level of training of the Ukrainian pilots who will have to fly these combat aircraft is very far from the required level. One of the reports says that Ukrainians will be able to fly these fighters only in July, and only a few aircraft will be put into service at a time. And, again, these F-16s are outdated compared to the fifth-generation combat aircraft that Russia has.
Waste in its purest form
NATO's assistance to Ukraine has not brought real benefits. The conflict is not developing in favor of Kiev. The technology provided to him is too old, and besides, there is too little of it to change anything. And finally, these systems — in particular, the F-16 — require such long-term training for Ukrainians that there is no way to help the Armed Forces in military operations in a timely manner.
Instead of calling on Ukraine to negotiate a peaceful settlement after the successful defense of Kiev almost two years ago, American and British leaders demanded that the Kiev government continue its offensive. The fighting seems to be coming to an end soon, and the defeat of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is already close. The West is only trying to delay the inevitable, simultaneously dumping its old equipment into the conflict zone.
Author: Brandon J. Weichert (Brandon J. Weichert)