US Gives Ukraine Junk Military Equipment
1/12/15
The US was found to
have sent mostly outdated military equipment to Ukraine, as trust issues
and corruption continue to degrade Ukraine's military supply.
Although the US Congress recently approved $300 million in lethal aid for Ukraine as part of its National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the country continues to receive mostly outdated and used US military equipment, according to the Washington Post.
However, the outmoded equipment could be the result of Ukrainian
military corruption, and not only incompetence in the US military
bureaucracy.
Previous shipments of meals ready-to-eat (MREs) previously ended up on online auction sites such as eBay
according to reports, while more sensitive high-tech equipment, which
faces export controls in the US, runs the risk of being captured or
similarly sold off. One infantry unit of 120 men received a single
bulletproof jacket from the US, according to the report.
"If the Americans are going to send us equipment, don’t send us secondhand stuff," one Ukrainian special forces commander said.
The Washington Post report mentioned equipment such as Humvees with worn-out tires and plastic doors. Both a lack of funding and preparation have been blamed in the US.
The US sent around 100 Humvee jeeps to Ukraine, although most of them
appear to be meant for spare parts, according to an official
interviewed by the publication.
The Ukrainian military has also lost sensitive equipment such as an
AN/TPQ-49 lightweight counter-mortar radar, which was lost during Kiev's
retreat from the town of Debaltsevo, according to the New York Times.
The US plans to send more equipment to Ukraine as its frozen conflict
with Donbass independence supporters continues, although the Obama
administration has so far refrained from sending deadly weapons, which
have been referred to as "lethal aid."./.
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