Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky got satisfaction. “The longer our weapons are and the more our troops are mobile, the sooner Russia’s brutal aggression will end”, he said on Twitter, Friday, February 3, to thank his American counterpart Joe Biden. Earlier, the United States had just announced nearly $2.2 billion in new military aid to Ukraine, including longer-range weapons.
This budget extension includes rockets that can almost double the extent of the Ukrainian strike force against the Russians. These are the GLSDBs, small-diameter bombs manufactured by Boeing and Saab, capable of flying up to 150 km and therefore of threatening Russian positions behind the front lines. Ukraine was asking the United States for ammunition that could go further than Himars rockets (80 km). The GLSDBs could reach positions in Donbass, Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, as well as northern Crimea. This could threaten Russian arms depots. “The accuracy of GLSDBs is so high that they can hit the radius of a car tire”asserts Saab.
This security assistance also includes “crucial air defense capabilities”, “armoured infantry vehicles” and ammunition for the Himars rocket launcher system, the Pentagon said, recalling that the American authorities have allocated more than 29.3 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of the war in February 2022.
“Electronic Eyes”
At the same time, Friday February 3, France and Italy were finalizing « discussions techniques » pour “deliver to Ukraine in the spring of 2023 the SAMP/T-MAMBA air defense system”according to a press release from the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. “This is the first long-range European anti-missile system, of Franco-Italian design. It will allow Ukraine to defend itself against attacks by Russian drones, missiles and planes, by covering a significant part of Ukrainian territory”the ministry said.
The acquisition by Ukraine of a Thales GM200 radar, financed by France within the framework of the support fund of 200 million euros, will reinforce the efficiency of the MAMBA system. The radar is in the assembly phase in a Thales factory in Limours, Essonne. But, in a few weeks, he will scan the Ukrainian sky to detect Russian drones and missiles.
On a visit to France, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksy Reznikov visited this industrial site on Wednesday, February 1. “The system proposed by Thales allows us to further improve the observation capacity. They are very efficient electronic eyes”, he pointed out. With a range of 250 km, being able to cover “the entire Kyiv region”according to French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, the radar can detect drones at low speeds as well as faster fighter jets at high altitudes.