WASHINGTON (TND) — It’s been two years since Russia invaded Ukraine, and since the war started, some pretty serious flaws in American weapons systems have come to light.
One area of struggle has been with electronic warfare, specifically precision weaponry like GMLRS rockets and Excalibur artillery. Because of Russia’s ability to jam GPS navigation systems that are used to guide missiles and shells to their targets, the success rate of Excalibur shells dropped below 10% before Ukraine’s military stopped using them last year.
Another problem is drone capabilities, specifically when it comes to surveilling troops on the battlefield. The Pentagon is working to improve its ability to deploy drones to support troops and take out enemy drones by designating a separate army drone branch.
While the war has shown that many of the American weapons systems are better than those of other countries, it has also highlighted a problem with quantity. The U.S. is used to smaller-scale conflicts, but the Ukraine war more closely resembles World War I, where militaries are firing tens of thousands of rounds of artillery.
The U.S. has been a major financial support system for Ukraine since the war began. According to the Council on Foreign Relations, in the last two years, Congress has passed five bills – the most recent one was in April – that total $175 billion. However, only $107 billion of that is directly going to Ukraine’s government.
A large portion of the money is spent here in the U.S., going towards American factories and workers that make the weapons that are shipped over to Ukraine or used to replenish the weapons stockpile that the Pentagon has drawn from.
It is important to mention that supplemental packages like the five that Congress has passed essentially provide additional money to the already appropriated funds and obligations during the course of the year.
Ukraine has become the top recipient of U.S. aid by far. According to the most recent data available – from 2020 to 2022 – Israel is second on the list, receiving just under $10 billion in aid from the U.S. The U.S. has also given significant aid to Afghanistan ($6.8 billion), Jordan ($5.4 billion), Ethiopia ($4.9 billion) and Egypt ($4.3 billion)
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