{"id":1455042,"date":"2022-04-27T08:15:34","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T12:15:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1455042"},"modified":"2022-04-27T08:15:40","modified_gmt":"2022-04-27T12:15:40","slug":"u-s-looking-to-shift-ukraine-from-soviet-to-nato-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/u-s-looking-to-shift-ukraine-from-soviet-to-nato-weapons\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Looking to Shift Ukraine From Soviet to NATO Weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fu-s-looking-to-shift-ukraine-from-soviet-to-nato-weapons%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1455042&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>The latest tranche of U.S. military support for Ukraine sends long-range weapons to defend the Donbas region, and also opens the door to a\u00a0future when the Ukrainian army fights with the same small arms and artillery\u00a0as the West.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Since the invasion began, Ukraine has largely defended itself using Soviet-era arms\u2014such as the <a href=\"https:\/\/sofrep.com\/gear\/ak-47-vs-ak-74-the-battle-of-the-russian-rifles\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AK-74,<\/a> their standard-issue rifle\u2014because Ukrainian forces were familiar with those weapons. Many of Ukraine\u2019s weapons fire different round sizes than U.S. versions and are not compatible.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt&#8217;s what they inherited after the end of the Cold War,\u201d said German Marshall Fund fellow Steven Keil. \u201cIt makes up a bulk of their own military capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In recent weeks, as the United States has worked to get weapons to Ukraine, it offered a deal\u00a0to Eastern European and former Soviet Bloc countries that held stockpiles of Russian-specific munitions:\u00a0If those countries would send their arms to Ukraine, the U.S. would replace them with NATO-standard\u00a0guns, artillery, air defenses, and aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom NATO\u2019s point of view, this has been a win-win-win,\u201d said Mark Cancian, a senior advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. \u201cIt makes the logistics easier. And\u00a0the supplying of weapons easier because you have a broader sort of set of suppliers.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"related-articles-placeholder\">\n<div class=\"related-articles\">\n<p class=\"related-articles-head\">Related articles<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>It could also accelerate Kyiv\u2019s modernization to NATO-standard weapons, no matter whether Ukraine joins the alliance.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>For example, Ukraine and other former Soviet republics inherited the Soviet-designed self-propelled 152 howitzer as heavy artillery. It\u2019s a different gun and uses a different projectile than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/threats\/2022\/04\/how-much-can-us-howitzers-help-ukraine\/366093\/\">the U.S.-made 155 howitzer<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With the 152s, \u201cI&#8217;m not sure where they can get them. I don&#8217;t know if anyone produces them,\u201d Cancian said. \u201cWhereas when you&#8217;re talking 155, there are a half-a-dozen countries that will produce a self-propelled 155. So when it comes time to rebuild the Ukrainian military, that&#8217;s going to become an issue.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Monday\u2019s latest announcement of $322 million in foreign military financing\u2014part of a massive $3.4 billion in security assistance from the United States to Ukraine since the war began\u2014supports the continued purchase of Soviet-era munitions, for now. But \u201cas these items become more difficult to procure, FMF could be used to assist with the [Armed Forces of Ukraine] transition to U.S.\/NATO caliber systems for long-range firing, including multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS) and artillery,\u201d according to a summary of the aid obtained by <em>Defense One.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the money can be used for \u201cmodernizing Ukraine&#8217;s weapons inventory through the provision of more precise and capable weapons, including sniper rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, and other small arms,\u201d said a U.S. official who spoke to <em>Defense One<\/em> on background.<em> <\/em>That means those systems could also transition to NATO\/U.S.-standard weaponry, if that is what Ukraine chooses.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUp until now, we&#8217;ve been working at helping them meet their immediate needs,\u201d the U.S. official said. \u201cNow we&#8217;re getting to the place where we need to start looking ahead to additional future possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That has a strategic impact, Keil said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUsing systems that are newer, newer generation aircraft or, more widely used caliber of artillery, is definitely in NATO&#8217;s interest,\u201d Keil said. \u201cParticularly in the event of conflict \u2026 it would just be easier if we were using similar systems.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Early in the fighting, the lack of interoperability was one of the reasons the U.S. did not send <a href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/threats\/2022\/03\/why-us-wont-give-patriot-interceptors-ukraine\/363042\/\">Patriot missile defense systems<\/a> to Ukraine. Ukrainian forces would have needed U.S. training and support in Ukraine, which President Joe Biden was unwilling to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Each of the more advanced systems now under consideration would also require training\u2014not only on how to operate them, but also on how to maintain them. The U.S. official said the extent of the longer-term support is still being worked through.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not there yet. We&#8217;re just taking the initial first step,\u201d the official said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the groundwork is already being laid. Earlier this month, Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks met with the CEOs of America\u2019s largest defense companies to look for ways to speed up weapons deliveries to Ukraine. Global <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/defense-stocks-ukraine-premium-needs-handling-with-caution-11650374854\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defense stocks have largely risen<\/a> in the weeks following Russia\u2019s invasion, especially after NATO allies increased plans to boost military spending.<\/p>\n<p>But last week, Lockheed Martin CEO Jim Taiclet refused to speculate about how the conflict might affect weapon sales for the world\u2019s largest defense contractor.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe environment is more challenging from a national security and global security perspective than it was before,\u201d Taiclet told investment analysts on the company\u2019s quarterly earnings call. \u201cThat suggests that deterrence is a more valuable product than it&#8217;s ever been, at least in the last 80 to 100 years. We feel we&#8217;re really positioned well with our strategy to meet that need for national security and global security. But we can&#8217;t quantify yet exactly how that&#8217;s going to touch our revenue\u2026until we get actual contracts that have order schedules.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Marcus Weisgerber contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest tranche of U.S. military support for Ukraine sends long-range weapons to defend the Donbas region, and also opens the door to a\u00a0future when the Ukrainian army fights with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":489,"featured_media":1890061,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1455042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_finder_url":"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/threats\/2022\/04\/us-looks-shift-ukraine-soviet-nato-weapons\/366097\/","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/489"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1455042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1455042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1890061"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1455042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1455042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1455042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}