Ukraine is building up its forces for an offensive
The Economist skrev:The flow of arms has accordingly turned from a trickle to a flood. Of all the military aid pledged by the Pentagon since the war began, 40%—over $8bn—has come in the three months since December 9th (see chart). One European defence official says that the infusion of arms agreed in Germany in January alone amounts to two-thirds of the total sent to Ukraine in all of 2022. Most of the donations are not as sexy as tanks, but are still crucial—the latest American package includes armoured bridge-laying vehicles, for instance, which would be vital for any offensive in the south or east.
Ukraine’s army is being transformed as a result. The bulk of its hardware is still of Soviet origin. But whereas the ratio of Ukrainian to Western kit stood at five to one at the end of last year, that is expected to fall to five to two as the aid flows in. In other words, almost a third of Ukraine’s army will soon have NATO-standard equipment. General Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine’s top officer, hopes that he will eventually have three new army corps at his disposal, each with six brigades, and each comprising more than 20,000 men.
A Russian offensive that began in late January was intended, in part, to force Ukraine to commit these reserves, thereby making it much harder to mount a counter-offensive. In recent days, Russian soldiers and mercenaries have advanced deeper into Bakhmut, a town in Donetsk province that has been under Russian assault since last summer. But the battle for the town has resulted in far greater Russian losses than Ukrainian ones. And more importantly General Zaluzhny has avoided the obvious trap.
Enligt ovanstående artikel har västs militära stöd till Ukraina trappats upp ordentligt den senaste tiden.
UK will miss out on EU’s ‘massive’ increase in arms spending for Ukraine
The Guardian skrev:A “massive order” of ammunition, ranging from small arms to 155mm artillery rounds, is being prepared in Brussels but only EU and Norwegian manufacturers will be able to take advantage.
France, Germany and Italy, the home of Europe’s biggest arms manufacturers, are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries to the detriment of the UK, which is the world’s seventh largest arms exporter.
“Essentially, this is a zero-sum game and the proposal will bolster European defence industry at the costs of those outside the union,” a diplomatic source in Brussels said.
EU:s försvarsindustri vill naturligtvis passa på att ta marknadsandelar. Norge inkluderas i samarbetet, men UK och Schweiz lämnas utanför.
Intelligence Suggests Pro-Ukrainian Group Sabotaged Pipelines, U.S. Officials Say
The New York Times skrev:The brazen attack on the natural gas pipelines, which link Russia to Western Europe, fueled public speculation about who was to blame, from Moscow to Kyiv and London to Washington, and it has remained one of the most consequential unsolved mysteries of Russia’s year-old war in Ukraine.
Ukraine and its allies have been seen by some officials as having the most logical potential motive to attack the pipelines. They have opposed the project for years, calling it a national security threat because it would allow Russia to sell gas more easily to Europe. Ukrainian government and military intelligence officials say they had no role in the attack and do not know who carried it out.
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Officials who have reviewed the intelligence said they believed the saboteurs were most likely Ukrainian or Russian nationals, or some combination of the two. U.S. officials said no American or British nationals were involved.
The pipelines were ripped apart by deep sea explosions in September, in what U.S. officials described at the time as an act of sabotage. European officials have publicly said they believe the operation that targeted Nord Stream was probably state sponsored, possibly because of the sophistication with which the perpetrators planted and detonated the explosives on the floor of the Baltic Sea without being detected. U.S. officials have not stated publicly that they believe the operation was sponsored by a state.
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The lawmaker was also told that more than 1,000 pounds of “military grade” explosives were used by the perpetrators.
Enligt nya underrättelseuppgifter från USA kan det ha varit en icke-statlig organisation med pro-ukrainska sympatier som genomförde sabotaget av Nord Stream 1 och 2 förra året. Kan en icke-statlig organisation verkligen ha genomfört sabotaget utan omfattande hjälp från någon stat?
U.S. military eyes mounting Western air-to-air missiles on Ukrainian MiGs
POLITICO skrev:Officials are looking into whether AIM-120 advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, designed to be fired from Western fighter jets such as the U.S.-made F-16, can be mounted on Ukraine’s existing MiGs, according to two Defense Department officials and another person involved in the discussions.
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But integrating the AIM-120s with MiGs would be the first time the U.S. has provided the capability to fire air-to-air missiles from aircraft, however. Ukraine already has a number of the missiles, which were provided by European countries, including the U.K. and Belgium, which are fired from Western-provided air defense systems such as the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System.
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The main problem is that the American and Soviet systems are so different that the missile and aircraft can’t communicate with each other.
Kan västerländska radarsökande jaktrobotar ersätta Ukrainas behov av västerländska stridsflygplan, åtminstone på kort sikt?
