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☆ Not Only for Killing: Drones Are Now Detecting Land Mines in Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-24 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With a stiff gait, a drone dog stomped up and down a makeshift minefield at a U.S. Army testing center in Virginia, shuddering when it neared a plate-size puck meant to simulate an anti-tank explosive. On its back was a stack of cameras, GPS devices, radios and thermal imaging technology that military developers hope will help it detect mines at close range, sparing humans from that dangerous task. For the most part, the dog appeared to know when to stay away from the mock mine, given the artificial intelligence embedded in its system to identify threats. “That’s something we’re working on currently.”The drone dog is among a handful of emerging technologies in anti-mine warfare — a field that, until now, experts say had not changed much in the past 50 years. But just as drones, which are generally defined as uncrewed machines, not exclusively aircraft, that are piloted remotely, have proved in Ukraine to be an important offensive weapon in modern fighting, they now may also provide defense, with new and safer ways to detect and clear land mines.

Persons: ” Kendall V, Johnson, “ Organizations: U.S . Army, Development Command Locations: Virginia, shuddering, Washington, Ukraine

☆ With $20 Billion Weapons Deal, U.S. Aims to Help Israel and Deter Iran
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-23 | by ( Lara Jakes | Johnatan Reiss | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +6 min

Top NewsFor months, the Biden administration waited to formally approve $20 billion in future American weapons sales to Israel, including F-15s and medium-range missiles. Almost none of the arms — which also include tank ammunition, tactical vehicles and mortars — are expected to be delivered to Israel for several years at least. The White House has tried to contain domestic opposition to arms for Israel in Congress, while attempting to keep the war against Hamas from escalating into a wider regional conflict. “We will continue to do what is necessary to ensure Israel can defend itself in the face of these threats.”Image An Israeli F-15 in southern Israel last year. Here is a look at the arms sales that the Biden administration notified Congress on Aug. 13 that it has approved.

Persons: Biden, Antony J, Blinken, ”, “, Jack Guez, Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, —, Bradley Bowman, Mr, Bowman, Israel “, Northrop Grumman, AMRAAMs Organizations: Department, Agence France, Getty, U.S . Army, Foundation of Defense of Democracies, Boeing Corp, Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Dynamics, Northrop, Street Journal, CNN, State Department, Tactical, Oshkosh Corp, General Dynamic Ordnance, U.S, AIM, RTX Corp Locations: Israel, Gaza, United States, Congress, Israeli, Washington, Iran, Ukraine, Russia

In a rare breach of Israel’s multilayered air-defense system, a drone fired by the Houthi militia in Yemen slammed into an apartment building near the United States Embassy branch office in Tel Aviv early Friday, killing at least one person and wounding eight others. Pentagon officials expressed doubt that the drone had specifically targeted the U.S. building, an attack that analysts assessed had possibly been an attempt by the Houthis to strike anywhere they could in Tel Aviv. The Houthis, an Iranian-backed militia that has been attacking ships in the Red Sea, claimed responsibility for the strike on the city of 450,000 people. No air-raid sirens warned residents before the drone crashed into the building, causing an explosion that jolted people from their sleep, shattered windows and left shrapnel scattered on the streets. “We are investigating why we did not identify it, attack it and intercept it,” Admiral Hagari said on Friday.

Persons: Daniel Hagari, Admiral Hagari Organizations: United States Embassy, Pentagon Locations: Yemen, Tel Aviv, Iranian, Red

☆ NATO’s Pledges to Ukraine Fall Short for a Counteroffensive This Year
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-11 | by ( Lara Jakes | Eric Schmitt | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Despite billions of dollars in additional weapons and security assistance that NATO announced this week, allied officials said Ukraine would not be ready to launch a dramatic counteroffensive or retake large swaths of territory from Russia until next year. Donations of missiles, combat vehicles, ammunition and air defenses from the United States and European countries will take weeks, if not months, to reach the front lines. Some of the newly committed weapons have not yet been bought or built. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said long-anticipated F-16s fighter jets would be delivered to Ukraine this summer. “This is a huge disappointment for me personally, because Ukrainians are expecting that those goods will come, this military equipment will reach Ukraine, but it’s not happening.”

Persons: Antony J, Blinken, “, Gitanas Nauseda, ” Organizations: NATO Locations: Ukraine, Russia, United States, Washington, Lithuania

American intelligence agencies uncovered a Russian plot to kill the chief executive of a German weapons manufacturer, according to multiple Western officials, as Moscow steps up a campaign to undermine support for Ukraine’s war effort. The United States warned Germany about the plot, and German officials increased protection for Armin Papperger, who leads Rheinmetall, which makes artillery shells and tanks that Ukraine has used in its war against Russia. The assassination plot is a significant escalation, officials said, representing a more concerted covert effort to deter Western companies from producing supplies for Ukraine. A senior Western intelligence official said that the threats were flagged this past spring. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the Russian operation.

Persons: Armin Papperger, Papperger Organizations: United, Rheinmetall, Russia, NATO Locations: Moscow, United States, Germany, Ukraine, Western

☆ As NATO Convenes, Leaders Worry About a Hole in Its Center
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-09 | by ( David E. Sanger | Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When President Biden and his aides planned the 75th anniversary of NATO, which opens on Tuesday evening in Washington, it was intended to create an aura of confidence. But as 38 world leaders began arriving here on Monday, that confidence seems at risk. Even before the summit formally begins, it has been overshadowed by the uncertainty about whether Mr. Biden will remain in the race for a second term, and the looming possibility of the return of former President Donald J. Trump. Mr. Trump once declared NATO “obsolete,” threatened to exit the alliance and more recently said he would let the Russians do “whatever the hell they want” to any member country he deemed to be insufficiently contributing to the alliance. In recent days, as Mr. Trump has edged up in post-debate polls, key European allies have begun discussing what a second Trump term might mean for the alliance — and whether it could take on Russia without American arms, money and intelligence-gathering at its center.

Persons: Biden, Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Donald J, Trump Organizations: NATO, Trump Locations: Washington, Russia, Ukraine

Mark Rutte rode off into the sunset on his bicycle last week, making a carefully choreographed exit from Dutch politics, which he has dominated as prime minister for nearly 14 years. Mr. Rutte, known as a flexible pragmatist, will bring his experience at conciliation to the 32-nation military alliance when he takes over as secretary general from Jens Stoltenberg on Oct. 1. Beyond that challenge, NATO faces a Russian government forging stronger ties with China and Iran, even as Beijing tries to dominate Asia and Tehran expands its nuclear program. Leading member states like France and Germany are dealing with the empowerment of far-right parties with clear sympathies for Moscow. And there are new demands to spend more money on the military.

Persons: Mark Rutte, Rutte, Jens Stoltenberg Organizations: NATO, Soviet Union, Ukraine, Russia’s Locations: Europe, Washington, China, Iran, Beijing, Asia, Tehran, France, Germany, Moscow, Hungary, Turkey

☆ Hopes for a Diplomatic Opening Rise Under Iran’s New President
▼ + stars: | 2024-07-07 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With the election of the reformist candidate Masoud Pezeshkian as president, Iran may see a softening of its absolutist foreign policy and even an opportunity for a new diplomatic opening, current and former officials and experts say. Mr. Pezeshkian, a cardiologist, member of Parliament and former health minister, has little direct experience in foreign policy. But he has pledged to empower Iran’s most elite and globalist diplomats to run his foreign agenda, raising hopes of a warmer relationship with the West. Mr. Pezeshkian “represents a more pragmatic posture and less confrontational posture toward the outside and the inside,” said Dennis B. Ross, who served as a special assistant to President Barack Obama and is a longtime Mideast negotiator. Still, Mr. Ross noted, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “would do a great deal to limit” Mr. Pezeshkian’s international agenda.

Persons: Masoud Pezeshkian, Pezeshkian, Pezeshkian “, ”, Dennis B, Ross, Barack Obama, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “ Locations: Iran

☆ What Weapons Has North Korea Already Supplied to Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Lara Jakes | More About Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

As the war has dragged on, Russia has found itself in dire need of conventional weapons, including artillery shells, that North Korea could supply. The United States first accused North Korea of selling artillery to Russia as far back as September 2022, seven months after the war started. At the time, North Korea denied the accusations. Just weeks later, U.S. officials said that North Korea had shipped more than 1,000 containers of arms to Russia for use in the war in Ukraine. By March, officials said, North Korea had sent close to 7,000 containers of weapons to Russia.

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Kim Jong, Kim Organizations: Ukraine, United, House, North Korean Locations: Russia, North Korea, Korea, United States, Ukraine

☆ What Weapons Is North Korea Accused of Supplying to Russia?
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-17 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Persons: Vladimir V, Putin, Mr, Kim Jong, Kim Organizations: Ukraine, United, House, North Korean Locations: Russia, North Korea, Korea, United States, Ukraine

☆ Their City Has a Plaque From Putin. They Want Zelensky to Tear It Down.
▼ + stars: | 2024-06-10 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A small copper plaque mounted across the piazza from the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Bari, Italy, pledges “friendship and cooperation” between the city and the Russian people. It is signed by someone who, for the past two years in Europe, has pursued anything but: President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia. The plaque is a replica of a letter Mr. Putin sent in 2003, nearly two decades before his invasion of Ukraine, and for years it drew little notice from Bari’s residents or the tens of thousands of pilgrims who visit the site annually to venerate the saint, whose remains are interred there. But a growing number of people now see it as sign of Mr. Putin’s hypocrisy — particularly among a diaspora of local Ukrainians who want it taken down. For the many residents of Bari who have wanted the plaque removed since the war began, the gathering nearby is seen as a chance to enlist Mr. Putin’s fiercest international critics to their cause.

Persons: Nicholas in, Vladimir V, Putin, Volodymyr Zelensky Locations: Nicholas in Bari , Italy, Europe, Russia, Ukraine, Italy, Bari

☆ The Weapons That Ukraine Might Use to Shoot Into Russia
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-31 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The decision by the Biden administration to allow Ukraine to strike inside Russia with American-made weapons fulfills a long-held wish by officials in Kyiv that they claimed was essential to level the playing field. The shift in policy followed declarations from nearly a dozen European governments and Canada that their weapons could be used to fire into Russia. Freed from those constraints, Ukraine can strike into Russia with SCALP missiles from France and, potentially soon, the identical Storm Shadow missiles supplied by Britain. Although the British foreign minister, David Cameron, said on May 3 that Ukraine should be able to attack Russia with Western weapons, London has not yet given its full permission, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine told The Guardian in an interview published on Friday. The SCALP and Storm Shadow missiles have a range of about 150 miles and are fired from Ukraine’s aging fleet of Soviet-designed fighter jets.

Persons: Biden, Freed, David Cameron, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: Britain, Guardian, Shadow Locations: Ukraine, Russia, American, Kyiv, Canada, France, London, Soviet

☆ Taking the Fight to Russia: The West Weighs Ukraine’s Use of Its Weapons
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-30 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With Ukraine’s second-largest city bracing for a new Russian offensive, a growing number of NATO allies are backing Kyiv’s pleas to allow its forces to conduct strikes in Russian territory with Western weapons. This week Canada became the latest of at least 12 countries to declare that arms it has given to Ukraine could be used to hit military targets over Russia’s border. But the most important supplier of weaponry to Ukraine, the United States, remains reluctant to take the step, worried about provoking Russia into an escalation that could drag in NATO and set off a wider war. Without sign-off from Washington, the American-made long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, can only strike Russian targets inside Ukraine. Yet many Western leaders and military analysts say that with Russia massing thousands of troops on its side of the border — less than 20 miles from the northeastern city of Kharkiv — Ukraine badly needs the authority to strike inside Russia with Western weapons.

Organizations: NATO, Tactical Missile Systems, Kharkiv — Locations: Canada, Ukraine, Russia’s, United States, Russia, Washington, Russian, Kharkiv, Kharkiv — Ukraine, Western

NATO allies are inching closer to sending troops into Ukraine to train Ukrainian forces, a move that would be another blurring of a previous red line and could draw the United States and Europe more directly into the war. As a result, Ukrainian officials have asked their American and NATO counterparts to help train 150,000 new recruits closer to the front line for faster deployment. So far the United States has said no, but Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Thursday that a NATO deployment of trainers appeared inevitable. For now, he said, an effort inside Ukraine would put “a bunch of NATO trainers at risk” and would most likely mean deciding whether to use precious air defenses to protect the trainers instead of critical Ukrainian infrastructure near the battlefield.

Persons: Charles Q, Brown Jr, “ We’ll, ”, General Brown Organizations: NATO, Joint Chiefs of Staff Locations: Ukraine, United States, Europe, Russia, Brussels

☆ Aid to Ukraine Is on the Way. Here’s How It Might Help.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-24 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Now that the Senate has approved a nearly $61 billion aid package to Ukraine, and with President Biden poised to sign it, desperately needed American weapons could be arriving on the battlefield within days. The weapons package — which has been delayed over political wrangling by House Republicans since last fall — is “a lifeline” for Kyiv’s military, said Yehor Cherniev, the deputy chairman of the Ukrainian Parliament’s national security committee. But it will not include everything that President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has asked for as his military struggles to hold firm after two years of war against invading Russian forces. Here is a look at what Ukraine says it needs, what it is expected to get in the American aid package and whether it will be enough to make an immediate difference.

Persons: Biden, Yehor Cherniev, Volodymyr Zelensky Organizations: House Republicans, Ukrainian Locations: Ukraine, Russian

☆ Ukraine War Helped Push World Military Spending to 35-Year High, Study Says
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The study, by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, concluded that global military spending reached $2.4 trillion last year — a 6.8 percent increase from 2022. “The unprecedented rise in military spending is a direct response to the global deterioration in peace and security,” said Nan Tian, a senior researcher at the institute, which has tracked military expenditures since at least 1988. He described an “increasingly volatile geopolitical and security landscape.”Ukraine, in its first full year of war with Russia, devoted $64.8 billion to its military in 2023. That accounted for 58 percent of the government’s overall spending last year and 37 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. Only seven other countries spent more on military and defense costs than Ukraine in 2023, analysts found.

Persons: spender, ”, Nan Tian Organizations: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute Locations: Ukraine, Stockholm, Asia, United States, Russia

☆ Do Tanks Have a Place in 21st-Century Warfare?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The drone combat in Ukraine that is transforming modern warfare has begun taking a deadly toll on one of the most powerful symbols of American military might — the tank — and threatening to rewrite how it will be used in future conflicts. Over the last two months, Russian forces have taken out five of the 31 American-made M1 Abrams tanks that the Pentagon sent to Ukraine last fall, a senior U.S. official said. A vast majority of those are Soviet-era, Russian or Ukrainian-made tanks; only about 140 of those taken out in battle were given to Ukraine by NATO states. And Russia has so far lost more than 2,900 tanks, the Oryx data show, although Ukraine claims that the number exceeds 7,000. German Leopard tanks have also been targeted in Ukraine, with at least 30 having been destroyed, Oryx says.

Persons: Markus Reisner, Abrams, ” Organizations: Abrams, Pentagon, NATO, Leopard, Hudson Institute Locations: Ukraine, U.S, Austrian, Russia, Washington

☆ Middle East Crisis E.U. Will Impose New Sanctions on Iran for Attacking Israel
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-18 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +3 min

Mr. Abu Jayyab said the strike hit less than 10 meters from where the children were playing. Mr. Abu Jayyab said Luji had been eager to meet the new baby that her parents, Mr. Abu Jayyab’s brother and sister-in-law, were expecting. In his grief, Luji’s father decided they would name the baby after her, Mr. Abu Jayyab said. “Doctors say he needs a miracle to survive, and we should prepare ourselves for the bad news,” Mr. Abu Jayyab said in a phone interview. Two of the girls’ cousins, 15-year-old Ahmed and 18-year-old Abdullah, as well as a 60-year-old neighbor were also killed in the strike, Mr. Abu Jayyab said.

Persons: Abu, Yousef Abu Jayyab, Abu Jayyab, ”, Abdel Kareem Hana, Luji, Abu Jayyab’s, Luji’s, Mila, Ahmed, ” Mr, Abdullah, Aric Toler Organizations: Palestinian, The New York Times, Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, Associated Press, United Nations Locations: Gaza, Israeli, Al Aqsa, Credit

☆ For Many Western Allies, Sending Weapons to Israel Gets Dicey
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-13 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For months, Western governments have provided military support for Israel while fending off accusations that their weapons were being used to commit war crimes in Gaza. But as a global outcry over the growing death toll in Gaza mounts, maintaining that balance is becoming increasingly difficult, as was clear on a single day this past week. On Tuesday, in a United Nations court, Germany found itself having to defend against accusations that it was complicit in genocide against Palestinians in Gaza by exporting weapons to Israel. A few hours later, in Washington, a top Democrat and Biden administration ally, Representative Gregory W. Meeks of New York, said he might block an $18 billion deal to sell F-15 fighter jets to Israel unless he was assured that Palestinian civilians would not be indiscriminately bombed. And two miles away, at a media briefing at the State Department, Britain’s foreign minister, David Cameron, was pressed on what his government had concluded after weeks of internal review about whether Israel has breached international humanitarian law during its offensive in Gaza.

Persons: Gregory W, Meeks, David Cameron Organizations: Israel, United Nations, Biden, State Department Locations: Gaza, Germany, Israel, Washington, New York

☆ NATO Wants to Show Support for Ukraine, but Only So Much
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

When NATO’s leaders gather this summer to celebrate the 75th anniversary of their military alliance, the last thing they want to see is a resurgent Russian military marching across Ukraine because Europe was too weak to provide Kyiv with the support it needed. What Ukraine wants, ultimately, is a formal invitation to join NATO. NATO has no appetite for taking on a new member that, because of the alliance’s covenant of collective security, would draw it into the biggest land war in Europe since 1945. That has sent NATO searching for some middle ground, something short of membership but meaty enough to show that it is backing Ukraine “for the long haul,” as Jens Stoltenberg, the NATO secretary general, put it this week. What that will be has so far proven elusive, according to senior Western diplomats involved in the discussions.

Persons: Ukraine “, Jens Stoltenberg Organizations: NATO Locations: Russian, Ukraine, Europe, Washington, NATO

☆ C.I.A. Director Is Heading to Cairo for New Truce Talks
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Julian E. Barnes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +14 min

During a 30-minute call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, President Biden went further than ever in pressing for change in the military operation. Credit... Fatima Shbair/Associated PressBy the middle of the night in Jerusalem, Israel made its first gestures to Mr. Biden. The reported agreement came as American officials held out the prospect of consequences if Mr. Netanyahu resisted. But Mr. Kirby would not outline specific metrics for judging Israel’s response or what Mr. Biden would do if not satisfied. Mr. Biden called himself “outraged and heartbroken” over the incident and made a point of calling Mr. Andrés to express his condolences.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, President Biden, Biden, Biden’s, “, Netanyahu, ”, Fatima Shbair, Mr, Antony J, Blinken, ” Mr, Chris Coons, Coons, Kamala Harris, Jake Sullivan, Biden “, William J, Burns, Mohammed Saber, John F, Kirby, emboldening, John Hannah, José Andrés, Andrés, Zomi Frankcom, Damian Soból, Barack Obama, Bibi, ” Ben Rhodes, Obama, ” Jon Favreau, doesn’t, ‘, ’, aggravation, Jill Biden, Joe, ” Julian E, Barnes, Katie Rogers, David E, Sanger, Lara Jakes Organizations: Israel, Hamas, Credit, Associated, U.S . National Security Council, NATO, Democratic, CNN, Republican, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Iran, Central Kitchen, Shutterstock, Jewish Institute for National Security of America, Biden, Mr, Israel Defense Forces, White Locations: Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Jerusalem, Ashdod, Jordan, Brussels, Michigan, Washington, Delaware, Iran, Syria, United States, Cairo, “ Hamas, Haiti, Cyprus, U.S, “

☆ Biden Chides Netanyahu, Threatening to Pivot U.S. Policy
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-04 | by ( Cassandra Vinograd | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +13 min

During a 30-minute call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, President Biden went further than ever in pressing for change in the military operation. “President Biden emphasized that the strikes on humanitarian workers and the overall humanitarian situation are unacceptable,” according to a White House summary of the call. But Mr. Kirby would not outline specific metrics for judging Israel’s response or what Mr. Biden would do if not satisfied. Mr. Biden called himself “outraged and heartbroken” over the incident and made a point of calling Mr. Andrés to express his condolences. Bibi obviously doesn’t care what the U.S. says, its about what the U.S. does.”Jon Favreau, a former chief speechwriter for Mr. Obama, was even more derisive of Mr. Biden.

Persons: Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel, President Biden, Biden, “, Netanyahu, ”, Fatima Shbair, Antony J, Blinken, ” Mr, Biden’s, Chris Coons, Mr, Coons, Kamala Harris, Jake Sullivan, Biden “, Mohammed Saber, John F, Kirby, emboldening, John Hannah, José Andrés, Andrés, Zomi Frankcom, Damian Soból, Barack Obama, Bibi, ” Ben Rhodes, Obama, ” Jon Favreau, doesn’t, ‘, ’, aggravation, Jill Biden, Joe, Katie Rogers, David E, Sanger, Lara Jakes Organizations: Israel, Hamas, Credit, Associated, NATO, Democratic, CNN, Republican, American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Iran, Central Kitchen, Shutterstock, Jewish Institute for National Security of America, Biden, Mr, Israel Defense Forces, White Locations: Gaza, Israel, Rafah, Brussels, Michigan, Washington, Delaware, Jerusalem, Iran, Syria, United States, “ Hamas, Haiti, Cyprus, U.S, “

☆ Ukraine’s Arms Industry Is Growing, but Is It Growing Fast Enough?
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Ukraine’s military had only one Bohdana artillery cannon in its arsenal when Russia invaded the country two years ago. Now, Ukraine’s arms industry is building eight of the self-propelled Bohdana artillery systems each month, and although officials will not say how many they’ve made in total, the increased output signals a potential boom in the country’s domestic weapons production. Russia’s war machine is already quadrupling weapons production in round-the-clock operations. Ukraine’s forces are losing territory in some key areas, including the strategic eastern town of Avdiivka, where they withdrew from in February. And while European defense firms are gingerly opening operations in Ukraine, major American weapons producers have yet to commit to setting up shop in the middle of a war.

Organizations: NATO Locations: Russia, Ukraine, Kharkiv, Avdiivka, U.S

☆ Lloyd Austin Praises NATO Allies for Commitment to Ukraine
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-19 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

With additional American aid still in doubt, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on Tuesday called for “creative, adaptable and sustainable ways” to continue arming Ukraine and praised European allies who were trying to bolster Kyiv’s military as the war against Russia entered a critical stretch. Mr. Austin, in Germany for the start of a semiregular meeting of nearly 50 nations who are supplying Ukraine’s forces, said that allies would “dig deeper to get vital security assistance to Ukraine.” He singled out Denmark, France, Germany and Sweden for recent donations of weapons and noted the Czech Republic’s efforts to provide 800,000 artillery shells — the first tranche of which could arrive on the battlefield within weeks. Germany’s defense minister, Boris Pistorius, said Berlin would send Ukraine 10,000 rounds of badly needed artillery shells, 100 armored infantry vehicles and transport equipment in a new infusion of support worth 500 million euros, about $544 million. “Things are progressing sometimes in small steps, sometimes in larger steps, but the main thing is the constant supply of ammunition,” Mr. Pistorius told journalists in Germany, according to local news reports.

Persons: Lloyd J, Austin III, Austin, ”, Boris Pistorius, Mr, Pistorius Organizations: Russia Locations: Ukraine, Germany, Denmark, France, Sweden, Czech, Berlin

☆ Ukraine Could Deploy F-16s as Soon as July, but Only a Few
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-11 | by ( Lara Jakes | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The jets are ready, and the flight instructors are waiting, at a new training center in Romania that was created to teach Ukraine’s pilots to fly the F-16 warplane. But the delay is a window into the confusion and chaos that has confronted the military alliance’s rush to supply the F-16s. That is not to say that Ukraine’s pilots are not being prepared. Twelve pilots so far — fewer than a full squadron — are expected to be ready to fly F-16s in combat by this summer after 10 months of training in Denmark, Britain and the United States. But by the time the pilots return to Ukraine, as few as six F-16s will have been delivered out of about 45 of the fighter jets that European allies have promised.

Persons: It’s Organizations: NATO Locations: Romania, Denmark, Britain, United States, Ukraine

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