US adds 'kamikaze drones' in weapons flow to Ukraine

WASHINGTON • The Biden administration will provide Ukraine with additional high-tech defensive weapons that are easily portable and require little training to use against Russian tanks, armoured vehicles and aircraft, according to US and European officials.

In remarks on Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced US$800 million (S$1 billion) in new military aid for Ukraine, including 800 additional Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, 9,000 anti-tank weapons, 100 tactical drones and a range of small arms including machine guns and grenade launchers.

The Ukrainians have already proved their prowess at using British-provided and American-made anti-tank weaponry against Russia's much larger military.

But in an impassioned speech to Congress on Wednesday, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine asked for additional help as Russian troops pushed to encircle major cities.

US and European officials want to send more equipment that is easy to use by small teams, and has technology that can overcome Russian defences or exploit weaknesses, rather than weapons like tanks and warplanes that require significant logistical support.

The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to describe details of the weapons transfer publicly.

In addition to sending its own equipment, the United States is helping coordinate donations from European countries. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin is visiting Slovakia and Bulgaria in part to help with that effort.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, a senior defence official said the Pentagon would figure out later how to replenish its stockpiles. The official said the focus now was to make sure that the Ukrainians get the items quickly.

The Ukrainian military needs easy-to-carry and easy-to-use defensive weapons to continue to stall the Russian advance. The Ukrainians will succeed, military experts said, if they can operate in small teams, strike assembled Russian forces, then melt away to set a new ambush later.

As part of the package, the Biden administration will provide Switchblade drones, according to people briefed on the plans. Military officials call the weapon, which is carried in a backpack, the "kamikaze drone" because it can be flown directly at a tank or a group of troops, and is destroyed when it hits the target and explodes.

"These were designed for US Special Operations Command and are exactly the type of weapons systems that can have an immediate impact on the battlefield," said Mr Mick Mulroy, a former deputy assistant secretary of defence.

Bigger, armed drones, like US-made Predators or Reapers, would be difficult for Ukrainians to fly and would be easily destroyed by Russian fighter planes. But former officials said small, portable kamikaze drones could prove to be a cost-effective way to destroy Russian armoured convoys.

The US and its allies are trying to step up the flow of defensive weaponry to the Ukrainians and help them communicate more effectively by providing more gear.

The US has said it has provided some communications gear and Ukraine has said it wants more, including tactical radios and jamming gear to help prevent Russian forces from talking to one another.

Ukraine had asked for additional MiG fighter planes but has backed off that request. US and European officials said Ukraine's military is not flying all the planes it has.

In addition to anti-aircraft systems like the Stinger, Ukraine is requesting mobile air defence systems that can hit planes flying at higher altitudes, like the bombers that struck a training ground near the Polish border last Sunday.

While Ukraine has been modernising its military, its state-owned defence industry continues to make weaponry modelled on Soviet-era designs, such as Kalashnikov assault rifles. The new US package will include small arms like rifles, pistols, machine guns and grenade launchers in both Eastern and Western standard calibres.

The American Javelin and Britain's NLAW anti-tank missiles take just hours to learn how to use and have proved effective in the hands of Ukraine's military, officials said.

The Ukrainians have been able to destroy so many Russian tanks and armoured vehicles in large measure because they have good conceptual plans of how to use the anti-tank missiles and the bravery to employ them up close in battle, a British diplomat said in an interview on Wednesday.

The Ukrainians, the official said, "are fighting against an existential threat, and they aren't giving up. They have the will".

NYTIMES