On Friday, September 6, 2024, the 24th meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group took place at the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany. After the meeting, which was attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and the Netherlands announced new military aid packages for Kyiv.
Photo: Chad J. McNeeley, US Department of Defense
USA
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced that over the past 2.5 years, a coalition of 50 countries has provided Ukraine, defending itself against Russian aggression, with military aid valued at more than 106 billion USD. The Department of Defense has published another aid package, the twelfth this year (and the 70th overall), as well as the eleventh under the new law, valued at USD 250 million. Details of the package: The Seventieth U.S. Military Aid Package for Ukraine.
United Kingdom
The British government has announced that it will deliver 650 Lightweight Multirole Missile (LMM) Martlet light anti-aircraft missiles, produced by Thales Air Defence, with an effective range of 6-8 km, as part of a package valued at 162 million GBP.
The LMM missile is 1.3 meters long, 76 mm in diameter, and weighs 13 kg, with a 3 kg warhead. Powered by a two-stage solid fuel rocket motor, it achieves a speed of Mach 1.5 and a range of up to 8 km. The missile is guided actively or semi-actively using a laser beam, and in the terminal phase, it is guided by an infrared seeker.
This weaponry was first observed in the Armed Forces of Ukraine on April 10, 2022. It is launched from portable shoulder-mounted launchers and Alvis Stormer tracked vehicles.
LMM Martlet / Photo: Thales Air Defence
Germany
German Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced that Berlin will send an additional 12 Panzerhaubitze 2000 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine, with an estimated value of 150 million EUR.
“This year, six state-of-the-art artillery pieces with a range of over 30 km will be delivered, and another six next year,” said Pistorius.
Additionally, Pistorius said that his country and its European allies would like to deliver another 77 Leopard 1A5 tanks as soon as possible. The defense minister stated that Germany, together with Denmark, has already provided Kyiv with 58 of these tanks.
Earlier, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced an order for the purchase of eight additional medium-range IRIS-T SLM air defense systems and nine short-range IRIS-T SLS systems for Ukraine. Ukraine will receive two IRIS-T SLM and two IRIS-T SLS systems this year, with the remaining systems starting from 2025. According to Bloomberg, citing an anonymous German government official, all 17 systems will be delivered by 2026.
Germany is the second-largest arms supplier to Ukraine, following the U.S. To date, the country has allocated funds for military support to Kyiv and committed to future expenditures totaling approximately 28 billion EUR. According to the draft budget for 2025, 4 billion Euro in military aid will be provided to Ukraine, which is half of this year’s allocation.
Germany is and will remain the strongest supporter of Ukraine in Europe. We will support Ukraine for as long as it takes.
It was good meeting you today in Frankfurt, @ZelenskyyUa! pic.twitter.com/reGEp4yesz— Bundeskanzler Olaf Scholz (@Bundeskanzler) September 6, 2024
#Luftverteidigung ist für die 🇺🇦 Bevölkerung überlebenswichtig. Deutschland finanziert 24 #IRIST-Systeme bis 2026. 7 davon hat 🇩🇪 bereits geliefert. 4 werden noch 2024 folgen. Minister #Pistorius hat weitere Unterstützung in diesem Jahr angekündigt. pic.twitter.com/Uz7DqA57q6
— Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) September 6, 2024
Canada
Canada will send Ukraine over 80,800 engines for CRV-7 unguided rockets, including those previously retired from service by the Canadian military, as well as 1,300 warheads for them, according to Minister of National Defence Bill Blair.
Ottawa will supply Kyiv with 970 C6 (FN MAG) 7.62 mm general-purpose machine guns and 10,500 9 mm pistols, as well as parts for retired Canadian armored vehicles: 29 M113s and 64 Coyote LAVs.
It was also reported that the first shipment of modernized LAV ACSV (Armoured Combat Support Vehicle) Super Bison armored vehicles has arrived in Europe, and training for Ukrainian military personnel has begun. In September, 10 ACSV AA (Armoured Ambulance) medical evacuation vehicles will be delivered to Ukraine. An additional 40 vehicles (in the transport variant) will begin arriving in the spring of 2025, with deliveries expected to be completed by the end of the year.
This month, training will begin on the operation of Teledyne SkyRanger R70 unmanned aerial vehicles, with the purchase of over 800 units announced on February 19 of this year. In August, Canada delivered IT equipment worth approximately 200,000 CAD to support Ukraine’s cyber capabilities.
Today, the Honourable Bill Blair, Minister of National Defence, and General Jennie Carignan, Chief of the Defence Staff, participated in the 24th Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) meeting at Ramstein Air Base in Germany: https://t.co/jcul60kOxX pic.twitter.com/kL4Tcut0nr
— National Defence (@NationalDefence) September 6, 2024
Kingdom of the Netherlands
The Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands has announced a support package worth 80 million EUR for the operation of Ukrainian F-16AM/BM multirole aircraft. The package includes large quantities of spare parts, generators, ground vehicles, necessary maintenance materials, specialized tools, and aircraft stairs, as well as undisclosed air-to-air missile weaponry. Details have not been revealed for security reasons.
It is worth noting, however, that a day later, the Dutch government received approval from the U.S. to purchase 246 AIM-9X Tactical Sidewinder Block II short-range missiles for up to 691 million USD. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that this purchase is intended to replace the weaponry currently being supplied to Ukraine.
Vandaag maakte @DefensieMin Brekelmans bekend dat Nederland onderhouds- en instandhoudingsmaterialen voor de Oekraïense F-16’s gaat leveren. Er wordt ook gezorgd voor lucht-luchtraketten om het Oekraïense luchtruim te verdedigen: https://t.co/erIcebfepK pic.twitter.com/9bXMypf2ml
— Ministerie van Defensie (@Defensie) September 6, 2024