‘Highly Effective’ Army Equipment Aiding Ukraine
‘Highly Effective’ Army Equipment Aiding Ukraine
Equipment the Army has been sending to Ukraine to help in the fight against Russia has been proven “highly effective” in combat, a senior Army official said.
Douglas Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said the performance of vehicles and munitions in Ukraine “validates the Army’s approach to how we produce things and how we test and design them.”
“Wars are complicated endeavors, they rise and fall based on many factors,” Bush said Aug. 7 during a meeting with Pentagon reporters. “American equipment that is getting to Ukraine is highly effective in combat, and that doesn’t just happen, that’s the result of decades of work by thousands of people to make sure our equipment’s tested well.”
Bush noted that the Army’s industry partners produce equipment “at a high level of quality.” While many allies and partners also contribute to production, Bush asserted that the United States produces the best in terms of quality.
Of the systems being sent to Ukraine, he listed as examples the Patriot missile system; the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, known as GMLRS; the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS; the Javelin anti-tank weapon system; many types of 155 mm artillery; counter-unmanned aerial systems and Bradley Fighting Vehicles.
On the way to Ukraine by early fall are M1 Abrams tanks, he said. The tanks, he said, “have to get to Europe and then to Ukraine along with all of the things that go with them—ammunition, spare parts, fuel equipment, repair facilities. It’s the full package that goes with it, and that’s still on track.”
Bush addressed “uninformed speculation” that U.S. Army stockpiles are at risk of being depleted in the race to help Ukraine. “There is a lot of support, we are working through our allies to help make sure Ukraine is supplied, so it’s not all the United States, and I think that’s a success story,” Bush said.
“The U.S. Army is committed to and will succeed in maintaining our stocks sufficient for training and readiness … while also supporting our ally Ukraine with what they need, working as part of an international team to make sure that happens,” Bush said. “The United States is the arsenal of democracy, but we can have multiple arsenals in other democracies, and we have those, and they’re helping.”