The focus of Western partners has significantly shifted to the repair and maintenance of weapons transferred to Ukraine. They realize that the war can last for months and years.
Pentagon spokesman William LaPlante told Politico.
During the 17 months of war, Ukraine has accumulated a stunning and diverse arsenal of equipment that needs to be repaired. Maintaining the operational condition of the military equipment handed over to the Ukrainians is one of the main functions of the 22-nation working group led by LaPlante. It is headed by the USA, Poland and Great Britain.
The group regularly meets with the Ukrainian military and asks about their needs. According to the representative of the Pentagon, Ukraine has already been helped to create a supply support service that oversees more than four thousand supply lines of spare parts for Western equipment transferred to the Ukrainian army.
"We make sure that Ukrainians have everything they need. And if spare parts need to be delivered from the country to the other end of the world, we provide delivery. So now most of the work is in health care,” William LaPlante noted.
The US has also translated more than 700 technical manuals for Western weapons into Ukrainian and has approached defense firms around the world to provide technical data packages for these systems.
- On June 13, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius promised to increase the supply of refurbished Leopard 1 A5 tanks to Ukraine amid reports of the loss of several Leopard 2s at the front.
- The publication Spiegel wrote that Berlin and Warsaw, for a number of reasons, cannot agree on the creation of a center for the repair of tanks transferred to Ukraine. German tank builders believe that the controversy over the tank hub is politically motivated. And on July 12, the German government refused to create such a center on the territory of Poland.
- Meanwhile, supplies of equipment to Ukraine continue. On July 19, the USA announced the provision of $1.3 billion in military aid to Ukraine.