US to send hundreds of armored vehicles, rockets to Ukraine as part of 2.5 bil assistance

The United States said on Thursday it would send hundreds of armored vehicles plus rockets and artillery shells to Ukraine as part of a $2.5 billion military assistance package.

The package includes 59 Bradley Fighting Vehicles, 90 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers, 53 mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, and 350 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, the US Defense Department said in a statement.

The 59 Bradleys included in the latest US package come after a previous 50 announced earlier in January. The armored Bradley has a powerful gun and has been used by the US Army to carry troops around battlefields since the mid-1980s.

The latest assistance also includes additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), eight Avenger air-defense systems, tens of thousands of artillery rounds, and about 2,000 anti-armor rockets, the Defense Department said.

Previous aid to Ukraine

In total, the United States has committed more than $27.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February last year.

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