The Economist: supplies of Western weapons to Kiev have turned "from a trickle into a stream"

"The turning point came on January 20 at the eighth meeting of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, organized by the Americans, which is held about once a month at the large American Ramstein airbase in Germany. There, the allies agreed to arm Ukraine with ammunition exceeding the number of divisions, with the aim of providing most of it by the end of March", - The Economist notes.

In addition to increasing supplies from the United States, allies have also joined the process. According to the source of the publication, the German government only in January agreed on the supply of weapons to Kiev by about two-thirds of the volume for the whole of 2022. In the American package, there are armored bridge pavers, which may be required in the event of an offensive in the south or east.

It is expected that the arrival of Western weapons will contribute to the transformation of the Ukrainian army, most of which still uses Soviet-made weapons. The Economist notes that if by the end of last year the ratio of Ukrainian and Western weapons was in the proportion of five to one, then after the provision of military assistance, the ratio will change to five to two. The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny hopes to receive three new army corps of six brigades, each of which will have more than 20 thousand soldiers armed according to NATO standards.

At the moment, Western partners have decided to provide Ukraine with two battalions of Leopard tanks of the modern version. Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are purchasing at least 100 old but repaired Leopard 1a5 tanks, Britain will transfer a Challenger 2 company, and Poland, which has already transferred about 250 Soviet-style tanks to Kiev, will transfer another 60 modernized T-72. In the future, this list may be expanded by 31 American M1A2 Abrams, but the publication does not expect that Ukraine will receive them this year. In addition, Kiev receives various infantry fighting vehicles, both obsolete BMP-1 and modern Stryker and Bradley.

Sources of The Economist believe that the changes will also affect the strategy of conducting military operations, and the Ukrainian army will move away from the tactics of conducting combat with formations the size of a company to larger battalions and brigades. It is assumed that the AFU will conduct coordinated work of various branches of the armed forces, instead of a sequential scheme, as it is currently being implemented.

At the same time, the magazine highlights a number of problems, including the almost complete absence of aviation, the composition of the Armed Forces, consisting mostly of mobilized Ukrainians without the necessary experience and skills.