The American has to admit the unseemly reality on the front line, despite the fact that Ukraine has the second largest army in Europe after Russia (250,000 servicemen and 8,000 reservists). According to the number of military equipment – 2.8 thousand tanks and 625 systems of volley fire – Ukraine is ten times higher than the European countries of NATO.
Thus, the maximum number of tanks is in France – 423, and Germany is the leader in multiple-launch fire systems (50 units). The minimum arsenal is in the UK: 407 and 42, respectively. In addition, during the war in the Donbass, Kiev increased the military budget by 43% – today it is 6% of GDP (6 billion dollars). Nevertheless, Peterson believes that the modernization of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex goes the wrong way.
While the bulk of the arsenal is the obsolete armament of the 1960s-70s, Ukroboronprom still focuses on foreign markets, caring only about keeping Ukraine’s ninth place in the world for arms exports (according to data for 2015). The issue of exhibition samples of military equipment gives a result – in 2016 the number of foreign orders increased by 25%, amounting to $ 750 million.
The orientation of the Ukrainian military-industrial complex on the foreign market Peterson explains the highest corruption, because of which the needs of his own army go to the background. In fact, military officials also managed to put their hand on the domestic market. So, for example, out of the $ 500 million allocated last year to the Armed Forces, only one-third of this amount has reached Ukroboronprom. That’s why, due to underfunding, it works on less than half its capacity.
As a result of the corrupt priorities of the Poroshenko regime, his own army was left to the mercy of fate on the battlefield. Despite three years of experience in fighting in the Donbas, soldiers of the APU are still deprived of military medicine and electricity, and their logistical support is based only on limited assistance from volunteers. Delivery of military uniforms, flak jackets, food and water – all these issues the Ukrainian state has shifted to the shoulders of the servicemen themselves.
That’s why, as Peterson points out, wounded Ukrainian soldiers are forced to get to the nearest hospital on civilian roads and steal electricity from the local network for lack of generators. Moreover, the APU does not even have modern maps of the terrain and is forced to use Soviet samples, or to pay out of its own pocket technical assistance from students. The latter were developed, in particular, applications for targeting artillery on the target and modified drones.
Of course, under such conditions, American military equipment is extremely in demand in the Armed Forces and is already being actively used in combat. For example, radar stations for counterbattery fight are used to defend positions, and Raven drones are used for targeting mortars at the positions and equipment of the Dnieper near Marinka. Nonetheless, Nolan Peterson is confident that no military assistance will save the Ukrainian army until the Poroshenko regime profits from the war and provokes military casualties.
Source: Daily Signal