The Pentagon’s latest aid to Ukraine will include the Czech Republic’s upgrade of Cold War-era Soviet T-72B main battle tanks (MBTs). The US and the Netherlands are effectively “going Dutch” as Washington and The Hague will share the cost of renovating the tanks.
Super T-72B tanks
The United States Department of Defense (DoD) announced Friday that, as part of a nearly $400 million security assistance package for Ukraine, it will provide funding to refurbish its HAWK air defense missiles.
In addition, the assistance will include 40 armored riverboats, funding to refurbish 250 M1117 armored security vehicles, 1,100 Phoenix Ghost tactical unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Regular secure communications and surveillance systems and funding for training and maintenance.
The aid package will also include the upgrade/refurbishment of forty-five T-72B MBTs, with advanced optics, communications and armor packages. The tanks included in the package are part of a tripartite, coordinated effort with the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. These tanks will come from the stock of the Czech defense industry.
Some of the MBTs will be made available in Ukraine in the coming weeks, with additional deliveries to be completed early in the new year. A total of ninety T-72Bs will be procured from Prague.
According to the Department of Defense, unlike the presidential withdrawal authority, which the department uses to deliver equipment to Ukraine from the Defense Department’s stockpile, the United States Agency for International Development (USAI), is an authority under which the United States procures capabilities directly from industry.
