Sopuruchi Onwuka

Ukraine is expecting a supply of aerial equipment from the Western military allies as it prepares to push back enemy forces from areas of the country currently captured and annexed by Russia.

This time traditional helpers including the United States, Britain and Germany would be joined by France and Italy in providing the prospective NATO candidate with new set of sophisticated war machines that would majorly include drones.

With Ukraine gearing up for counteroffensive in its confrontation with invading Russia, its helpers from the West are relentless with supplies of equipment and munitions for the for the former Soviet state which  has determined to join western military alliance.

Since the war caught him unawares in February 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine has mounted vehement diplomatic offensive against stronger Russia, wining the support of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the American and European members of which have lived up to their indignation at the Russian invasion.

From the prevailing flow of tanks and artillery equipment, drones and hundreds of thousand munitions through Europe to Ukraine; the allies have also pledged supply military aircraft and more sophisticated drones.

President Zelensky was in Europe on diplomatic offensive on Russia during which he convinced the Catholic pontiff that Ukraine was never in confrontation but has become a victim of a belligerent invader.

In United Kingdom where he failed to gain audience to rally support for his country at the Eurovision games, President Zelensky consolidated on British support in the war effort.  

The British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, declared that the United Kingdom would deliver “hundreds” of long-range attack drones and air-defence missiles to Ukraine.

It was agreed that President Zelensky would meet Prime Minister Sunak at his countryside retreat at Chequers to discuss further military aid to sustain Ukraine’s long-awaited counter-offensive to expel their Russian invaders.

“This is a crucial moment in Ukraine’s resistance to a terrible war of aggression they did not choose or provoke.

“They need the sustained support of the international community to defend against the barrage of unrelenting and indiscriminate attacks that have been their daily reality for over a year,” Mr Sunak said in a statement.

“We must not let them down. The frontlines of Putin’s war of aggression may be in Ukraine but the fault lines stretch all over the world. It is in all our interest to ensure Ukraine succeeds and Putin’s barbarism is not rewarded.”

The pledges of further long-range weaponry comes after the UK provided Storm Shadow air-to-surface cruise missiles to Kyiv.

Britain did not announce what kind of drones would be donated to Kyiv, but said the unmanned aerial systems would have a range of over 124 miles, almost twice the range of the Himars rocket launcher system.

Kyiv has argued it needs longer-range weapons to hit Russian logistical and command and control targets deep behind enemy lines to disrupt their occupation.

Zelensky has been on a mini-tour of Europe, visiting Rome, Berlin and Paris over the weekend for talks with his Western allies.

French President Emmanuel Macron promised to train and equip several Ukrainian battalions with dozens of armoured vehicles and light tanks, including the AMX-10.

Germany vowed to send arms worth almost €3 billion to Ukraine, including more air defence missile systems and tanks in an attempt to heal past rifts between Berlin and Kyiv.

In the United States, Maker of Switchblade drones promised to equip Ukraine with advanced reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones.

The company’s CEO, Wahid Nawabi, said the drones, which are the company’s most advanced technology, will be sent to the Ukrainian Armed Forces as soon as the government is ready.

Meanwhile, it is reported that US-made Switchblade loitering munition drones are already in Ukraine

AeroVironment has also supplied Ukraine with more than 1,000 Switchblade and Puma drones at the request of the United States.

Jump 20 is a U.S. tactical unmanned aerial vehicle with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL). It is equipped with a payload compartment and has secure data transmission equipment.

The maximum takeoff weight of the drone is 97.5 kg, the payload weight is 13.6 kg, length is 2.9 m and wingspan is 5.7 m. The declared flight duration of the drone is over 14 hours, with a range of up to 185 kilometers when controlled from a ground station.

The Jump 20 drones were included in the U.S. military aid package announced by Washington on Feb. 24.