Farewell 2022.
Let's take one last look at the stories that shaped this year:
War in Ukraine.
Business in Africa.
The enduring and evolving COVID pandemic.
A look back at the year that was, and what's coming in 2023 on the inside story: Farewell 2022.
Hi. I’m Carla Babb, reporting from the Pentagon, where we’ve been following one of the year’s most important stories --- Russia’s war on Ukraine.
The United States has so far committed more than $19 billion dollars in military aid since February 24. That’s on average about $2 billion per month for weapons, ammunition, training and other Ukrainian defense needs.
Let’s take a look at what weapons have been most effective on the battlefield, what additional weapons experts say are still needed, and what’s yet to come.
The battle for Ukraine is now a lethal artillery duel, with both sides burning through tens of thousands of rounds each week.
It’s been the artillery systems that have really won the day on many occasions for the Ukrainian defenders.
Analysts and former officials say the most effective systems the U.S. hasprovided to Ukraine are the U.K.-built M777 howitzers and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, more commonly known as HIMARS.
There are hundreds of Ukrainian baby boys that are named Himars now because it’s had such an impact there. And it is that long-range precision that is making such a difference.
Defense officials tell VOA the U.S. has delivered 20 HIMARS to date. The U.S. has provided GMLRS ((pronounced GIMLERS)) rockets for these HIMARS systems, which have a range of about 90 kilometers.
That’s good, but that’s not enough. The ATACMS rocket also fired by HIMARS would give a range of 300 kilometers. If the Ukrainians had that now, they could already be hitting Sevastopol and other critical sites inside Crimea.
As Russia improved its counter-drone capabilities on the battlefield,
Ukraine used American-made Switchblade drones, Phoenix Ghost drones and Turkish-made Bayraktar ((Bear-ak-tar)) drones, or UAVs, for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Ukrainians have basically taken their UAV-to-ground force pairing to an art form. They are a lot more flexible. A lot of their units actually feature tactical and long-range UAVs for artillery strikes, for providing situational awareness to the Ukrainian forces. And in many cases, they are simply better aware of where Russians are and can react much faster.
But Russia has an influx of drones, as well, from its ally, Iran. According to the Pentagon, Russia has deployed hundreds of Iranian-made attack drones to target critical infrastructure in Ukraine.
To knock them out of the sky, Ukrainian forces use air defense systems like American-made Stingers — heat-seeking missiles with a range of about five kilometers, small enough to carry on foot. Analysts say Ukrainian forces have managed to shoot down between 60 to 85% of Russia’s Iranian-made drones.
Last month, the Pentagon delivered two NASAMS to Ukraine — National Advanced Surface to Air Missile Systems — which can target drones, aircraft and cruise missiles.
From what I hear it's in the 30s for 30; kind of 35 attempted intercepts, 35 intercepts. It's doing very well. It’s defending major cities.
But Ukraine still struggles to defend itself from Russia’s Iskander ballistic missile striking deep inside Ukrainian territory.
The Pentagon’s solution, officials tell VOA, will be to send Patriot missiles to Ukraine to counter these weapons. But retired Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery warns the U.S. would likely need at least six months to a year to train Ukrainians to use the complex and costly system.
Each round of Patriot is between $3 and $4 million apiece. That is a very expensive system. It would use up a lot of the money being set aside for them.
Overall, analysts agree that U.S. and NATO weapons provided to Kyiv have critically helped Ukraine defend its homeland, with the former commander of U.S. Army Europe making this bold prediction:
If we keep doing what we’re doing right now, then I think Ukraine is on track to liberate Crimea by the end of August.
The Crimean Peninsula — illegally annexed by Russian since 2014 — serves as a hub for Russian fighters in Ukraine. Freeing it would be a huge blow to Moscow.
Sweden and Finland saw Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as unacceptable, and formally asked to join NATO for collective protection.
Our Senior Diplomatic correspondent Cindy Saine brings us up to date on where their NATO membership stands.