Defence Secretary Ben Wallace recently made a statement to the UK Parliament updating the country on the UK’s continued programme of military aid to Ukraine, including the supply of drones, missiles, tanks and artillery.

Wallace said:

“In December I told the House that I was developing options to respond to Russia’s continued aggression in a calibrated and determined manner. Today I can announce the most significant package of combat power to date to accelerate Ukrainian success. This includes:
  • A squadron of Challenger 2 tanks with armoured recovery and repair vehicles.
  • We will donate AS90 guns to Ukraine. This comprises a battery of eight guns at high readiness and two further batteries at varying states of readiness. This donation will not impact our existing AS90 commitment to Estonia.
  • Hundreds more armoured and protected vehicles will also be sent including Bulldog.
  • A manoeuvre support package, including minefield breaching and bridging capabilities worth £28 million.
  • Dozens more uncrewed aerial systems worth £20 million to support Ukrainian artillery.
  • Another 100,000 artillery rounds; on top of the 100,000 rounds already delivered.
  • Hundreds more sophisticated missiles including GMLRS rockets, Starstreak air defence missiles, and medium range air defence missiles.
  • An equipment support package of spares to refurbish up to a hundred Ukrainian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles.

While the tanks and the AS90s will come from our stocks, along with their associated ammunition, a significant number of the other donations are being purchased from the open market or from supportive third-party countries.”

He also added:

“This week dozens of nations will meet in Ramstein, Germany, to progress further donations and international coordination. The Kremlin will be in no doubt that we are resolved to stand by Ukraine in her fight. Doubling down on the success of our basic training of Ukrainian military in 2022 in the United Kingdom, we are also now increasing this number this year to a further 20,000. Canada, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Lithuania, Norway, New Zealand, the Netherlands have already joined this effort and I’m pleased to say we are now going to be joined by a group of Australian military to train in this country as well. Leaving their summer to join our winter.

Our decision today is a calibrated response to Russia’s growing aggression and indiscriminate bombing. The Kremlin must recognise that is it their behaviour that is solidifying the international resolve and that despite the propaganda Ukraine and her partners are focused on the defence of Ukraine. None of the international support is an attack on Russia, or NATO-orchestrated aggression, let alone a Proxy War.

At its heart it is about helping Ukraine defend itself, upholding international law and restoring its sovereignty. We believe that in 2023, increased supplies, improved training, and strengthening diplomatic resolve will enable Ukraine to be successful against Russia’s poorly led and now badly equipped Armed Forces.

From the outset President Putin believed his forces would be welcomed with open arms, that Ukrainians wouldn’t fight and that Western support would crumble. He has been proved wrong on all counts. Today’s package will help accelerate the conclusion of Putin’s occupation and all its brutality and ensure that in 2023 and beyond if necessary, Ukraine maintains its momentum, supported by an international community that is determined more than ever that Putin’s illegal and unprovoked invasion will fail.”

You can read the full statement here.

George Allison
George Allison
George has a degree in Cyber Security from Glasgow Caledonian University and has a keen interest in naval and cyber security matters and has appeared on national radio and television to discuss current events. George is on Twitter at @geoallison
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109 COMMENTS

  1. Good enough.
    Keep it up.
    Replenish our stocks
    Uplift our stocks
    Uplift our capabilities in a timely manner.
    Did I say keep it up?

    • I don’t think he mentioned anything about replenishing or uplifting stocks and capabilities in any manner at all. Just lots of virtue signalling for the sheeple. If this thing kicks off and NATO mobilise, we are snookered. Barely enough to sustain our pitifully small armed force as it is. Let alone equip mobilised reserves and conscripts to fight a long war. This “generosity” and 30 years of peace dividends, will bite us in the soft parts.

  2. One issue, will the treasury backfill these assets?? My fear is they won’t on the basis that many of these vehicles were destined for decommissioning. The denouement of these reserve stocks is a real concern to me and the opposition parties have been stressing the same point. AS90 replacement should be brought forward in the budget plan to ensure the artillery is properly equipped and taken seriously after the importance of the weapon during the Ukraine war. The same goes for towed systems too, which also appear to be few on the ground.

    • We are reducing to 2 front line regiments on AS90.

      That means 24 guns per Regiment, with 3×8 gun Batteries.

      The fleet was already down to 89 after decades of cuts from a once 6 Regiment force.

      30 is a big cut from 89 but with the reduction ongoing ( 3 RHA is converting/has converted to MLRS ) as part of FS, then this is doable. Let Ukraine use them.

      As I have said on other threads, hopefully the FMF program can deliver more than 2 regiments worth, perhaps 3, to also support another brigade.

      • Who in the MOD allowed the endless spiral of reduction in the RA’s field weapons? It makes no sense and what body said the days of artillery were over, probably the same heads that announced the death of the MBT. Artillery has always been at the forefront of British campaigns and has shown remarkable success in doing so. I’m puzzled by the way such weapons have been diminished without any tangible evidence that we need less of these systems in our land forces.

        • I agree, for me the RA is the, or should be the primary strike arm of the army.

          It has been neglected for decades going back to the early 2000s and countless improvement programs shelved.

          Who allowed it? Every DS, CGS, and government back to the early 2000s. Plenty of culprits.

          • Problem was the ridiculous notion that state vs state warfare was a thing of the past and that all future warfare would be against insurgents.

            The Army’s basically been tailored to fight the Taliban and other insurgents.

          • Agree, the RA was consistently ignored and no armoured programs whatsoever I can think of beyond Titan, Trojan, Terrier, and the panicked UOR’s went through to completion from the early 2000s on.

      • As there was already plans to replace the AS90s and cut the chally numbers, it doesn’t really cause much of an issue. It creates a gap that will need to fixed and will force the treasury hand in that respect (can’t indefinitely delay the decision as appeared to be the plan until now). There appears to be plenty of time to fill the gap as there is no real land threat against the UK currently and for sure Ukraine needs them more than we do. Clearly the concern everyone has here is that the treasury won’t open it’s cheque book and this will just be a stealth cut in capability, saving the government the bad news stories from anothet SDSR.

        • The number of FMF guns and the ORBAT they fill will answer that, so we wait and see.

          To balance that, the precision side with MLRS is expanding greatly, from 6 batteries up to 8 or even 10.

      • As the Ukr is already using the brave heart turret how much of a problem would it be to replace the AS90 barrel when it wears out with the bigger barrels on the Krabs?

    • Gentlemen, please permit an interjection from an outside observer w/ perhaps a slight glass half-full bias: ‘Big Ben’ Wallace and Rishi Sunak, w/ the probable complicity of Jeremy Hunt, are indulging in perhaps the greatest good cop–bad cop financial shakedown of the Treasury since the height of Cold War 1. A masterful stroke to exhibit the altruism of large donations to UKR, whilst simultaneously clearing out the cupboard of problematic legacy systems; thus setting the stage for humble requests of the Treasury to backfill deficits. Honestly, the MoD couldn’t buy better PR for love or money. The British Army has just been delivered its regeneration plan. Textbooks are going to be written about this strategy in the future. Very impressive–could only wish the home team was taking notes from the masters…🤔😳

      • Could prove to be a very interesting ‘Come to Jesus’ meeting on Friday in Germany re UKR armaments. US and Germany at an impasse. If the consensus develops around sending the entire CR2 fleet, to be backfilled by Tank X, what should it be? Leopard 2? Abrams? Other? 🤔😳

        • As your fmr CIA Director wrote, just give them the tanks.

          However, quantity has a quality. They don’t need a Squadron, nor Brigade, I suggest they need a Division based Armoured formation able to break through, seize territory and rupture the Russian RCZ and bring this war to an end.

          America should send tanks but leverage Germany to supply the Division with one logistics tail.

          • Really don’t understand, or buy into, rationale for American hesitance. Hell, the UKR could employ Abrams in a defensive array to guard Lviv and/or Odessa. You can’t really f**k things up too badly in terms of maintenance, if you only occasionally cycle the engine, can you? Germans agree to allow export of Leopard 2 in requisite quantities. Finis. Simples!

  3. Can we please put out the begging bowl to the Americans to get some of the surplus M777 that the USMC no longer needs. This would fill the gap left by UK artillery gifted to Ukraine.

  4. UK continues to lead the European effort to support Ukraine. This is a well timed announcement to put pressure on other nations ahead of the meeting on Friday in Ramstein. Hopefully the rest will now step up with similar packages.

    • What needs to be made very clear is just how perilous the situation is on the ground in Eastern Ukraine. Without a meaningful supply of weapons and delivery systems, the fortunes of war could swing in Russia’s favour. The dithering of some key countries is less than impressive and needs to be addressed. The failure of the Russians to rapidly gain ground initially must not be mistaken for potential defeat as the Bear has an uncanny habit of regrouping and digging in. The British effort is very supportive and must be reassuring to the Ukrainian people.

      • Agreed. It’s taking too long to commit weapons to Ukraine, almost as though some countries want to to just contain the Russian forces rather than expel them. Presumably due to the fear of escalation.
        But the longer the Russians sit in Ukrainian territory the more they can dig in their current positions, and reorganise and learn from their previous blunders. When your opponent is reeling, you keep pummelling him with punches, you don’t give him a breather to recover.

        • Agree to disagree?

          The US should be leading by example and thereby wiping the floor with low level objections by Germany.

          However, Germany has a political debate ongoing, it has to play out. Pollies are pollies.

          • I’m not sure it’s just political debate.

            On paper Germany has 300 tanks but the Der Spegal article earlier this month, which hastened the demise of the previous defence minister, put the number available at 148 max. There was also doubts about ammunition and spares as the Bundeswehr has closed depots and moved to a commercial ‘just in time model’.
            It could well be the case that Germany could donate embarrassingly few tanks, compared to other nations that use the Leopard 2.

            As for the US, they’re right about the higher level of logistical support required for the Abrams compared to other tanks – not to mention it’s higher thirst for fuel due its turbine. Best the US could do would be to buy up Leopards from countries outside Europe (or from the Rheinmetall stocks of old returned tanks) for donation to Ukraine.

            One thing is for sure, Germany’s prevarication over giving other countries permission to re-export tanks they have bought is going to make countries think twice about buying weapons systems from them in future.

          • We’d hope so about future sales.

            Never knew that the Heer had so few platforms, suddenly, our C3 doesn’t look sooo bad.

            The hesitant line on supplying Ukraine must change from we have no objections to a line of let’s get this done; however, as I wrote in another reply, I suggest UAF need an Armd Div for breakout and rupture of the Russian RCZ.

          • Der Spegal’s international edition has a revealing article (in english) published January 14th about the true state of Germany’s armed forces. It also details the unusual, compared to other nations, method they use for counting what they have available for use. The latter perhaps part explains the new defence minister’s announcement of an audit of what they have with regards to Leopard tanks.

            While Ukraine is well equipped with Soviet eta tanks now, an armoured division (or more) would make all the difference in liberating occupied areas.

      • Hopefully it will compel the French and the Germans to start giving some of their own tanks to Ukraine, too.

        Or, for Germany, at least to allow other nations with the Leopard II to donate them to Ukraine.

      • Germany is not dithering. Germany is debating her Constitution given to her by the Allies and also a country electorate educated to respect self defence and non violence.

        Stop knocking the Germans, good things take time and every pollie the world over wants to stay in power… Poland are leading; train up the tank crews for when Germany feels it can flip – and they will.

        Then UKR just needs an Armoured Div and this shit show ends and Putin enjoys an encounter with a Makarov pistol bullet.

        To the back of the head.

        • I have to disagree.

          German export law put’s the giving of permission to re-export tanks by other nations soley in the hands of the Chancellor – not the defence minister, cabinet, or Bundestag. Nothing in the constitution is stopping giving permission to other nations, nothing is stopping them donating tanks. Germany has certainly been happy to sell tanks abroad in the past, or backfill with tanks those nations who gave soviet era tanks to Ukraine.

          Unfortunately Olaf and the political establishment still cannot accept how deeply flawed their policy of Ostpolitik was.

          • You’re right, should you bear in mind that pollies want re-election and the electorate, AIUI are hesitant about sending tanks.

            Here is a non-nuclear power potentially facing off against Russia – unfortunately, rather than get the deal done, they have wormed and squirmed and feel the full force of a nuclear strike on their heads – after all, where will mad Vlad stop?

            Difficult.

            Germany should endorse transfer, acknowledge support of spares etc and let other States step up.

            The free world will endure the consequences but as someone who has had almost 60 years of threats from Russia, feck ’em.

          • Unfortunately crimes of the past has left Germans with deep-seated pacifist views. Yet they still had no issue with fielding a powerful military with thousands of tanks during the Cold War. It would suggest that so long as they are not directly threatened themselves, which forces them to confront the practicality of these views, then they’ll be reluctant to aid others.

            Politicians need to remember they need to do the right thing, not the popular thing, sometimes.

            Of course Vlad isn’t mad, evil and unscrupulous yes – look how he had the FSB bomb Russian apartment blocks as an excuse to attack Chechnya. But insane enough to push a nuclear button, no.

            Yeah, f@ck the Russians. Hopefully this war will end with Putin and his henchmen gone, and a collapse of the Russians Federation into its constituent republics.

  5. This leaves out an interesting addition from Wallace. C3 numbers are to be reviewed based on the tank warfare in Ukraine. Artillery replacements due 2030 are to be accelerated. An interim artillery system will also be pursued. I just hope some sense prevails and people are realising the world is not the safe land of fairies and fluffy bunnies so many believed it to be.

  6. Decent package, well done! Wonder what the other armoured platforms are as well as the bulldog? More wheeled UORs we were looking to get rid off anyway? Panther? The whole range of protected patrol vehicles?

    • Some of the UORs were bought into core, such as Foxhound, so I would not want to see them given away.
      Don’t know if Husky has already gone.

      • Yes mate was the Foxhound planned to be utilised by 4 of the Battalions in the BCTs? But for the life of me I’ve not kept my ear to the ground and have not kept up with current planning/changes and general repeated clusters 😂👍

        • Mate…leave that to me….that’s my job!! 😬

          The Foxhound is meant to equip ( I think ) 5 Battalions of 7 LMBCT.

          I’d prefer if Warrior was retained with the ABCTs, the Boxer went to 7, and the Foxhounds went to some Bns with 4 LBCT giving us some more mechanization.

  7. All very well but will AS90 be replenished? Can we afford to give C2 Tanks? Talk of the British Army getting the Korean K9 to replace the AS90 – When? Can we trust anything when even the RN Type 32 is in doubt.

  8. Great news in a long time- I bet the conference in Germany is also going to reveal a lot including a dispatch of F15, 16 and Typhoon to Ukraine- If speeding up the conclusion of this war is what we want to see in 2023.

  9. Is there any merit in buying back Jordan’s 400 odd Challenger 1s and upgrading them and gifting them all to Ukraine? Restart Challenger production line to show the German’s sorry the Russians we mean business. Would this be the cheapest way of facilitating Ukraine’s move over to NATO standard with the smooth bore 120mm gun if we started building the C3 Turret under license making 650 required.

    • Finally some sense.yes buy back jordanian tanks.
      upgrade chalenger to C3 start now
      UK tank force is too small.not sure What more evaluation they need its all out there since the Syrian war turkish war Armenian war.
      now ukrainian war.
      As90 down to 48 operational guns rediculous mlrs can not replace effectiveness of mobile arty
      dont buy m777 manpower intensive slower to move
      UK has made desastorous decisions on naval acqisition and on airforce cutbacks see training constraints.Wake Up.

    • Not really as discussed else where the problems with logistics to keep them running ie spares,ammo etc and the time it would take to get them and prepare them for a war in Europe would take too long. Don’t forget these tanks are 70/80 s vintage.

    • There is – as i said on the other thread they could be a Goldmine on one Hand,or just a Big pile of scrap on the other.None of us on here know the condition they are currently in,how many there actually are and how willing would Jordan be to part with them.

  10. Good to see other countries investing in new equipment.

    Lynx production begins in Hungary18 JANUARY 2023

    “The Hungarian Ministry of Defence (MoD) ordered 209 Lynx armoured vehicles, nine Büffel 3 armoured recovery vehicles, nine armoured vehicle-launched bridges (AVLBs), and 16 trucks, plus ammunition, simulators, training, an initial supply of spare parts, and maintenance support worth more than EUR2 billion (USD1.85 billion) in September 2020.”

  11. “This comprises a battery of eight guns at high readiness and two further batteries at varying states of readiness.”

    I had assumed that the batteries not at high readiness could be made ready shortly after the start of a war, yet here we are nearly 11 months in.

    If I’m being optimistic I’d say it was part of a tactic to not show their cards to the treasury too early.

  12. Germany is refusing to supply Ukraine with Leopard 2 or permit other nations which have the tank to supply the tank unless the US also sends tanks. This means the M1 Abrams. Obviously both nations are wary of raising the stakes. Frustrating for Zelensky.
    How about the US pays for a hundred or so Jordanian CR1s; not leading edge maybe but proven superior to the T72 and several grades above the T62 ‘s in service with Ukraine?

      • My understanding is that it’s an export licence situation. Bit like the UK not being able to export a piece of mostly UK kit but containing US technology, without permission from the US.

          • History and collective guilt. it is also very odd that you have members of the German Government contradicting each other

          • Paul,
            I am very well aware of Jordan’s CR1s (Al-Hussein) – I disposed of the CR1s to Jordan when I was at HQ QMG, Andover. They have had them for 20 years and are disposing of them about now, but I have no idea how they are going to do that – they may require permission from HMG if they sell or gift them on. Not sure what state these 40-year old tanks will be in.

            It is up to Jordan if they want to gift them to Ukraine – they have the ability to refurbish them and might possibly have some of the spares we provided them with 20 years ago, but that may be optimistic. I am sure we would assist if required.

            The older marks of M60 (from the 1960/70s) really are ancient and would be of little use – standard thin armour, very high profile, and only a 105mm gun. Newer M60s/upgraded ones might be OK, but nothing like as good as other western options.

          • There’s a YouTube, chally1s are very different to C2s in multiple respects, especially laying on the gun with C1 found to be very un-ergonomical and a tad challenging.

          • Interesting background. Thx . I had the thought that these tanks, even the latest M60s would be superior to T72 while not being subject to the political charge of being ‘offensive’. Do the job but not rub Putin’s nose in it so to speak.

          • Ah, right. Reading the article it wasn’t clear to me whether Rheinmetall were proposing to upgrade the turret on the CR1s to a smooth bore gun. You could read it either way. I wonder if they have it mind to upgrade the CR1s instead of the UK CR2s. Where would this work be done?

          • The article certainly talks about Rheinmetall being prepared to upgrade a ‘double digit’ number of CR1s, but they would be the Jordanian ones as Oman has CR2s (just 38).

            Not sure what they propose by way of upgrade but it must include fitting their own 120mm smoothbore gun, I would have thought. I guess they would do the upgrade at their site in Kiel or the RBSL site at Telford.

            The company is teamed with BAE in RBSL and are converting 148 CR2s to CR3, as we all know – that would of course be unaffected by the Rheinmetall CR1 proposal.

            Sourcing CR1 spares now will be a massive challenge and they could not do the work before the expected Russian Spring offensive – I think it is a PR stunt.

            Equally KADDB could upgrade the CR1s in Jordan, if someone asked the Jordanian Govt to do so and paid some money.

          • Think I may have said that later mark M60s might be better however still only a 105mm gun, speed of only 12mph X-country and torsion bar suspension which is hard to repair/change.

  14. I have come to the conclusion that this country cannot keep away from conflict. Although not actively involved we are sending tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and training their troops. It is because of our involvement in wars that we went from a super power to a second rate nation. We are financially broke. We are spending billions in the Ukraine that we don’t have. Our people are going through the worst time they have had in fifty years, and it is here at home where these Tory clowns should be looking. Their mismanagement has put us in our present position and the Ukraine shows that they have not changed one bit.

      • I am a socialist, and I care for those at the bottom of the ladder. The
        Labour Party would probably be as useless as the present set of clowns. I don’t give a rats arse about Russia or the Ukraine, it is our own people who should come before anyone, and at the moment they are having a rough time. The billions spent in the Ukraine could be used here. A start could be the NHS.

        • Perhaps you could the£1.2bn a year spent on illegal immigration towards your social agenda’s! That would help the NHS but there again you could give them the entire GBP and it still won’t be enough in the present way it’s being run!

          • I do care about my own people, I make a donation to the local foodbank quite often and I am a pensioner. I do not have the capacity to care for the planet.

        • “I am a socialist, and I care for those at the bottom of the ladder.”

          But only as long as they’re in the UK, right?

          Lets ignore the thousands of civilians being attacked, butchered, made homeless right on Europe’s doorstep, right?

          “The billions spent in the Ukraine could be used here. A start could be the NHS”

          Planned spending for the Department of Health and Social Care in England is £180.2bn in 2022/23.

          The UK spent just £2.3bn on Ukraine in 2022, which (if my maths is wrong, and it probably is), represents about just 1.3% of the total budget.

          Personally, I think we should be spending more on supporting the Ukrainians.

        • If Russia took Ukraine it would not stop, Moldova would be next on the shopping list followed by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This would be a new iron curtain !

    • More political chuff, but I presume you would be happy to see Ukraine dominated, its people raped and murdered, its systems broken down and an oppressive regime installed…..I see your a great example of the brainwashed, spoon fed left. Well done, every time you post you confirm to the grown ups why we debate politics and not just baaaaaaaah away.

      • Doubt you’ve got the cognitive ability to look at the next hour, let alone next week. Bet you said the same brain dead BS about Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria etc

          • I don’t expect you to understand or be able to comprehend. It’s not part of a me me me narc’s makeup, it’s like trying to reason with a household pet. Cat, hamster, goldfish, take your pick. Probably a hamster, tory boy. 🐹👍🏿

          • Like I have said, every time you post or reply you confirm all I am saying. Good lad, well done, glad you are proving to the observers on here how the extreme left have limited ability to comment, post or debate. Keep it up pal, this is most entertaining!

      • Thanks for the derogatory remarks. Wherever there is conflict civilians always suffer. We cannot take on all the problems in this world. We should look to the many problems we have here, and look after our own people first.

        • We look after our own people by looking at global issues and understanding where soft power yields some influence and where hard power fecks over a gang in Sierra Leone.

          That changed the dynamic of Sierra Leone and Blair called it right. PARA were critical to that happening. So your issue is with Govt not using BritMil as a force for good?

      • I think it’s a wah. The language is wrong.

        I’m Labour.

        Feck the Russians, increase the Defence budget, more T31 B2, more paramilitary RMP and bin PARA.

        You’re with me, right?

        • They are great replies and the accountancy behind them must legendary…

          However, there will be financial values inherent in those transfers and MoD need them returned to their budgetn

    • So many things to challenge in regards to this….

      1. “we are sending tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery and training their troops”. You would rather we left Ukraine to fend for itself? What kind of signal would that send to the Kremlin, may I ask?
      2. “It is because of our involvement in wars that we went from a super power to a second rate nation”. I would imagine the people of the Falkland Islands and indeed, those in Kuwait, may have a slightly different perspective.
      3. “We are spending billions in the Ukraine that we don’t have” – yes, to ensure that a European nation can successfully fight off an invasion by a bully-boy neighbour. because if we don’t, then Russia wont stop with Ukraine.
      4. “Our people are going through the worst time they have had in fifty years, and it is here at home where these Tory clowns should be looking”. So sod the Ukrainians then, we should just leave them to their fate and make sure that “we’re all right, Jack”?

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