The UK to provide Ukraine with highly capable M270 MRLS
The United Kingdom will provide Ukraine with M270 multiple rocket launchers, which can hit targets up to 80 km
The Secretary of State for Defense, Ben Wallace, stated this, Reuters reports.
Wallace said Britain's support for Ukraine was changing as russian tactics developed.
"These highly capable multiple-launch rocket systems will enable our Ukrainian friends to better protect themselves against the brutal use of long-range artillery, which putin's forces have used indiscriminately to flatten cities," the State Secretary said.
The provision of M270 systems has been agreed with the United States, as they are manufactured by a US company and require formal permission from Washington to transfer to a third party.
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Earlier, UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss and Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke Thursday morning about the transfer of the US-made M270 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, the Politico reports. The US had to officially approve the move due to export regulations, though the Biden administration was near certain to give the green light.
As reported, the UK announced to hand over an extra £1.3bn in military support to Ukraine, a significant increase in support for the country. The package marked the UK's highest rate of military spending since the end of the Iraq and Afghanistan campaigns.
On June 1, the United States unveiled details of a new $700 million military aid package for Ukraine, which included HIMARS missile systems for the first time. putin warned the West that russia would strike at new targets if the United States began supplying long-range missiles to Ukraine.
The provision of heavy weapons, like MRLS, is crucial for the Ukrainian army to get an advantage on the front and de-occupy the captured territories. russia overwhelms Ukraine with a number of heavy weapons, but the most significant imbalance is with MLRS, mobile batteries of long-range rockets, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said at Davos Forum. "Those countries who are dragging their feet with the issue of providing Ukraine with heavy weapons have to understand that every day they spend deciding, weighing different arguments, people get killed," he said.
