Foreign Affairs

With artillery playing a significant role in offensive and defensive operations, the UK has officially transferred their entire stockpile AS-90 self-propelled howitzers to Ukraine. Additionally, French President Emanuel Macron has confirmed that all French caesar self-propelled howitzers produced this year will also be sent to Ukraine, translating to more than 200 French and British self-propelled guns in 2025 alone. Additionally, the French foreign minister added that all profits generated from frozen Russian assets seized by France will be used to produce spare parts and equipment for the caesar guns sent to Ukraine. This will ensure that Ukraine can continue to operate them, even through high fire rates. Lastly, over two-thirds of the EU’s promised 2 million artillery shells have already been gathered in the first six months of the year. Europe and the countries it sources these munitions from are outproducing even the previously set goals, indicating a positive trend for additional deliveries in the future. Regardless, the current deliveries of shells, high-tech artillery guns, and spare parts will ensure that Ukraine can maintain an extraordinarily high fire rate, as it prepares to defend against the inevitable Russian summer offensive.

To combat Russian air strike capabilities, Ukraine is set to receive all six promised Norwegian F-16 fighter jets by the end of 2025, and Belgium donating 2 F-sixteens to use as spare parts. Additionally, footage captured of a German train convoy shows at least 10 more Gepard self-propelled air defense systems en route to the Ukrainian border. As Germany has halted public disclosures of its military aid deliveries to Ukraine, the real number is likely much higher. These weapon systems will be able to combat Russian drone and missile strikes from the air and from the ground, continuously increasing Ukraine’s defensive capabilities as Russia aims to do the same with its number of strikes.

I searched on each pertinent sentence and found numerous mentions in the media, although some sources are likely biased such as the Kyiv Post and Kyiv Independent. In the case of the UK AS-90 howitzer I saw a report on a UK military site indicating it was transferred earlier in the month. The news from France is also reported widely in the media. The news about the Norwegian F-16 fighter jets was released at the end of 2024.

Overall, I've been posting this blog for nearly 2.5 years and while it is biased, I've never found it to be inaccurate. It's up to debate as to whether that much fire power is called an "arsenal".