The United States has delivered 20 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (Humvees) to the Ukrainian Army and special forces, the US embassy in Kyiv announced on January 15.
The delivery is part of the Ukrainian Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), for which the US defense department allocated $250 million in fiscal year 2020.
The USAI funds – $125 million of which was conditional on Ukraine’s progress on defense reforms – is aimed at providing equipment to support ongoing training programs and operational needs.
A particular focus of the initiative is the enhancement of Ukraine’s defensive lethal capabilities and situational awareness in the maritime domain, air surveillance systems to monitor sovereign airspace, command and control and survivability of Ukraine’s land and special operations forces.
The delivered Humvees are the up-armored M1151 versions with improved IED blast protection and small arms protection. They also feature upgraded engines to better handle the additional armor.
It is worth noting that the US will also be delivering new MK VI patrol boats to Ukraine under a contract awarded to SAFE Boats earlier this year.
