🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
The U.S. will send unguided Hydra-70 rockets in an upcoming tranche of military aid to Ukraine, according to new reports.
The fresh round of support, reportedly amounting to around $300 million, will include the Hydra-70 rockets alongside further supplies of artillery rounds and missiles. It may be announced as early as Wednesday and will feature demolition equipment and trucks, unnamed officials told Reuters.
The aid, which is expected to contain additional howitzer rounds and anti-tank rifles, will be taken from existing stocks, Reuters and the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
As of April 19, 2023, the U.S. has pledged $35.4 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the outbreak of full-scale war on February 24, 2022. Newsweek has contacted the U.S. Defense Department for comment via email.
Hydra-70 rocket systems are a range of 2.75-inch, or 70 mm, unguided air-to-surface rockets, described by defense manufacturer General Dynamics as "a lethal and lightweight weapon system with multi-mission capability."
The system can use nine different warheads, providing what General Dynamics called a "tailor-made solution" to the operator's needs. They are an "affordable" way of zeroing in on "lower-value targets on the battlefield," the defense contractor said.
They are fired from aircraft, and are compatible with the likes of the Apache helicopter and the F-16 fighter jet, General Dynamics said. It is the world's most commonly used helicopter-launched weapon system, according to the military website Army Technology.
General Dynamics have made more than four million of the air-launched Hydra-70 rockets since 1996. They have a range of around 10,500 meters, or about 6.5 miles, making them a shorter-range capability than other weapons systems provided to Ukraine. The U.S. has previously committed to sending ground-launched small-diameter bombs (GLSDBs), which have a range of 94 miles.
The reports come as Ukraine gears up for its long-touted spring counteroffensive, during which Kyiv has called for increased weapons deliveries.
In late April, Ukrainian defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, said the preparations for the concerted pushback against Russian forces "are coming to an end," and that Kyiv's fighters had received "state-of-the-art systems."
Reznikov's statement coincided with NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, telling the media that Kyiv had received 98 percent of the combat vehicles promised by the alliance. This included 1,550 armored vehicles and 230 tanks, he said.
Ukraine has declined to give specific details of counteroffensive operations. On Tuesday, Russia's defense minister, Sergei Shoigu, said that Russian forces were continuing to "eliminate weapons supplied by the West," adding that "it is necessary to double the volume of production of high-precision weapons in the shortest possible time," according to a defense ministry readout.
On Tuesday, Pentagon Press Secretary, Brigadier General Pat Ryder said that the front lines in Ukraine remained largely "static," but that "heavy fighting" continued in the fiercely contested Donetsk city of Bakhmut.
About the writer
Ellie Cook is a Newsweek security and defense reporter based in London, U.K. Her work focuses largely on the Russia-Ukraine ... Read more