Commentary
Over 200 million rounds of ammo for small arms and over 4 million rounds of ammunition for heavy weapons are just a couple of the eyepopping numbers released on May 3 by the Department of Defense’s breakdown of the $36.4 billion in security assistance the United States has given to Ukraine since the Feb. 24, 2022, invasion by Russia (pdf).
The sheer number of vehicles, rockets, missiles, tanks, artillery rounds, and armored fighting vehicles documented in the press release is overwhelming. But given the much-touted success that Ukraine has had in destroying Russian tanks, the 70,000-plus anti-tank systems are of particular interest.
The impact of putting tens of thousands of man-portable anti-tank weapons into the hands of Ukrainian soldiers cannot be overemphasized. While the Russians are far from the bumbling, drunk fools that much of Western media has been trying to make them out to be, there’s little doubt they initially underestimated how well-trained, well-equipped, and highly motivated the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) would be. And the Russian commanders clearly didn’t factor in just how devastating ubiquitous man-portable anti-tank weapons would be….