The U.S. military is stepping up its weapons training for Ukrainian forces, with hundreds now training in artillery systems, drones and radars, defense officials said on Wednesday.
Efforts to remove Ukrainians from their country to train in many parts of Europe have intensified significantly after the Pentagon revealed in early April that it had trained about a dozen such soldiers on how to use Switchblade drones.
Now more than 220 Ukrainians are trained in American artillery, especially the M777 howitzer, a 10,000-pound system that can be towed by vehicles and hit targets up to 28 miles away with 155 mm rounds. Washington has promised 90 such systems to Kyiv.
Another 20 Ukrainian soldiers on Sunday completed a one-week training course on the newly developed Phoenix Ghost unmanned aerial vehicle system, 121 of which are being sent to Ukraine.
“And more to come,” a senior U.S. defense official said Monday, noting that more than 50 Ukrainians will arrive at one of the locations to begin training later this week.
“We are taking them on a simplified course here for the new equipment they will receive. The aim is to get them back as soon as possible so that they can then train others in their army of equipment, “General Joseph Hilbert, head of Europe’s 7th Training Army, told reporters on Tuesday.
US forces training Ukrainian troops are nothing new, although the Pentagon has had to make some adjustments on how to take such action after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In the past seven years, the United States has trained about 23,000 Ukrainian troops inside the country, an effort of $ 126 million, with training provided primarily by U.S. National Guard troops, according to Hilbert.
The training began in 2015 – after Russian-backed separatists began fighting in Ukraine’s Donbass region – and continued until earlier this year, when the threat of an impending Russian invasion forced the Pentagon to withdraw US forces from Ukraine.
In addition, Ukrainian forces have participated in more than a dozen major military exercises with US troops in Germany since 2015, according to Hilbert.
Prior to Russia’s invasion, the US military also planned for Ukrainian troops to conduct divisional exercises throughout the country.
Among the US troops withdrawn from Ukraine earlier this year were 160 members of the Florida National Guard who trained Ukrainians at the Yavorov Combat Training Center in Lviv.
“One of the lowest parts of her mission was when we had to withdraw them from Ukraine, from the operation in February,” Hilbert said.
Now U.S. forces, including members of the Florida Guard, are returning to instruct Ukrainians from outside the country, with the Pentagon first revealing late last month that it had begun training Ukrainians in artillery systems and radar at U.S. military facilities in Germany.
Among the sites is Grafenwörth, home to the Bavarian Army garrison, where about 50 to 60 Ukrainian soldiers have been instructed in howitzers. This first group is already returning to their country and training another tranche of 50 to 60 soldiers.
Hilbert said that the Ukrainians who train there already have experience with what they use, “so for howitzers they are already Ukrainian artillerymen.”
Although defense officials declined to offer details about other training sites and equipment, Hilbert said the troops took their training to heart.
“They understand how to manage it and use it as effectively as possible on their own and in accordance with their own tactics and doctrine,” Hilbert said of weapons and equipment. “The soldiers we receive here are absolutely motivated, incredibly professional.”
Lt. Col. Jeremy “Todd” Hopkins, deputy commander of the Florida Infantry Brigade’s 53rd Infantry Brigade, described a scene just days earlier when a Ukrainian soldier heard during his lunch break that his hometown had been attacked.
“He and his team immediately stopped what they were doing, stopped eating their lunch and returned to training, knowing they would return and support their homeland,” Hopkins told reporters.
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Training is not without its “natural challenges,” Hilbert noted, including the difficulty of overcoming language barriers in describing more technical parts of weapons and equipment.
The United States must also adapt the lessons based on what is happening on the ground in the battles in Ukraine.
“We are absolutely paying attention to what is happening there, and we are fully incorporating the lessons we have observed and the lessons we have learned in part of the training we are doing, and that is in full force,” Hilbert said.
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