50% are not operational. we don t have the maintenance capability and to repair parts to keep those things operational. jamming is an issue, with he just need more himars system and we need to use those himars systems effectively and that means maintaining them appropriately. you talked about this potential ukrainian counteroffensive, i have a map of ukraine i want to show people the river here which is one of the world s key waterways but a strategically important water way in ukraine right now. you can see it divides the ukrainian forces and the russian forces toward the south of the country. where do you think it would be important for ukraine to strike if it can? well, they ve got about a 400 mile front there. the good news is that the russians are spread thin and what they ve got to do, they ve got to find one place, a weak innocence that front and they need to penetrate. in order and then they ve got to be conducting an envelopment that gets around them because they re not
people has been heroic. every time putin thinks he has something locked up he gets a serious fightback from the ukrainians and from the allies who are in lock step behind ukraine. i think this just has not gone the way putin wanted it to and this would be just another huge setback against heroic forces. congressman, i do want to ask you about a reported setback on the ukrainian side. there s indications there are indications that some of the himars system, the high mobility rockets the u.s. provided ukraine, that russians have been able to essentially hack the gps systems using electrical jammers. the u.s. is still committed to sending about another 20 or so to ukraine. is that something that at this point should be reconsidered? that would double the number that ukraine has right now. now, i think it is the right equipment and i think we need to keep that support. as you just pointed out i think another 20 more are on the way. these are key critical systems. i think they need ce
however, it is important to remember that tanks, just like any other western provided system, is not necessarily a golden bullet and not necessarily the answer to all of ukraine s needs. so, the use of tanks to conduct effective mechanised manoeuvre warfare is incredibly important, but so is the continued support of the west, in terms of artillery supply and the supply of long range precision weapons such as the himars system. on that point, i think the, kind of, so far, the level and cohesion of western support has surprises a lot of people, not least president putin, i m sure, but it can t last forever at this level. what happens if western military support dries up, if, for example, i don t know, the republicans get in, in the elections in the states, and they dial down how much they re sending, can ukraine still fight this war? well, the interesting part is we ve seen the ability of the ukrainians
going on for a year! we all know that in the course of the last year, we eventually had exhausted all the other options. we ve given the ukrainians what they need. whether it is the anti-tank missiles, whether it is the himars system, or whether it s now tanks. we ve always, sooner or later, come to the right answer and give ukrainians what they need. look if it s going to be sooner or later, if that s the choice, then let s give them what they need sooner! because that is the humane, the compassionate thing finish this war as quickly as possible, minimize the bloodshed, minimize the suffering, minimize the expense. and if we had started giving them airplanes a year ago, we d be that much further down the track. i don t believe it will take that long to train people up to fly the either typhoons, or f-16s, or grip in, or whatever we decide we are able to give them let s get on with it! maybe it s a question of sending people who can do the avionics, the ground stuff as
about the weapons. the president announced today there d be another half a billion dollars of military aid. that comes from the the $45 billion aid package the us congress pre approved in december. and what it consists of is more artillery. shells for howitzers, anti tank missiles, air surveillance radars, missiles for the longer range himars system. the truth is though it s not enough. tonight the european high representative for foreign affairs, josep borrell, said the europeans need to speed up production and delivery of the weapons system the ukrainians require. ukrainian army urgently needs large amount of ammunition to counter russian aggression. you may have a gun but a guy needs a bullet. especially for tanks and artillery. the best way to provide ammunition to ukraine is to share the already existing ammunition stockpiles in the european armies. we don t have to wait for them to be produced. we have to use what has already been produced in stockpile or has already