Wall Street Journal: The United States can supply Ukraine with powerful radar

The Pentagon is ready to supply Ukraine with a powerful long-range radar to help it in its fight against artillery used by pro-Russian separatists, the Wall Street Journal reports.

However, the newspaper points out that this initiative must first be approved by the White House, which is exploring the possibility of providing Ukraine with another package of non-lethal assistance.

This is happening against the background of increasingly loud demands for Washington to more actively help Kiev in the fight against the separatist insurgency, which continues to take lives, despite the ceasefire agreement.

“It would be useful for the Ukrainian military to get an additional and more powerful radar,” one senior official of the Obama administration told the newspaper.

The publication reminds that earlier this year, the administration, fearing an escalation of the conflict or provoking Russia, refused to send Ukraine lethal weapons, such as artillery installations or MANPADS. But administration officials claim that the new radar does not belong to offensive or lethal weapons, and therefore will not require a change in the political line.

The supply of anti-artillery radar, which tracks the trajectory of the flying projectile and determines the place of its launch, will be a response to the request of Ukrainian leaders who are looking for opportunities to deeper view the territory controlled by the separatists and open a more accurate response fire, the article says.

The Ukrainian authorities are talking about daily deaths or injuries of their soldiers from artillery fire. High-ranking representatives of the Pentagon have repeatedly argued that these artillery installations are supplied by Russia and controlled by Russian citizens.

The United States has already provided Ukraine with twenty light anti-bomb radars, another ten must be transferred before the end of the year, the newspaper said, citing unnamed officials. But their range is about ten kilometers. In addition, the USA supplies Ukraine with first-aid kits, night-vision equipment and body armor.

Now the US Army is exploring the possibility of supplying AN / TPQ-36 and AN / TPQ-37 Firefinder radars to Ukraine, officials say. Their range ranges from 24 to 50 kilometers. Pentagon officials said they were already looking for suitable installations and were preparing to send them, awaiting the decision of the White House.