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- Ensure a full flow of real-time US intelligence information to Ukraine about Russian military capabilities, positions and intentions. Legal arguments that such sharing may implicate the US as a belligerent must be overcome immediately, for example, by fully embedding Ukrainian officers in our intelligence processing so they can report directly, rather than position the United States as “sharing.”
- US assistance already includes Stinger surface-to-air missiles, for low altitude air defense, but should also include systems to give a medium- and high-altitude capability. Ukrainian ground forces can hold their own against Russian ground forces, but we must not allow Russia to gain air superiority over Ukraine.
- Support the transfer by NATO allies of Soviet-made MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine, with financing as necessary by the European Union. These allies are willing to share the equipment, Ukrainians know how to use it already, and desperately need the additional air capacity.
- Provide US A-10 ground-attack aircraft – currently scheduled to be mothballed – to Ukraine as Excess Defense Articles. Thanks to prior military exchange programs, Ukraine already has a small number of pilots trained to fly the A-10. If spare parts and maintenance are required, use part of the US $1bn funding to allow Ukraine to hire private contractors, rather than involving US personnel directly.
