US Defense Department officials revealed that the "spirit of the phoenix" drones were manufactured by US forces at the request of the Ukrainians, as these drones were manufactured in just weeks.


They added that they are suicide marches that explode on their targets, a weapon similar to the Switchblade marches.. They also revealed that the new howitzer guns obtained by Ukraine are the size of 5 artillery battalions (72 guns and 144,000 rounds).


They said that the aid announced by the US President today would begin to reach the theater of operations within 24 hours.


US officials confirmed that the weapons are being handed over to the Ukrainians.


A senior US official said that the US Stinger missiles do not carry tracking devices to ensure that they are in the hands of the Ukrainian forces and not in a third party (there are fears that these missiles will fall into the hands of terrorists).


The US official said that the Ukrainians now have more armor on the battlefield than the Russian forces.


He stressed that the Russian forces now have 85 combat battalions operating on Ukrainian soil. The Russians have introduced three new battalions to the battlefield during the past 24 hours.


The US official said that the Russian forces have fired 1,670 missiles since the start of operations, some of which came from the Black Sea.


Changing the Balance of Power

The aid came after Ukrainian Prime Minister Dennis Shmyal said during his meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin that his country needed stronger assistance from the West to change the balance of power to end the war in their favour.


Ukraine's prime minister admitted that US aid helped push Putin back. Meanwhile, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that US aid to Ukraine included 150 howitzers, armored vehicles and radars.


New Weapons

Today, Thursday, US President Joe Biden spoke about the Russian-Ukrainian war as part of his efforts to complete a new weapons package for the Ukrainian army.

A source familiar with the matter said that Biden "is expected to talk about developments in our efforts to support Ukraine and the assistance we are providing."


Another US official told Reuters that the new weapons package would likely be the same value announced last week, which is $800 million, but details are still being worked out.


The US president had met with senior military officials at an annual meeting at the White House.


A spokesman for the US National Security Council said that the meeting touched on a number of issues, most notably the war in Ukraine and sending more military aid to it.


The US aid announced last week includes artillery systems, artillery shells, armored personnel carriers and unmanned coastal defense boats, thus expanding the range of materials sent to Kyiv to include new types of heavy equipment.


The size of the arms package expected this week is large, this means that the US military aid to Kiev will exceed three billion dollars since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.


A senior US defense official revealed that the United States sent four flights carrying weapons during the past 24 hours, including howitzers, and delivered a total of 40,000 artillery rounds to the Ukrainians.


The official indicated that his country has started training about 50 members of the Ukrainian forces to use howitzers, adding that the exercises are taking place outside Ukraine and will last about a week.


The official pointed out that the Ukrainian forces had introduced 20 combat aircraft to its air force after receiving spare parts abroad.


He explained that the Ukrainian airspace is being contested by the Ukrainian forces with the Russian aviation, which has so far avoided entering it.