UK is set to offer Ukraine more firepower after Salisbury arms summit with plans to provide anti-ship missiles and armoured vehicles that can withstand rockets

• Britain set to send heavier weapons and armoured combat vehicles to Ukraine 
• Sources say anti-ship missiles, recon vehicles and patrol trucks could be sent 
• UK aid ramped up as war enters what Liz Truss says is a 'new and difficult phase'

By MARK NICOL, DEFENCE EDITOR FOR THE DAILY MAIL-7 April 2022

Britain is to supply heavier weapons and armoured combat vehicles to support Ukraine.

UK aid is being ramped up as the war enters what Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called ‘a new and difficult phase’.

She predicted ‘a more concentrated Russian offensive’ in the days and weeks ahead as she met Nato foreign ministers in Brussels.

The offensive is expected to involve tens of thousands of Russian troops taking on Ukraine forces in the east of the country.

To ensure the protection of Ukrainian troops, Britain will provide armoured vehicles which can withstand explosive devices, rockets and rifle fire. 

According to sources, the UK has also agreed to send Harpoon anti-ship missiles in a bid to break the Russian navy’s siege of Black Sea ports.

Ukrainian top brass witnessed what vehicles and weapons the UK can provide at a demonstration on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, this week. 

Ukrainian top brass witnessed what vehicles and weapons the UK can provide at a demonstration on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, (pictured) this week

According to sources, the UK has also agreed to send Harpoon anti-ship missiles in a bid to break the Russian navy’s siege of Black Sea ports. Pictured: HMS Montrose test-fires a powerful 800mph anti-ship Harpoon missile in 2013

Among the kit expected to be sent is the biggest of the vehicles from the Army’s ‘Protected Patrol’ fleet – the Mastiff, which weighs 23 tons.

This 6x6 wheel-drive patrol vehicle can carry eight troops and two crew, and was designed to withstand high-grade Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) used by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Such is the level of protection it provides, a defence source last night likened it to the concrete defences built into coastlines during the Second World War.

Sources have said the smaller Ridgeback armoured patrol vehicle (above) could also be among the British hardware sent to the East

The British hardware heading to Ukraine 

• Harpoon anti-ship missiles: Fitted with a 500lb high explosive blast warhead, the system is carried by 600 Nato warships and 180 submarines around the world. The 15ft missiles are accurate to a range of 70 miles.

• Mastiff armoured patrol vehicles: Designed to be impregnable of the battlefield, it was developed after hundreds of British troops were killed or wounded by Taliban IEDs while in vehicles equipped with inferior armour. The vehicle has a top speed of 50mph and is armed with a 7.62mm general purpose machine gun, 12.7mm heavy machine gun or 40mm grenade launcher.

• Other vehicles may include the smaller Ridgback and the faster Husky: Reconnaissance vehicles such as the Jackal may also be sent.

The source said: ‘It is basically like a mobile pill box. You can pretty much fire anything at it in an urban environment and it will keep on going.

‘It is pretty well armed too. This vehicle should prove ideal for the Ukrainians given where the fighting is going to be taking place.’

Other vehicles from the Army’s fleet being considered for deployment include the Ridgback and the Husky.

UK military reconnaissance vehicles such as the Jackal may also be sent, however these offer less protection. 

Ukraine is suffering significant shortages of military vehicles and fuel, with Russia using precision air strikes to target fuel depots and oil refineries.

Kyiv’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba also attended the Nato talks. Asked what his priorities from the summit were, he replied: ‘Weapons, weapons, weapons.’

He later delivered a dramatic ultimatum, effectively telling Western leaders it was ‘now or never’ to give Ukraine what it needs.

Mr Kuleba warned: ‘Either you help us now, and I’m speaking about days not weeks, or your help will come too late and people will die. 

'We know how to fight. We know how to win. 

'But without sustainable and sufficient supplies requested by Ukraine, these wins will be accompanied by enormous sacrifices. The more weapons we get and the sooner they arrive, the more human lives will be saved.’

After failing to capture Kyiv, Russia wants to tighten its grip on the eastern regions, known as the Donbas. 

The Kremlin is sending thousands of extra troops to the area which consists of two regions, Luhansk and Donetsk.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss predicted ‘a more concentrated Russian offensive’ in the days and weeks ahead as she met Nato foreign ministers in Brussels on Thursday

Pro-Russian forces inspect the wreckage in the war-torn Mariupol

 

Speaking after the Nato meeting, Miss Truss said: ‘We agreed to step up support for Ukraine and we’ve also recognised the conflict has entered a new and different phase with a more concentrated Russian offensive.  

'Putin has changed his tactics but not his intent. He wants a hold over the whole of Ukraine.’

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinkin said Ukraine has, or will soon have, ‘ten anti-tank systems for every single Russian tank’.

It might take time, but there was ‘no scenario’ where Ukraine fails to triumph in the war with Russia, the diplomat added.