STUTTGART, Germany — It takes a village to help Ukraine fight the Russians.
Consider a recent shipment of 105 millimeter howitzers. Britain donated the weapons and New Zealand trained Ukrainian soldiers in their use and provided spare parts. The United States provided the munitions and the vehicles to tow them, and transported the load to a base near the Ukrainian border.
The choreography for the sequence was the work of dozens of military logistics specialists housed in a large, secure attic at U.S. European Command headquarters in Germany. The little-known group plays a pivotal role in keeping the Ukrainian military armed and equipped as its needs on the battlefield grow more complicated.
Think of the cell as a cross between a wedding registry for bombs, bullets, and artillery rockets, and a military version of FedEx. Uniformed officers from more than two dozen countries try to match requests from Ukraine with donations from more than 40 countries, then arrange for shipments to be transported by air, land or sea from donor countries to the Ukrainian border. for pickup. All in about 72 hours.
“The flow has been unbroken,” Rear Admiral R. Duke Heinz, chief logistician for European Command, told a small group of reporters who toured the logistics hub last week.
As the brutal five-month-old war appears to be approaching a new phase – with Ukraine laying the groundwork for a major offensive in the south of the country – Ukrainian political leaders and commanders are pressing the United States and their other allies to accelerate and expand the flow of arms and ammunition.
The Weapons Distribution Nerve Cell, officially called the International Donor Coordination Center, is where this is happening. For such a prestigious mission, the uncooled room has a distinctly stripped-down feel. Officers sit at long folding tables, typing on their laptops or conversing on headsets with colleagues in several different languages.
The center began 24-hour operations in March, combining British and American efforts to coordinate the flow of weapons and equipment. The process is simple. Ukraine submits requests through a secure and classified database. Military officers consult the online list to determine what their countries can donate without jeopardizing their own national security. Nations also contribute training and transportation. A Ukrainian three-star general working at the center answers questions and clarifies his country’s priorities.
About 75% of the weapons are sent to transit bases in Poland, where Ukrainian troops pick up their cargo and bring it back across the border.
In nearly five months, the center moved more than 78,000 tons of weapons, ammunition and equipment worth more than $10 billion, US and Western military officials said.
Once the weapons are in Ukraine, US and Western military officials say they are unable to track them. They rely on stories from Ukraine to learn how and where weapons are used.
Kitty Bennett contributed to the research.
nytimes Gt