Inside the multinational logistics cell coordinating military aid for Ukraine

STUTTGART, Germany — As the war between invading Russian soldiers and defensive Ukrainian troops enters its sixth month, nations around the world have provided billions of dollars worth of military assistance to Kyiv to help defend its sovereignty.

Since early March, a cohort of American service members and a rotating crew of multinational partners have set up shop in U.S. European Command headquarters to ensure equipment gets from the donor nation to Ukraine’s doorstep.

That team, known as the EUCOM Control Center-Ukraine/International Donor Coordination Centre, or ECCU/IDCC, oversees the deliveries while also ensuring Ukrainians receive proper training for the equipment.

The logistics cell grew out of two discrete teams led by the U.S. and U.K. militaries, officials told reporters Wednesday at EUCOM headquarters at U.S. Army Garrison Stuttgart in southwest Germany. The command had set up the ECCU/IDCC to help coordinate partners’ military assistance going to Ukraine; its British counterparts had a similar idea. Now, the two nations lead the joint cell that includes allies and partners from around the world.

“Our aim is to support the Ukrainians to defend their sovereignty,” said Rear Adm. Duke Heinz, director of logistics at U.S. European Command. Shortly after the Russian invasion, the U.S. military saw a willingness from allies and partners to provide Ukrainians with security assistance.

“The goal was: We need to deconflict that,” Heinz said. “We don’t know how much the Ukrainians can absorb, and … we didn’t want border control crossing points that were delivering security assistance [and] munitions [at] the same border control points that independent agencies were using to deliver blankets and first aid kits.”

‘A coalition of the willing’

From a stifling hot — and air conditioning-free — secure multipurpose space known internally as “the Attic,” dozens of service members from across 26 NATO and non-NATO nations are separated into sections to work on plans, support efforts, communications, movements and operations. A row of foreign liaison officers from rotating nations are also present. A Ukrainian military representative is embedded with the team, identifying the requests coming from Kyiv that are then worked by the ECCU/IDCC team.

Officials described the process as similar to a registry, where Ukraine puts in a request for specific equipment, and participating nations identify the needs they can fill and to what extent.

The multinational team is a “coalition of the willing,” the officials said, providing any combination or amount of transportation, aid, training resources or funding.

Ever since the U.S. and U.K. groups merged in March, the cell’s functions have evolved. At the start of the war, the logistics coordination cell largely supported the delivery of small arms munitions and anti-tank equipment, said British Army Brig. Gen. Chris King, chief of the ECCU/IDCC. Then, it began helping transfer Soviet-era equipment that was more complex to move, yet familiar to Ukrainian forces, he added.

With the arrival of sophisticated equipment provided by NATO and other allies, the cell is now a “one-stop shop” that not only coordinates and tracks deliveries coming from all over the world to Ukraine, but also organizes the training of its armed forces to operate and sustain the equipment. The challenge is lining up the training schedule with equipment deliveries, Heinz noted.

That process is also multinational. King described a situation where the United Kingdom donated 105mm howitzers to Kyiv. Since New Zealand is an operator of that howitzer, the Pacific nation provided training support and parts, while the training itself was conducted in the United Kingdom. The U.S. military supplied ammunition and tactical vehicles to tow the howitzers.

The United States has trained approximately 1,500 Ukrainian troops to date, according to EUCOM. The United Kingdom has committed to providing a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, with the potential to train up to 10,000 soldiers every 120 days, a spokesperson said.

Despite Russian threats to disrupt the West’s efforts to arm Ukraine, the ECCU/IDCC team has so far avoided major issues, officials said.

The cell has not yet experienced a cyberattack or other forms of disruption from Russia, King said. “But [Russia] will continue to learn, and we need to be ready for that.”

Heinz said his team hasn’t experienced mobility obstacles in getting equipment to Ukraine’s borders. “Security assistance doesn’t stack up here on the continent in a warehouse,” he explained, adding that the longest time a piece of equipment would sit in an airport or train depot would be 12-24 hours.

When a nation offers to provide military assistance, the cell coordinates the logistics to keep the assets “in flow” from the providing nation to the border of Ukraine. The door-to-door process can take 48-96 hours, Heinz said.

Three allies bordering Ukraine are allowing military assistance to be dropped off on their borders; Poland is the sole nation that EUCOM would identify.

Two of the three nations allow Ukrainians to enter the country and travel to a specific pickup point to gather the equipment. “So the Ukrainians are responsible for the movement to the border, and what border control points they will transition into the country,” Heinz said.

The third nation requested equipment be taken right up to the border and transitioned from there, he added.

Asked about whether military systems could end up on the black market, Heinz said the team has been “very upfront” with Ukraine officials about “the intent” of the use for U.S.-provided military equipment.

“We’re not serial-number tracking these once they go across the border,” he noted. “We know everything that we’ve delivered. … We have an inventory of it. But once it crosses the border, it’s in the Ukrainians’ hands.”

He added that thus far, the team is unaware of any deliveries failing to reach their final destination.

Shifting mobility modes

As of July 21, the ECCU/IDCC team had coordinated the movement of 78,000 tons of military assistance over 1.4 million kilometers (869,920 miles)of airspace and 450,000 kilometers (279,617 miles) of ground distance. A source close to the cell told Defense News the estimated value of materiel donations is difficult to quantify due to several factors, including a lack of information from providers.

More than 800 flights have transported equipment to the Ukrainian border as of that date, but officials noted that while the cadence of deliveries to Ukraine remained constant over the past few months, those methods have changed.

In March and April, it was easy to fly in small arms as well as anti-tank and anti-armor capabilities that nations initially provided, Heinz noted. Now, as the equipment list expands to include tanks and howitzers, rail and sea methods are also being employed.

“But the flow has been nonstop,” he said. Even as European parliaments begin their summer vacations and the United States preps for midterm elections in a few months, there’s no fear of a “summer lull” in deliveries, he added.

King noted that when the cell was first set up, the team was moving quickly to coordinate the rapidly incoming military assistance donations. Now, the team is planning deliveries up to two months out, he said.

The flow of Soviet-era equipment has started to dwindle, but the countries who donated those assets are now interested in replacing those aged systems with NATO-specific military assets, Heinz noted. “I think the future for the alliance looks fairly bright, from a military equipment footing perspective,” he said.

There remains one supplier of Soviet-era 152mm and 122mm mortar shells that’s providing equipment from a hot production line, Heinz said, though he declined to name the supplier.

More equipment on the horizon

On Wednesday, the U.S. Defense Department announced it would send additional M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems to Ukraine, bringing the total number committed up to 16.

As Kyiv’s military assistance registry grows and evolves over the course of the war, Heinz said he will not rule out the U.S. providing other types of high-performance equipment.

“This conflict is very different from three and a half months ago,” he noted. “If you had asked us then, ‘Hey, would you think you’re going to deliver HIMARS to the Ukrainians?’ I would have said, ‘Probably not.’ ”

“So I would be cautious to say: ‘We won’t deliver X to the Ukrainians,’ ” he added. “Based on their ability to fight and win, as they’ve shown, anything’s on the table.”

Vivienne Machi is a reporter based in Stuttgart, Germany, contributing to Defense News' European coverage. She previously reported for National Defense Magazine, Defense Daily, Via Satellite, Foreign Policy and the Dayton Daily News. She was named the Defence Media Awards' best young defense journalist in 2020.

德国斯图加特——随着俄罗斯入侵军队与乌克兰防御军队之间的战争进入第六个月，世界各国已向基辅提供了价值数十亿美元的军事援助，以帮助其捍卫主权。

自 3 月初以来，一批美国军人和一支轮换的多国合作伙伴队伍已在美国欧洲司令部总部设立办事处，以确保设备从捐助国运送到乌克兰的家门口。

该团队被称为欧盟司令部控制中心-乌克兰/国际捐助协调中心（ECCU/IDCC），负责监督物资交付，同时确保乌克兰人接受适当的设备培训。

官员周三在位于德国西南部斯图加特美国陆军驻军的欧洲司令部总部向记者透露，后勤保障小组是由美英两国军方分别领导的两个独立团队发展而来。此前，该司令部设立了欧洲协调部队/国际发展协调中心（ECCU/IDCC），旨在协调伙伴国向乌克兰提供的军事援助；英国方面也有类似的想法。如今，美英两国共同领导着这个联合小组，成员包括来自世界各地的盟友和伙伴。

“我们的目标是支持乌克兰捍卫其主权，”美国欧洲司令部后勤主管杜克·海因茨海军少将表示。俄罗斯入侵后不久，美军便感受到盟友和伙伴向乌克兰提供安全援助的意愿。

海因茨说：“我们的目标是：我们需要消除这种冲突。我们不知道乌克兰人能承受多少，而且……我们不希望在同一个边境管制点，既有运送安全援助物资和弹药的边境管制点，又有独立机构用来运送毛毯和急救包的边境管制点。”

“自愿者的联盟”

在一个闷热潮湿、没有空调的封闭式多功能空间（内部被称为“阁楼”）里，来自26个北约和非北约国家的数十名军人被分成若干小组，分别负责制定计划、开展支援工作、进行通信、协调行动和作战部署。一排来自轮换国家的外国联络官也在场。一名乌克兰军方代表也加入了团队，负责收集来自基辅的请求，这些请求随后将由东欧联合军种司令部/国际防务协调中心（ECCU/IDCC）团队进行处理。

官员们将这一过程描述为类似于一个登记册，乌克兰提出对特定设备的请求，参与国确定他们能够满足的需求以及满足的程度。

官员们表示，这个多国团队是一个“自愿联盟”，可以提供任何组合或数量的运输、援助、培训资源或资金。

自美英两国相关机构于三月合并以来，该后勤协调小组的职能已发生转变。英国陆军准将、ECCU/IDCC负责人克里斯·金表示，战争初期，该后勤协调小组主要负责运送小型武器弹药和反坦克装备。随后，该小组开始协助转移苏联时期装备，这些装备运输起来更为复杂，但乌克兰军队却很熟悉。

随着北约和其他盟国提供的先进装备的到来，该中心现在已成为一个“一站式”服务中心，不仅负责协调和追踪来自世界各地运往乌克兰的物资，还负责组织乌克兰武装部队的操作和维护训练。海因茨指出，目前的挑战在于如何使训练计划与装备交付时间相匹配。

这个过程也是跨国合作的。金描述了英国向基辅捐赠105毫米榴弹炮的情况。由于新西兰是该型榴弹炮的使用国，这个太平洋岛国提供了培训支持和零部件，而培训本身则在英国进行。美国军方提供了弹药和用于牵引榴弹炮的战术车辆。

据美国欧盟司令部称，迄今为止，美国已训练了约1500名乌克兰士兵。一位发言人表示，英国已承诺为乌克兰军队提供大规模训练行动，有可能每120天训练多达1万名士兵。

官员们表示，尽管俄罗斯威胁要破坏西方向乌克兰提供武器的努力，但ECCU/IDCC团队迄今为止避免了重大问题。

金表示，该组织尚未遭受来自俄罗斯的网络攻击或其他形式的干扰。“但俄罗斯会继续学习，我们需要为此做好准备。”

海因茨表示，他的团队在将设备运往乌克兰边境的过程中没有遇到任何运输障碍。“在欧洲大陆，安全援助物资不会像在仓库里那样堆积如山，”他解释说，并补充道，一件设备在机场或火车站停留的最长时间也只有12到24小时。

当一个国家提出提供军事援助时，该小组会协调后勤工作，确保物资从援助国“畅通无阻”地运抵乌克兰边境。海因茨表示，这种门到门的运输过程可能需要48到96个小时。

与乌克兰接壤的三个盟国允许向其边境运送军事援助物资；欧盟司令部只指出波兰是其中之一。

这三个国家中有两个允许乌克兰人入境，并前往指定的领取点领取设备。“因此，乌克兰人需要自行决定前往边境的路线，以及他们将通过哪些边境检查站入境，”海因茨说道。

他还补充说，第三国要求将设备直接运送到边境，然后从那里进行交接。

当被问及军事系统是否会流入黑市时，海因茨表示，该团队已就美国提供的军事装备的“用途”与乌克兰官员进行了“非常坦诚”的沟通。

“这些货物一旦过境，我们就无法追踪它们的序列号了，”他指出。“我们知道我们交付了多少货物……我们有库存清单。但一旦货物过境，就落入乌克兰人手中了。”

他还补充说，到目前为止，团队还没有发现任何货物未能送达最终目的地的情况。

转变出行方式

截至7月21日，ECCU/IDCC团队已协调运送了7.8万吨军事援助物资，运输距离超过140万公里（86.992万英里）的空域和45万公里（27.9617万英里）。一位接近该团队的消息人士告诉《防务新闻》，由于包括供应商信息不足在内的多种因素，物资捐赠的估值难以量化。

截至目前，已有 800 多架次航班将设备运送到乌克兰边境，但官员们指出，虽然过去几个月向乌克兰运送物资的节奏保持不变，但运送方式已经发生了变化。

海因茨指出，在三月和四月，各国最初提供的轻武器以及反坦克和反装甲装备很容易空运。现在，随着装备清单扩大到包括坦克和榴弹炮，铁路和海运也开始被采用。

“但货运量一直没有间断，”他说道。他还补充说，即使欧洲议会开始夏季休会，美国也在为几个月后的中期选举做准备，也不用担心货运量会出现“夏季低迷期”。

金指出，该小组成立之初，团队迅速行动，协调源源不断涌入的军事援助捐赠。他说，现在，团队的物资运送计划已经排到了两个月之后。

海因茨指出，苏联时代的装备供应已经开始减少，但捐赠这些装备的国家现在有意用北约专用的军事装备来替换这些老旧系统。“我认为，从军事装备基础的角度来看，北约的未来相当光明，”他说。

海因茨表示，目前仍有一家供应商提供苏联时代的 152 毫米和 122 毫米迫击炮弹，并且生产线仍在高速运转，但他拒绝透露供应商的名称。

更多设备即将问世

周三，美国国防部宣布将向乌克兰增派 M142 高机动性火箭炮系统，使承诺的总数达到 16 套。

随着基辅的军事援助登记册在战争过程中不断增长和发展，海因茨表示，他不排除美国提供其他类型的高性能装备。

他指出：“这场冲突与三个半月前的情况截然不同。如果当时你问我们，‘嘿，你们觉得会把HIMARS导弹系统交付给乌克兰人吗？’我会说，‘可能不会。’”

“所以我会谨慎地说：‘我们不会把X交给乌克兰人’，”他补充道。“鉴于他们已经展现出的战斗和取胜能力，一切皆有可能。”

薇薇安·马奇是驻德国斯图加特的一名记者，主要负责《防务新闻》的欧洲报道。她此前曾为《国家防务杂志》、《防务日报》、《卫星通讯》、《外交政策》和《代顿每日新闻》撰稿。2020年，她荣获防务媒体奖最佳青年防务记者称号。