[Goose]

The Ukraine military is doing ok thus far.  They could be doing better with more advanced U. S. weapons.  I saw a convoy of Russian supply trucks on a road on a news broadcast.  They would be sitting ducks for a fleet of drones armed with smart bombs.  When it comes to military drones most people think of the Predator which is becoming somewhat obsolete.  There are much smaller, far less expensive drones developed in the last decade.   They are mobile and fairly easy to operate. 

I was involved in manufacturing some components for the Coyote drone which is designed to be used in autonomous swarms.  Originally intended for surveillance; it now has warheads.  

I'm sure there are some good reasons why the Pentagon is not supplying it's most current technology.  There are far more options available than Javelin and Stinger missiles.  I was involved with the Stinger program back in the 1980s.   If the war drags on the US can supply weaponry that is much better than what Russia currently has on the ground in Ukraine.

The US is balancing what it provides vs how much we think it will anger the Russians. This is not a "rational" exercise, and I have no idea how we are going to do it. Advanced drones may be considered off limits and/or there are concerns that training will take too long.
The Ukrainians want an air umbrella to protect them from Russian bombing and cruise missiles. A Patriot battery would do that, but training the users would certainly take too long and Russia would probably regard it as an act of war. We are trying to supply S300 systems from other nations because the Ukrainians already know how to use them. They already have some, so giving them more is less objectionable, especially if we don't declare we did it. This really needs to happen. Why it hasn't may be that it actually has and we don't know it.
For Ukraine to have any chance at all of driving the Russians out of their country they need a significant number of surface to surface missiles. They need to be able to project power in a way that will prevent the Russians from just pounding the cities from a distance. Ukraine right now has no answer for the bombardment. Counter-battery and offensive bombardment of their own is needed. We won't give them airplanes to do it, so we need to give them something. We did send them FireFinder radars, but what are they supposed to do with the results?
We are supposedly giving Ukraine anti-ship missiles to defend their Southern coast. My guess is that we are looking at obsolete Soviet missiles (SS-N-2 probably). No time to waste here. Russia may not intend to attack Odessa from the sea, but they have the forces in place to do so. This ties down Ukrainian forces that are needed elsewhere. A means to frustrate such an attack with fewer people is very desirable. SS-N-2s are familiar to the users. They aren't "modern" but a landing ship approaching the coast is a sitting duck. SS-N-2s will do fine in that scenario, especially if the Russians don't know they are there.

[Goose]

The Ukraine military is doing ok thus far.  They could be doing better with more advanced U. S. weapons.  I saw a convoy of Russian supply trucks on a road on a news broadcast.  They would be sitting ducks for a fleet of drones armed with smart bombs.  When it comes to military drones most people think of the Predator which is becoming somewhat obsolete.  There are much smaller, far less expensive drones developed in the last decade.   They are mobile and fairly easy to operate. 

I was involved in manufacturing some components for the Coyote drone which is designed to be used in autonomous swarms.  Originally intended for surveillance; it now has warheads.  

I'm sure there are some good reasons why the Pentagon is not supplying it's most current technology.  There are far more options available than Javelin and Stinger missiles.  I was involved with the Stinger program back in the 1980s.   If the war drags on the US can supply weaponry that is much better than what Russia currently has on the ground in Ukraine.

The US is balancing what it provides vs how much we think it will anger the Russians. This is not a "rational" exercise, and I have no idea how we are going to do it. Advanced drones may be considered off limits and/or there are concerns that training will take too long.
The Ukrainians want an air umbrella to protect them from Russian bombing and cruise missiles. A Patriot battery would do that, but training the users would certainly take too long and Russia would probably regard it as an act of war. We are trying to supply S300 systems from other nations because the Ukrainians already know how to use them. They already have some, so giving them more is less objectionable, especially if we don't declare we did it. This really needs to happen. Why it hasn't may be that it actually has and we don't know it.
For Ukraine to have any chance at all of driving the Russians out of their country they need a significant number of surface to surface missiles. They need to be able to project power in a way that will prevent the Russians from just pounding the cities from a distance. Ukraine right now has no answer for the bombardment. Counter-battery and offensive bombardment of their own is needed. We won't give them airplanes to do it, so we need to give them something. We did send them FireFinder radars, but what are they supposed to do with the results?
We are supposedly giving Ukraine anti-ship missiles to defend their Southern coast. My guess is that we are looking at obsolete Soviet missiles (SS-N-2 probably). No time to waste here. Russia may not intend to attack Odessa from the sea, but they have the forces in place to do so. This ties down Ukrainian forces that are needed elsewhere. A means to frustrate such an attack with fewer people is very desirable. SS-N-2s are familiar to the users. They aren't "modern" but a landing ship approaching the coast is a sitting duck. SS-N-2s will do fine in that scenario, especially if the Russians don't know they are there.