The US and Germany will send infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine.  The White House announced that it plans to send Ukraine a Bradley combat vehicle, a tracked armored fighting vehicle with an automatic cannon and machine gun. Meanwhile, Germany will provide a Marder infantry fighting vehicle. The announcements came a day after France said it would send its AMX-10 RC armored combat vehicles, a highly mobile wheeled system based on the powerful 105mm GIAT gun, Politico reported.

Berlin will also join the U.S. in handing over a U.S.-made Patriot air defense battery, bringing the number of Patriots in Kiev to two after the White House announced it last month.

Sending advanced infantry fighting vehicles to Ukraine could pave the way for deliveries of more powerful Western tanks, something U.S. and European allies have so far been reluctant to do, experts and two U.S. officials said.

These could include Germany's Leopard tanks or even the Army's M1 Abrams.

Western tanks - as opposed to less powerful wheeled vehicles with smaller guns - would be a game-changer for Kiev, which already uses Soviet-era tanks from its own stockpile and other tanks provided by European countries. Leopard or Abrams are more mobile, more accurate and have a longer range than older Soviet tanks. They are also more effective at protecting troops than older tanks or even Western infantry fighting vehicles.

The 50 Bradley BMPs are part of an overall $3.8 billion aid package to be announced Friday. The package provides $2.25 billion for Ukraine, including 155mm artillery shells. Another $682 million in military funding will go to Eastern European countries to allow them to buy U.S. weapons and military equipment. Ukraine will also receive $225 million in military funding.

The package will include, for the first time, Sea Sparrow radar-guided anti-aircraft missiles that can be launched from the sea or from land to intercept aircraft or cruise missiles. According to two sources familiar with the matter, the Ukrainian military has managed to adapt its existing Soviet-era Buk launchers to fire Sea Sparrow.

So far, Taiwan has been the only country that has used a land-based version of the missiles, while the U.S. Navy and many allies use a ship-mounted version.