On Tuesday, the Biden administration announced its latest round of military aid for Ukraine, totaling $2.6 billion.
According to a White House press release, $2 billion of the funding would be for different types of munitions, weapons, and radar. The additional military aid also comes just ahead of an expected and much-anticipated spring offensive against Russian troops.
In a statement released by Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the package will include “U.S.-provided HIMARS, air defense interceptors, and artillery rounds that Ukraine is using to defend itself.”
In an effort to get the military aid to the frontlines in Ukraine timely, the equipment and weapons being sent will be pulled from existing military stockpiles.
“In addition, we are announcing a significant package of air defense capabilities, as well as artillery and tank ammunition, mortar systems, rockets, and anti-armor systems using $2.1 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds,” the statement added.
“The Presidential Drawdown is the thirty-fifth such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine that the Biden Administration has authorized since August 2021,” the statement concluded.
The new aid package comes days after Russia’s paramilitary group, Wagner, claimed at least a legal victory in Bakhmut and raised both the Russian and Wagner flags over the destroyed remains of the city center.
A full list of what this military aid package includes is listed below, according to the Department of Defense:
The capabilities in this package include:
- Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems;
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
- 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
- 120mm mortar rounds;
- 120mm and 105mm tank ammunition;
- 25mm ammunition;
- Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
- Approximately 400 grenade launchers and 200,000 rounds of ammunition;
- 11 tactical vehicles to recover equipment;
- 61 heavy fuel tankers;
- 10 trucks and 10 trailers to transport heavy equipment;
- Testing and diagnostic equipment to support vehicle maintenance and repair;
- Spare parts and other field equipment.
Under USAI, the DoD will provide Ukraine with:
- Additional munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);
- Nine counter-Unmanned Aerial System 30mm gun trucks;
- 10 mobile c-UAS laser-guided rocket systems;
- Three air surveillance radars;
- 30mm and 23mm anti-aircraft ammunition;
- 130mm and 122mm artillery rounds;
- 122mm GRAD rockets;
- Rocket launchers and ammunition;
- 120mm and 81mm mortar systems;
- 120mm, 81mm, and 60mm mortar rounds;
- 120mm tank ammunition;
- Javelin anti-armor systems;
- Anti-armor rockets;
- Precision aerial munitions;
- Approximately 3,600 small arms and more than 23,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;
- Seven tactical vehicles to recover equipment;
- Eight heavy fuel tankers and 105 fuel trailers;
- Armored bridging systems;
- Four logistics support vehicles;
- Trucks and ten trailers to transport heavy equipment;
- Secure communications equipment;
- SATCOM terminals and services;
- Funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.
