Pentagon announces new long-term $2.1 billion military aid package to Ukraine
Mike Brest
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The Department of Defense announced on Friday a new military aid package to Ukraine valued at more than $2 billion.
This package, which totals $2.1 billion, includes air defense and ammunition capabilities and will be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). When the Biden administration provides Ukraine aid via USAI, the U.S. agrees to procure those weapons from domestic defense contractors. When it’s done through the president’s drawdown authority, the U.S. provides weapons from its own stockpiles.
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“This USAI package illustrates the continued commitment to both Ukraine’s critical near-term capabilities as well as the enduring capacity of Ukraine’s Armed Forces to defend its territory and deter Russian aggression over the long term,” the department said in its release. “The United States will continue to work with its Allies and partners to provide Ukraine with capabilities to meet its immediate battlefield needs and longer-term security assistance requirements.”
Ukraine will receive an unknown number of additional munitions for the Patriot air defense systems; HAWK air defense systems and missiles; 105 mm and 203 mm artillery rounds; Puma unmanned aerial systems; laser-guided munitions; and support for training, maintenance, and sustainment activities.
The administration announced its previously most recent aid package to Ukraine last Wednesday, a little more than a week ago, and it was through President Joe Biden’s drawdown authority valued at roughly $300 million.
Ukraine is expected to conduct a highly-anticipated counteroffensive, though officials will not publicly announce when it will start, if it has, or any other operational details in order to keep their plans secret. The U.S. has similarly declined to share details on a possible Ukrainian offensive, which experts have said began this week.
This week, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar said an offensive was “taking place in several directions,” while President Volodymyr Zelensky said his forces were “ready.”
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The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank that published detailed and daily updates on the war, declared the offensive had begun on Thursday, though they warned the initial aspects “may be the most difficult and slowest, as they involve penetrating prepared defensive positions,” and this is where they “may see the highest Ukrainian losses.”
“The counteroffensive won’t likely unfold as a single grand operation,” their assessment continued. “It will likely consist of many undertakings at numerous locations of varying size and intensity over many weeks.”