The Department of Defense (DoD) announces a significant new package of security assistance for Ukraine. This includes the authorization of a Presidential Drawdown of security assistance valued at up to $425 million, as well as $1.75 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) funds.
The Presidential Drawdown is the thirty-first such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories for Ukraine that the Biden Administration has authorized since August 2021. Today’s announcement includes critical air defense capabilities to help Ukraine defend its people, as well as armored infantry vehicles and more equipment that Ukraine is using so effectively, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, artillery ammunition, and conventional and long-range rockets for U.S.-provided HIMARS. The specific capabilities include:
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
- Additional 155mm artillery rounds;
- Additional 120mm mortar rounds;
- 190 heavy machine guns with thermal imagery sights and associated ammunition to counter Unmanned Aerial Systems;
- 181 Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles;
- 250 Javelin anti-armor systems;
- 2,000 anti-armor rockets;
- Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
- Demolitions munitions;
- Cold weather gear, helmets, and other field equipment.
Under USAI, the DoD will provide Ukraine with:
- Two HAWK air defense firing units;
- Anti-aircraft guns and ammunition;
- Equipment to integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukraine’s air defense systems;
- Equipment to sustain Ukraine’s existing air defense capabilities;
- Air defense generators;
- Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems;
- Four air surveillance radars;
- 20 counter-mortar radars;
- Spare parts for counter-artillery radars;
- Puma Unmanned Aerial Systems;
- Precision-guided rockets;
- Secure communications equipment;
- Medical supplies;
- Funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.
Unlike Presidential Drawdown, USAI is an authority under which the United States procures capabilities from industry rather than delivering equipment that is drawn down from DoD stocks. This announcement represents the beginning of a contracting process to provide additional capabilities to Ukraine’s Armed Forces as part of our efforts to strengthen Ukraine’s military over the near and long-term.
In total, the United States has now committed $30 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration. Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $32 billion in security assistance to Ukraine and more than $29.3 billion since the beginning of Russia’s unprovoked, full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.
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.
Read more at the Defense Department
