With a new foreign aid package tied up on the Hill, the Biden administration on Tuesday announced “urgent” military assistance for Ukraine.
The announcement of the equipment, worth about $300 million, will support Ukraine’s artillery, air defense, and anti-tank requirements, the Pentagon said.
“With a lack of replacement funds available to replenish DoD inventories, the Administration had been forced to pause PDA packages since December 2023,” the Defense Department said in a statement. “DoD is able to support this extraordinary package after identifying contract savings from previously appropriated supplemental funding that can be applied to replace DoD stocks. Today's announcement provides a short-term stop gap, but it is nowhere near enough to meet Ukraine's battlefield needs. Without supplemental funding, DoD will remain hard-pressed to meet Ukraine's capability requirements at a time when Russia is pressing its attacks against Ukrainian forces and cities.”
The capabilities in this announcement include:
- Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
- 155mm artillery rounds, including High Explosive and Dual Purpose Improved Cluster Munitions rounds;
- 105mm artillery rounds;
- AT-4 anti-armor systems;
- Additional rounds of small arms ammunition;
- Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing; and
- Spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.
The package is the Biden administration’s 55th tranche of aid to Ukraine.
"This ammunition will keep Ukraine's guns firing for a period, but only a short period. It is nowhere near enough to meet Ukraine's battlefield needs, and it will not prevent Ukraine from running out of ammunition in the weeks to come," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Tuesday.
