The United States of America is reportedly about to announce a new military aid package for Ukraine worth $1.3 billion in the coming days, as reported by Reuters.
According to a US official, the package includes air defense assets, anti-drone systems, strike drones, and ammunition. The United States will utilize funds within its „US Security Assistance Initiative for Ukraine” (USAI) program, allowing President Joe Biden’s administration to procure weapons from the industry rather than depleting US weapon stockpiles.
Among the systems and ammunition that the US plans to acquire for Kyiv are air defense assets produced by L3Harris Technologies under the name Vehicle-Agnostic Modular Palletized ISR Rocket Equipment (VAMPIRE). The list also includes two different types of unmanned aerial vehicles: Phoenix Ghost and Switchblade.
Furthermore, the source informed that Ukraine will receive a significant number of anti-drone systems from Australian company DroneShield Ltd, as well as radars, sensors, and analytical systems.
The expected announcement from the US Department of Defense regarding the provision of security assistance to Ukraine coincides with a virtual meeting on Tuesday of the Contact Group on Defense Issues in Ramstein, Germany. The group brings together allies assisting Kyiv in its counteroffensive against Russian forces.
The delivery of weapons and systems depends on their availability and production timelines. The content and cost of the package may also change before the announcement.
In the 2023 fiscal year, the Pentagon allocated over $10.8 billion for security assistance to Ukraine under the US Security Assistance Initiative, divided into seven separate installments. The planned package will be the eighth. In the fiscal year that ended on September 30, 2022, Washington spent $6.3 billion on defense acquisitions for Ukraine.
It should be noted that the United States announced the latest military aid package for Ukraine worth $800 million on July 7. For the first time, it included cluster munitions intended to temporarily compensate for the shortage of artillery shells.
The total amount of American military assistance to Kyiv since February 2022 now exceeds $41.3 billion.
