The Biden administration on Tuesday announced a new $400 million weapons package for Ukraine that includes ammunition for artillery and air defense systems, anti-tank weapons, and other types of equipment.
The arms are being provided through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, which allows the administration to send weapons to Ukraine directly from US military stockpiles. The Pentagon said in a press release that the package is the 43rd drawdown from US stockpiles for Ukraine since August 2021.
According to the Pentagon, the arms package includes the following:
- Additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS)
- Stinger anti-aircraft systems
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS)
- 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds
- 120mm and 60mm mortar rounds
- 32 Stryker Armored Personnel Carriers
- Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles
- Javelin and other anti-armor systems and rockets
- Hornet Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Hydra-70 aircraft rockets
- Tactical air navigation systems
- Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing
- Over 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades
- Night vision devices and thermal imagery systems
- Spare parts, training munitions, and other field equipment
The Pentagon also released a fact sheet that said the administration has pledged more than $43 billion in military equipment for Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. The funds for the new weapons package are being drawn from spending that has already been authorized for the war, which at this point totals $113 billion.
The new package comes amid warnings from US and other Western officials that NATO stockpiles are running low, raising questions about the sustainability of President Biden’s proxy war against Russia. The US has provided Ukraine with an enormous amount of ammunition, including over two million rounds of 155mm artillery shells.
The administration cited the fact that the US was running out of ammunition as an excuse to arm Ukraine with cluster bombs, which are widely banned due to the extreme harm they cause civilians. Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed Ukraine would be “defenseless” without the civilian-killing munitions.
Source: AntiWar.
