US Announces $400 Million Weapons Package for Ukraine

Anti-War – by Dave DeCamp

The Pentagon announced on Wednesday a new $400 million weapons package for Ukraine, marking the 26th drawdown of equipment from US military stockpiles for the Ukrainians. 

The package includes heavy machine guns meant to counter drones, ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), and munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASMS), an air defense system the US just began delivering to Ukraine.

According to the Pentagon, the package includes:

  • Additional munitions for NASMS
  • 150 heavy machine guns with thermal imagery sights to counter Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS)
  • Additional ammunition for HIMARS
  • 200 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds
  • 10,000 120mm mortar rounds
  • High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs)
  • 150 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs)
  • Over 100 light tactical vehicles
  • Over 20,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition
  • Over 200 generators
  • Spare parts for 105mm Howitzers and other equipment

The $400 million is being sent to Ukraine through the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which allows President Biden to send arms straight from US military stockpiles. According to the Pentagon, the US has pledged over $19 billion in military equipment for Ukraine since Russia invaded. That includes arms shipped using the PDA and equipment the US has said it will purchase for Kyiv, which takes longer to deliver.

Aid for Ukraine is still being pulled from the previous package that was approved in September. So far, the US has authorized about $67 billion in spending on the war, and the White House is asking Congress to approve a new massive aid package worth $37.7 billion.

The Pentagon on Wednesday also released a fact sheet detailing all of the arms the US has committed to Ukraine. The Biden administration is still holding out on some of the longer-range weapons Kyiv seeks over concerns of escalation.

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