Pentagon announces $6B for long-term Ukraine weapons contracts

The United States on Friday announced a $6 billion arms package for Ukraine, the largest military aid package ever for Kiev’s military.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told reporters that the weapons and equipment include critical interceptors for Ukraine’s Patriot and NASAM air defense systems, large quantities of artillery shells, air-to-ground munitions, anti-drone weapons, and sustainment support. Stated.

The aid tranche will come from the $61 billion in funding for Ukraine signed into law by President Biden on Wednesday and will be contracted through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative. This means that the United States will buy new equipment made by American defense companies for the Ukrainian military, rather than sourcing it from its own inventory, and the weapons will take several months to reach the conflicting country. It could take anywhere from months to years.

“This is the best we have ever done,” Austin said after a virtual meeting with the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries aimed at providing critical weapons, systems and equipment to Kiev’s military. This is the largest security assistance package ever committed to the United States.”

Friday’s meeting marked the second anniversary of the founding of the group, which has provided more than $95 billion worth of ammunition, rocket systems, tanks and fighter jets to Ukraine to protect it from invading Russian forces.

The announcement comes shortly after Biden signed the National Security Supplemental Act into law, the Pentagon said Wednesday, revealing a $1 billion lethal aid package aimed at quickly delivering equipment to Ukraine. It was held a few days later.

The aid, which will be drawn immediately from U.S. stockpiles, will deliver vital artillery and air defense ammunition to Kiev as the Kiev army struggles with dwindling resources to thwart a Russian invasion.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants an even bigger system. Earlier Friday, he called on the United States to deploy at least seven additional Patriot squadrons to create a shield around Ukrainian cities to prevent further Russian missile attacks.

“We urgently need Patriot systems and missiles for them,” President Zelenskiy said at a meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group. “This is what can and should save lives right now.”

The US has already sent one Patriot gun to Ukraine in a previous package, but President Zelenskiy said more batteries would “really change the situation” on the battlefield.

During the meeting, Austin said the United States “made a particularly strong push today to quickly bring in more air defense systems and interceptors” to Ukraine. He also said that in recent days he had one-on-one discussions with several European officials about how to provide additional Patriot systems to Ukraine.

But he cautioned against turning Patriot into a “silver bullet” to help Ukraine defeat Russia.

“It will be a combination of many systems. It will depend on whether Ukraine can effectively adopt these systems and maintain those systems, and whether Ukraine has an adequate number of troops to replenish its ranks. It will depend on our ability to mobilize,” Austin said. “We continue to work on all of these things simultaneously.”