A Ukrainian M142 HIMARS in Donetsk Oblast fires on a Russian position near Bakhmut on May 18, 2023. Serhii Mykhalchuk/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images
New $275M Ukraine-aid package to include HIMARS ammo
SecDef says materiel for “critical battlefield needs” will be drawn from Pentagon stocks.
VIENTIANE, Laos—A new quarter-billion-dollar package of military aid to Ukraine will include HIMARS rockets, Javelin missiles, and more, a defense official said here.
“Later today, the White House will be announcing additional security assistance for Ukraine worth up to $275 million to meet critical battlefield needs, and that will include munitions for rocket systems and artillery and anti-tank weapons,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told reporters here. Austin is in town for the ASEAN Defense Ministers’ Meeting Plus, an annual conference of defense leaders from the region and beyond.
A defense official said the package will include:
- Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
- 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;
- 60mm and 81mm mortar rounds;
- Unmanned aerial systems;
- Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles;
- Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
- Small arms and ammunition;
- Demolitions equipment and munitions;
- Chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear-protective equipment; and
- Spare parts, ancillary equipment, services, training, and transportation.
The arms, ammunition, and gear will be drawn from Pentagon stocks under the presidential drawdown authority for military assistance for Ukraine.
An Oct. 31 fact sheet published by the State Department said the U.S. had provided more than $64.1 billion in military assistance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, on top of about $2.8 billion provided since its initial invasion in 2014. It also said the emergency presidential drawdown authority had been used 55 times since August 2021, sending Ukraine aid worth a total of about $31.7 billion from DoD stockpiles.