DOD announces $725 million aid package for Ukraine

By Tony Bertuca / December 2, 2024 at 5:26 PM

The Biden administration announced a $725 million aid package for Ukraine today that includes air defense capabilities, rocket system munitions, artillery rounds and anti-tank weapons.

The package, funded via Presidential Drawdown Authority, includes:

  • Munitions for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS);
  • Stinger missiles;
  • Counter-Unmanned Aerial Systems (c-UAS) munitions;
  • Ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
  • 155mm and 105mm artillery ammunition;
  • Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS);
  • Non-persistent land mines;
  • Tube-launched, Optically tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) missiles;
  • Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
  • Small arms and ammunition;
  • Demolitions equipment and munitions;
  • Equipment to protect critical national infrastructure; and
  • Spare parts, ancillary equipment, services, training, and transportation.

The package is the Biden administration’s 71st PDA tranche since August 2021. Under PDA, the United States transfers weapons directly to Ukraine.

Officials from the White House and Pentagon have both said the Biden administration is committed to moving its remaining $5 billion or so in PDA aid to Ukraine before President-elect Trump, who has been critical of U.S. aid to Ukraine, is sworn in on Jan. 20.

The administration, however, still has about $2 billion in Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative funds, which are used to finance long-term weapons contracts that may not be able to be spent in time, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

Meanwhile, the White House has sent Congress a request for an additional $24 billion in military aid to Ukraine, which is expected to draw opposition from many Republican lawmakers, especially in the House.

Heorhii Tykhyi, a spokesman for Ukraine's foreign ministry, recently told reporters in Kyiv that surging foreign military aid has become more important than the conscription of new soldiers.

“We are now in the situation when we need more equipment to arm all the people that have already been mobilized, and we think the first priority is to send quicker, faster military aid,” he said.

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