Pentagon sending new $800M package of weapons to Ukraine

President Biden today announced an additional $800 million in security assistance to Ukraine, which includes a host of U.S. weapons transfers to help that nation continue to fend off an ongoing Russian invasion.

The $800 million package includes: 800 Stinger anti-aircraft systems; 2,000 Javelin anti-armor systems, 1,000 light anti-armor weapons, and 6,000 AT-4 anti-armor systems; 100 tactical unmanned aerial systems; 100 grenade launchers, 5,000 rifles, 1,000 pistols, 400 machine guns, and 400 shotguns; over 20 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenade launcher and mortar rounds; 25,000 sets of body armor; and 25,000 helmets.

Congressional sources confirmed reports that the U.S. armed drones being provided to Ukraine for the first time are Switchblades made by AeroVironment, which act as loitering munitions. The Pentagon has declined to comment on the specific drone systems being transferred.

The Pentagon said the latest package brings the total amount of assistance provided to Ukraine in the past week alone to $1 billion.

Previous assistance committed to Ukraine includes: Over 600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems; approximately 2,600 Javelin anti-armor systems; five Mi-17 helicopters; three patrol boats; four counter-artillery and counter-unmanned aerial system tracking radars; four counter-mortar radar systems; 200 grenades; 200 shotguns and 200 machine guns; nearly 40 million rounds of small arms ammunition and over one million grenade, mortar, and artillery rounds; 70 humvees and other vehicles; secure communications, electronic warfare detection systems, body armor, helmets, and other tactical gear; military medical equipment to support treatment and combat evacuation; explosive ordnance disposal and demining equipment; and satellite imagery and analysis capability.

Additionally, the Pentagon said the United States is also helping Ukraine acquire additional, “longer-range” systems to defend the country.

The latest aid package is the first tranche in $3.5 billion of assistance recently approved by Congress. It was announced shortly after a congressional address by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

“We need you right now [to] remember Pearl Harbor, the terrible morning of Dec. 7, 1941, when your sky was black from the planes attacking you,” he said. “Just remember, remember September the 11th, a terrible day in 2001, when evil tried to turn your cities, independent territories, into battlefields, when innocent people were attacked. Just like no one else expected it, you could not stop it. Our country experiences the same every day right now.”