US readying $2.9b Ukraine aid package with longer-range weapons: Sources
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The package is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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WASHINGTON - The United States is readying a US$2.2 billion (S$2.9 billion) package of military aid for Ukraine, two US officials briefed on the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
It is expected to include longer-range rockets for the first time.
Other munitions and weapons would also be included in the package.
The weapons aid is expected to be announced as soon as later this week, the officials said.
It is also expected to include support equipment for Patriot air defence systems, precision guided munitions and Javelin anti-tank weapons, they added.
One of the officials said that a portion of the package, US$1.725 billion, would come from a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).
It allows President Joe Biden’s administration to get weapons from industry rather than from existing US weapons stocks.
The USAI funds would go towards the purchase of a new weapon, the ground-launched small diameter bomb (GLSDB), which has a range of 150km. The US has rebuffed requests for the 297km range ATACMS missile.
The longer range of the GLSDB glide bomb could allow Ukraine to hit valuable military targets that have been out of reach and help it continue pressing its counter-attacks by disrupting Russia further behind its lines.
Reuters first reported on Boeing’s proposal to field GLSDB for Ukraine in November.
The White House declined to comment. The contents and size of aid packages can shift until they are signed by the president.
In addition to the USAI funds, more than US$400 million worth of aid is expected to come from Presidential Drawdown Authority funds, which allows the president to take from current US stocks in an emergency.
That aid is expected to include mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, guided multiple launch rocket systems and ammunition.
The US has sent approximately US$27.2 billion worth of security assistance to Ukraine since Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Moscow calls the invasion a “special operation”. REUTERS
