The Biden administration on Tuesday announced $325 million in new military aid to Ukraine to be drawn down from existing Department of Defense inventories, including 15 Bradley fighting vehicles, 10 Stryker armored personnel carriers, and munitions for air defense and anti-armor.
The air defense munitions are for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, also called NASAMS, which fire the Raytheon Technologies [RTX]-built Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile. The package also includes the man-portable, shoulder-fired Stinger anti-aircraft systems, which are supplied by Raytheon.
BAE Systems builds the Bradley and General Dynamics [GD] the Stryker. The Pentagon has already supplied Ukraine a number of Bradley fighting vehicles, some of which have been destroyed or damaged by Russian forces during a new counter-offensive recently launched by Ukrainian forces to continue taking back territory illegally occupied by Russian troops.
Other components to the package include ammunition for the Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, called HIMARS, 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Javelin anti-armor systems, the Raytheon Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided missiles, AT-4 anti-armor systems supplied by Saab Group, and more than 22 million rounds of small arms ammunition and grenades.
Additional capabilities include tactical secure communications support equipment, demolition munitions to clear obstacles, and spare parts and other field equipment.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken, appearing with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington, D.C., said that in July to expect “a robust package of both political and practical support for Ukraine” coming out of an Alliance summit schedule for July in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Separately, the State Department announced the approval of two new potential foreign military sales (FMS), one worth $1.8 billion for Kuwait and a smaller package for France. The Defense Department’s Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of the possible sales on Tuesday.
The Kuwait deal would include continued contractor technical and maintenance services, support services for the Hush House enclosed, noise-suppressed aircraft engine testing facility, liaison office and follow-on sustainment support for Kuwait’s F/A-18 C/D/E/F fighter aircraft program, ground support equipment, engine and aircraft spares and repair parts, and support for the F404/F414 engine and test cell.
The State Department listed Sigmatech, Inc., Kay and Associates, Inc., Kellogg, Brown, and Root, L3Harris Technologies [LHX], Boeing [BA], General Electric [GE], Industrial Financial Services, and Lockheed Martin as the principal contractors for the FMS deal. There will be 735 government and contractor representatives assigned to Kuwait for three years for the support work.
The potential sale to France covers $60.4 million in sustainment for the E-2C Hawkeye airborne warning aircraft.
An earlier proposed sustainment package for France’s E-2Cs, valued at $99.6 million, included sustainment support. The new assistance, a modification to the earlier contract, covers sustainment support to include an engine component improvement program, software updates, and additional technical, product, logistics and program support.
Northrop Grumman [NOC], the manufacturer of the E-2, is the principal contractor for the sale.