The Pentagon on Friday provided a breakdown of its contracting efforts to replenish stockpiles of equipment provided to Ukraine, with the department having awarded $1.2 billion to date of the $7 billion in identified replacement actions.
“Throughout the remainder of the month, we expect to announce several additional awards. We remain committed to getting things on contract as quickly as possible, ultimately to send that clear, persistent demand signal to our partners in industry,” Bill LaPlante, the department’s top acquisition official, told reporters during a briefing.
The $1.2 billion awarded so far to help refill equipment inventories includes $8 million to AeroVironment [AVAV] for Switchblade 300 drones and $33 million to Lockheed Martin [LMT] for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) launchers in August, as well as $130 million for body armor and $57 million for helmets awarded to various suppliers between May and August.
The list DoD provided on Friday also includes the awards previously detailed in the beginning in May of $352 million in contracts to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies [RTX] for Javelin anti-tank missiles and a $624 million deal to Raytheon for Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which was the first production order since 2005.
The Pentagon noted Congress has appropriated $12.5 billion this fiscal year to go toward replacing stockpiles of equipment transferred to Ukraine.
LaPlante told reporters the department is looking to use undefinitized contracting options and indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts as tools to more rapidly get funding to industry to help replenish stockpiles as well as procure capabilities via the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI).
“As we work with industry to accelerate production on both replenishment systems and direct procurements under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, or USAI, we’re using a number of tools to get the funding moving and the contracting to happen quickly,” LaPlante said.
On USAI funds, the Pentagon noted Congress has appropriated for $6 billion in FY ‘22, with the department now having awarded $1.2 billion of the $4.8 billion in previously announced capabilities to be procured via the program.
As opposed to equipment pulled from existing DoD inventories by presidential drawdown authority, USAI is used to buy capabilities directly from industry which will be supplied to Ukraine.
The $3 billion weapons aid package the U.S. approved in late August, which includes capabilities to address Ukraine’s mid to long-term security requirements, will be procured with USAI dollars and capabilities will be delivered over a course of several months to years (Defense Daily, Aug. 24).
The Pentagon breakdown of the $1.2 billion award with USAI funds to date includes $364 million in August to various suppliers for 155mm ammunition, $23 million to BAE Systems in May for Advanced Precision Kill Weapon Systems, $116 million to AEVEX between April and August for its new Phoenix Ghost drones $22 million to AM General in April for tactical vehicles and $38 million to AeroVironment for Switchblade 300 and Puma drones.
The list also includes the recent $182.3 million deal to Raytheon for National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) awarded in late August (Defense Daily, Aug. 29).
Various suppliers also received $480 million in USAI contracts since April for radios and communication equipment, optics, non-standard ammunition, radars and other capabilities, according to the Pentagon.
LaPlante on Wednesday said the department’s plan remains to replenish stockpiles of equipment sent to Ukraine on a ‘one-to-one’ basis, either with current systems or next-generation updates, as the department continues awarding deals to refill its inventories (Defense Daily, Sept. 7).