The U.S. on Monday announced a new $100 million security assistance package for Ukraine that includes an additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and related ammunition, marking the 51st package of equipment to be withdrawn from Defense Department inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.
Ukraine already operates 20 Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built HIMARS, which are firing Guided Multiple Launch Rocket Systems, and more recently, a variant of the ATACMS missile. Its unclear whether the additional HIMARS system is to replace a combat or non-combat loss, or adds to Ukraine’s inventory.
The ammunition for HIMARS was not identified.
The security assistance package also includes Stinger anti-aircraft missile, 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, anti-armor weapons that include TOW missiles, Javelin, and AT-4 systems, more than 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition, demolition munitions for obstacle clearing, cold weather gear, and spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment, the Defense Department said. The State Department also said that the assistance includes Claymore anti-personnel mines “configured to be consistent with the Ottawa Convention.”
The new package uses assistance authorized for Ukraine in prior fiscal years under Presidential Drawdown Authority.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the new aid package during a visit to Kyiv where he met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Defence Minister Rustem Umerov. It was Austin’s second visit to the Ukrainian capital since Russia invaded the country in February 2022.
The meeting was a chance to learn about current operations and what the Ukraine Ministry of Defence’s near- and mid-term goals and objectives, Austin said in a brief press conference.
“I wanted to reassure the leadership that the United States of America will continue to support Ukraine,” he said. “We talked about the things that we’re going to continue to do to make sure that they have what they need to be successful on the battlefield. Also, it gave us an opportunity to refocus and make sure that we maintain alignment between the operations on the ground and the [U.S.] president’s objectives.”