The U.S. has approved a new $400 million weapons aid package for Ukraine, which includes providing a range of additional munitions and nano reconnaissance drones.
“Today’s commitment in security assistance, valued at up to $400 million, includes additional air defense munitions, artillery and other ammunition, armored vehicles, anti-armor weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russia’s ongoing war of aggression,” the Pentagon said in a statement on Tuesday.
The new security assistance aid, which is the 43rd package of capabilities to be drawn from existing Pentagon inventories, includes additional munitions for RTX’s [RTX] Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems as well the Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built HIMARS launchers.
As Ukraine continues its ongoing counteroffensive operation, it will also receive more Stinger anti-aircraft and Javelin anti-armor missiles, TOW missiles and air-launched Hydra-70 rockets.
The new package also includes providing Ukraine with Teledyne FLIR’s [TDY] Black Hornet nano drones, which is the first time the U.S. is including the capability in security aid for Ukraine.
Norway previously donated 300 Black Hornet drones to Ukraine last August through the U.K.-led International Fund for Ukraine program.
Last week, Teledyne FLIR announced Norway has placed an order for 1,000 more Black Hornet drones to be donated to Ukraine in support of its fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion (Defense Daily, July 17).
“We are honored and proud to support Norway’s efforts to assist forces in Ukraine,” JihFen Lei, executive vice president and general manager of Teledyne FLIR Defense, said in a statement last week. “The Black Hornet has proven to be game-changing technology that can help soldiers perform missions more safely and effectively.”
Teledyne FLIR has described the “pocket-sized” Black Hornet, which is built in Norway, as capable of delivering live visible and thermal video, weighing less than 0.1 pounds and is designed for operations in GPS-denied environments.
The company has provided its Black Hornet 3s to the U.S. Army since late 2018, with the service having placed $115 million in orders for the nano drones to date.
Tuesday’s package also includes providing 32 additional Stryker combat vehicles for Ukraine as well as more 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, 120mm and 60mm mortar rounds, tactical air navigation systems, demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing and over 28 million rounds of small arms ammunition, according to the Pentagon.