The U.S. has approved sending another $450 million in weapons to Ukraine, including the delivery of four more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS).
The latest security assistance package to aid Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion, the 13th such drawdown of equipment from DoD inventories, also includes 36,000 rounds of 105mm ammunition, 18 tactical vehicles to tow howitzers, 1,200 grenade launchers, 2,000 machine guns and 18 coastal and riverine patrol boats.
Thursday’s announcement arrived as Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine’s minister of defense, confirmed the country is now in possession of HIMARS long-range rocket systems included in a previously announced deal.
A $700 million security assistance deal announced in early June included providing Ukraine with its first Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built HIMARS to launch precision-guided munitions, with U.S. defense officials detailing plans in recent weeks to train Ukrainian soldiers on the systems (Defense Daily, June 1).
Colin Kahl, under secretary of defense for policy, told reporters at the time that the HIMARS launchers and munitions were being provided with assurances from Ukrainian leadership that they would not be used to strike targets in Russian territory.
On June 15, the U.S. also announced another $1 billion weapons package for Ukraine that included delivery of Harpoon anti-ship missiles and additional munitions for the HIMARS launchers (Defense Daily, June 15).
To date, the U.S. has now committed more than $6.8 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the start of the Biden administration, to include more than $6.1 billion since the beginning of the Russian invasion.