DoD announces new military aid package to Ukraine worth $500mn

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
27 Jun 2023 21:47

The military aid package includes Stinger anti-aircraft systems, Javelin anti-armor missiles, High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), and Tube-Launched Optically-Tracked Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles.

A US Army soldier lifts a Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-guided (TOW) Missile National Training Center, in California, May 20, 2014 (Wikimedia)

The Pentagon announced in a press release today that a new military aid package worth $500 million would be sent to Kiev.

The package will reportedly include 30 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, 25 Stryker armored personnel carriers, Stinger anti-aircraft systems, Javelin anti-armor missiles, High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), Tube-Launched Optically-Tracked Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles, mine clearing equipment, 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds, and munitions for Patriots and HIMARS.

"Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine's critical security and defense needs, this package, valued at up to $500 million, includes key capabilities to support Ukraine's counteroffensive operations, strengthen its air defenses to help Ukraine protect its people, as well as additional armored vehicles, anti-armor systems, critical munitions, and other equipment."

Earlier this week, Laura Cooper, the US Defense Department's deputy assistant secretary of defense said that the US military believes supplying Ukraine with cluster bombs could be useful against Russia despite being banned in most countries.

The Ukrainian government has urged members of Congress to put pressure on President Joe Biden's administration to accept the shipment of Dual-Purpose Conventional Improved Munitions (DPICM). Cooper stated that congressional constraints and concerns from US allies are the reasons why such munitions have not yet been approved for Kiev.

Cooper, on the other hand, acknowledged that the Pentagon feels they are valuable in terms of battlefield efficacy.

"Our military analysts have confirmed that DPICMs would be useful, especially against dug-in Russian positions on the battlefield," she told lawmakers during a Congressional hearing.

"The reason why you have not seen a move forward in providing this capability relates both to the existing congressional restrictions on the provision of DPICMs and concerns about allied unity," Cooper added.

So far, the Biden administration has refused to deliver any cluster munitions to Ukraine.

Despite the fact that Congress has prohibited the export of such weapons, media sites such as Politico have speculated that Biden and possibly his Secretary of State Antony Blinken may conceivably circumvent this prohibition.