As part of a massive $1.85 billion arms deal, the US will for the first time reportedly transfer a Patriot missile battery to Ukraine, the Pentagon announced on Wednesday.
The additional lethal aid includes a $1 billion presidential drawdown authority, which allows the U.S. military to remove weapons from its own stockpiles and deliver them to Kyiv.
It was announced in conjunction with the arrival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Washington, D.C.
The Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative would provide an additional $850 million in aid, and the Defense Department will make direct purchases from business.
Since the start of the war, the US alone has provided Ukraine with more than $21 billion in military aid, in addition to massive amounts of humanitarian and other aide.
One Patriot air defense battery and ammunition will be included in the shipment. To defend military and civilian objectives, the vehicle-mounted system is built to strike mid- and high-altitude targets such missiles, fighter planes, bombers, and drones.
Additional ammunition for mortar systems and rounds, 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds, 37 Cougar mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles, 120 high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, six armored utility trucks, high-speed anti-radiation missiles (HARMs), precision aerial munitions, 2,700 grenade launchers, and other equipment and weapons are also included in the weapons package.
Russian missile and drone assaults are presently being launched on Ukraine’s energy and electrical infrastructure, severely crippling the nation’s power grid as winter sets in.
As the terrain gets harder, there are also worries that Russia may soon launch a potentially devastating winter counter attack.
Due to worries that it may worsen the conflict, the US had postponed providing the Patriot system to Ukraine until recently.
However, after weeks of consideration over the highly classified technology the weapon carries, the Biden administration has modified its stance, signally a new and potentially even more dangerous phase of the conflict.
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