The U.S. Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, the internal audit and control body of the department, has released a report partially analyzing the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) program for transferring weapons to Ukraine.
The internal audit follows a previous review of this program in June 2023, when miscalculations worth $6.2 billion were uncovered due to incorrect valuation methods for supplied weapons.
Read more: PURL Initiative has Already Funded $1B in U.S. Weapons for Ukraine
The new report, dated August 13, focuses on inadequate expense controls, unverified figures in reports, and questionable spending. It is based on a non-statistical review of 80 tranches of aid totaling $22.1 billion. Of these, 32 tranches worth $5.7 billion lacked supporting documentation or credible estimates.
Within that, $1 billion was labeled "questioned costs," and $0.9 billion was deemed ineffective spending. The report also documents cases where the Pentagon overvalued arms provided to Ukraine.
"The DOD determined that the MILDEPs were substantially overvaluing defense articles and services provided to Ukraine," the report admits directly. Despite these issues, the flawed reports were still submitted to Congress, overstating obligations and payments.
In many cases, the Pentagon officials simply didn't know the real value of the weapons transferred. Auditors noted:
"In discussions with MILDEP personnel, many of the reimbursement estimates were based on 'WAGs,' slang for a wild guess."
Defense Express clarifies that "WAG" is a slang term that literally stands for a "Wild-Ass Guess." If there is at least a hint of reasoning behind it, it's called "SWAG" — "Scientific Wild-Ass Guess."
While sometimes certain expense estimates may be debatable, some costs lacked justification altogether. In 2022–2023, the U.S. Air Force received $657.7 million for transporting weapons to Ukraine, returned $120 million, and left $535.5 million in what auditors recognized as "questionable expenses" because no documentation was provided.
Furthermore, the Pentagon had no procedure for verifying such expenses until 2023, and even after introducing new reporting mechanisms, transportation costs were still based on forecasts rather than calculated from actual figures after execution. Changes are planned but will not be fully implemented until January 31, 2026.
Another case in April 2023 saw the U.S. Army receive $276.3 million to cover maintenance costs for weapons sent to Ukraine. After returning $40.2 million, $236.1 million remained undocumented.
The U.S. Navy was also cited: after transferring 24 boats to Ukraine and receiving compensation to replenish its stocks, it purchased 33 boats — nine more than were handed over — for $1 million. It. once again, points to inflated valuations, since the money allowed to procure extra vessels, and brand-new ones no less.
So, overall, the audit suggests that a more detailed review of PDA assistance — totaling $39.3 billion — could reveal many more interesting facts. The report also mentions that on December 17, 2024, the Pentagon allocated the final $5.1 billion for Ukraine under the PDA program, which has not yet been spent.
Read more: Pentagon Keeps Calculating Ukraine Aid Wrong, Losing Billions of Dollars in Process
