Throughout 2023, the United States of America allocated a total of USD 23 billion for defense assistance to Ukraine, which is $1.8 billion more than the previous year, according to Defense Express' calculations.
Although, here we should note that those figures are not a "paycheck" with all the money gifted to Ukraine but partially comprised of the total estimated cost of weapons and equipment sent to Ukraine as materiel. The stocks are then replaced with new, fresh assets bought from local manufacturers.
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In some cases, the sum is calculated as the cost of equipment withdrawn from the stock; and in others, it's about the price of weapons ordered for Ukraine from American manufacturers.
For example, the last package of military aid in 2023 announced on December 27, was provided under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) program; it means Ukraine gets weapons directly from the warehouses of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was valued at $250 million, which reflects the summarized estimated cost of equipment sent, including various ammunition and components for air defense systems, possibly related to the FrankenSAM project.
Considering this was the last package of military aid to Ukraine this year, we can now compare the two fact sheets from the Pentagon issued in December 2022 and 2023 and break down a summary of the arms assistance provided to Ukraine by the U.S. in 2023:
1. Air Defense:
- 4 batteries of the NASAMS air defense system additionally ordered under USAI (bringing the total to 8 systems, partially delivered);
- 400 Stinger MANPADS, supplementing the 1,600 missiles provided last year;
- air defense radars doubled from 10 to 21.
2. Artillery:
- one HIMARS (bringing the total to 39).
- 56 additional 155mm artillery systems (198 in total) with 2,300 smart shells, 996,000 conventional projectiles, and 31,000 remotely deployed RAAM anti-armor landmines;
- 36 additional 105mm howitzers (72 in total) along with 620,000 rounds;
2.5. Soviet-standard artillery ammunition:
- 10,000 rounds, caliber 203mm;
- 155,000 rounds, caliber 152mm;
- 40,000 rounds, caliber 130mm;
- 20,000 rounds, caliber 122mm;
- 10,000 rockets for BM-21 Grad MLRS.
3. Mortars:
- 17 pieces, caliber 120mm;
- 112 pieces, caliber 81mm;
- 48 pieces, caliber 60mm;
- 255,000 mortar rounds.
4. Counter-Battery Radars:
- 16 additional counter-battery radars.
5. Armored Vehicles:
- 31 M1 Abrams tanks;
- 190 M2 Bradley infantry fighting vehicles;
- 100 M113 armored personnel carriers (total 300);
- 189 Stryker IFVs;
- at least 23 mine-resistant ambush-protected (MRAP) infantry mobility vehicles (more than 500 total);
- 800 HMMWVs (bringing the total to 2,000).
6. Anti-Tank Systems:
- 1,500 FGM-148 Javelin guided missiles;
- 44,000 "other anti-armor systems and munitions," most likely referring to AT4 man-portable weapons;
- 7,500 spare missiles for TOW ATGM systems.
7. Small Arms:
- 296 million rounds of small arms ammunition.
An important note, here we only included those items that have specified quantity because many others don't. For example, there is no data on how many spare rockets for HIMARS artillery systems were handed as well as their types, AGM-88 HARM anti-radar missiles for aircraft, and the vague "Precision aerial munitions" may include anything, including JDAM-ER air bombs.
There are also notable new systems that only started coming to the Ukrainian forces this year, such as L3Harris VAMPIRE anti-aircraft systems (number unspecified) which are technically an ideal weapon against russian-iranian Shahed-136 loitering munitions, or ATACMS rockets for HIMARS with twice increased range, Abrams tanks and Bradley IFVs.
This arms assistance is a substantial commitment from the United States to support Ukraine's defense capabilities against russian aggression.
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