The United States is providing another package of military assistance to Ukraine, which is allocated under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) program meaning the weapons are immediately taken from the stocks of the U.S. Department of Defense. The announcement of the tranche took place during President Joe Biden's meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyi in Paris.
Read more: Ammunition for HIMARS, Stinger Missiles, Artillery Shells: New $225 Million US Military Aid Package - Associated Press
The package includes:
- 155mm howitzers and 81mm mortar systems
- M113 armored personnel carriers
- anti-aircraft missiles for HAWK air defense systems and Stinger MANPADS
- additional rockets for HIMARS and ammunition for artillery systems in 155mm and 105mm caliber
- AT-4 and TOW anti-tank weapons, FGM-148 Javelin guided missiles
- trailers for transportation of heavy equipment
- light patrol boats
- ammunition for small arms, grenades, minesweeper explosives, night vision devices, spare parts, etc.
Despite many of these items being listed without specification of the quantity provided, the Pentagon also released the regular update on the totality of all weapons Ukraine is about to receive or has already seen delivered — the Ukraine Fact Sheet. A comparison of this document to the previous one issued May 24 reveals a bit more details.
In particular, behind the vague words about M113 armored personnel carriers, as many as 200 vehicles are actually hidden; now the total number of M113 committed by the U.S. has increased to 600.
This is a significant armored reinforcement to the Ukrainian Armed Forces (UAF), especially considering that Ukraine's soldiers had shared very favorable reviews about this versatile vehicle. These 200 units will be technically enough to equip six mechanized battalions of UAF Land Forces.
As for the 155mm howitzers, it is obviously about the M777. Previously, exactly 198 units were mentioned as transferred, but now the number has been changed to the vague "more than 200." As for the mortars, the package could include over 30 units because now it also says "more than 200" mortar systems in various calibers were committed, instead of the 169 units mentioned earlier with a breakdown by type.
Next, Ukraine will receive 10 coastal and riverine patrol boats, as well as more than 50 heavy trailers for transportation.
Thus, this is not just another ammunition package but a fairly high-quality strengthening of Ukraine's capabilities with a significant number of APCs in the first place. Also, the transfer of additional artillery can be considered a marker of the fact that the supply of ammunition is reaching a stable level.
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