Shortly on June 9, US officials are to announce another package of security assistance for Ukraine, The total worth of the new provision is approximately USD 2 billion, Bloomberg reports citing own sources.
Importantly, this package will become part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative – USAI, it implies that the announced weapons would be ordered from the manufacturers, and it will take a while for them to be produced and arrive at the destination.
Read more: Exceptional Inventiveness of Ukrainian Military: RBS-17 Anti-Ship Missile Takes Down a Ground Target (Video)
Update: US Department of Defense officially announced this package and revealed its contents: in addition to the air defense missiles, it includes laser-guided rockets and Puma reconnaissance drones with laser designators to guide them. This combination was already supplied to Ukraine before.
![MIM-23 Hawk missile system](/media/contentimages/6c564833b27a2705.jpg)
First of all, the package includes repaired and maybe modernized MIM-23 Hawk air defense missile systems. These systems have been previously supplied to Ukraine, particularly by Spain who sent them in two batches starting December 2022.
Here's a brief reminder of the capabilities of the improved MIM-23 Hawk Phase III system that excels in short-range engagements:
- Target detection range: up to 100 km
- Target engagement range: up to 50 km
- Maximum target altitude: up to 20 km
- Number of launchers: 3/6/9
Earlier Defense Express broke down the system's configuration and features and pointed out its main advantage in the context of russian-Ukrainian war specifically.
Also, the package introduces new items that haven't been provided to Ukraine yet. These are GEM-T and MSE interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems. While the GEM-T is designed against aircraft, the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE) is an improved version of the missiles currently used by Ukraine.
For reference, Ukrainian air defenses have so far deployed the PAC-3 Cost Reduction Initiative (CRI) missile that came from the U.S. Army stocks. On the other hand, the PAC-3 MSE missile has completely replaced the older version and is now the only missile of the PAC-3 family that is in production. The enhanced missile features a two-pulse engine, increased maneuverability, and range increased to 60 km.
![Patriot missiles comparison](/media/contentimages/4e264834076716a2.webp)
As for the GEM-T, this is a type of missile of the previous PAC-2 generation. It can engage ballistic targets, cruise missiles and enemy aircraft but doesn't deploy the hit-to-kill principle of the PAC-3. Thus most likely it will be used against russian aircraft and cruise missiles (in which case the maximum range will be 160 km) leaving the ballistic missiles up to PAC-3 interceptors.
![PAC-2 GEM-T missile launch](/media/contentimages/54a64834025228f6.jpg)
At the same time, the total package worth of $2 bln indicates there would be other weapons in it as well, even though one MSE missile costs $3-4 million approximately.
Read more: How Patriot Works When Intercepting Ballistic Targets