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The Defense Department has declared an augmented security aid package for Ukraine, worth $800 million, designed to deliver crucial capabilities to support Ukraine’s counteroffensive operations and defend against Russia’s aggressive warfare.
Included in the package are additional munitions for U.S.-provided Patriot air defense systems and High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, as Ukraine continues its efforts to regain territory occupied by Russian forces.
The package also offers more artillery systems and ammunition, including dual-purpose improved conventional munitions, or DPICM. This marks the first time the Pentagon is supplying DPICM to Ukraine, a decision made after detailed consultation with Congress and U.S. allies.
The newly deployed munitions, drawn from Defense Department stocks, are engineered to disperse submunitions from the air, thus enabling Ukraine to target broad areas occupied by entrenched Russian troops and equipment.
Undersecretary of Defense for Policy, Colin H. Kahl, in his announcement of the latest package, stated that the Pentagon is offering these new capabilities to Ukraine to meet the “urgency of the moment” as Ukrainians persist with their counteroffensive.
“This is to make sure that the Ukrainians have the confidence that they have what they need, but frankly also that the Russians know that Ukrainians are going to stay in the game,” he said.
With this declaration, Kahl stated that the U.S. will be in a position to promptly supply Ukraine with hundreds of thousands of artillery rounds, vital for their ongoing offensive.
“This decision will ensure we can sustain our support for Ukraine by bringing us to a point where we are producing sufficient artillery ammunition on a monthly basis across the coalition,” he said.
The Pentagon, while reaching this decision, has given considerable thought to the potential risk these rounds could pose to civilians in areas where they are deployed.
The specific rounds that are being deployed have a dud rate, or the percentage of unexploded submunitions released from each round, of just 2.35%. This figure contrasts significantly with the cluster munitions used by Russia throughout Ukraine, which have dud rates of up to 40%.
In tandem, the Pentagon is coordinating with Ukraine to minimize the risks associated with the munitions. Ukrainian officials have given written assurances to the U.S. that they will use this capability responsibly and will avoid deploying the rounds in urban environments populated by civilians.
Ukraine has also pledged to undertake mine-clearing initiatives once the conflict concludes, to further mitigate the potential impact of these rounds on civilians. The U.S. has already supplied more than $95 million in assistance for Ukraine’s demining endeavors.
This recent round of assistance marks the 42nd drawdown of equipment from DOD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021.
Since the inception of Russia’s invasion in February 2022, the Biden administration has pledged over $41.3 billion in security aid to Ukraine.
“For the past year and a half, President Biden has been clear that we will support Ukraine for as long as it takes,” Kahl said.
“Throughout the Kremlin’s vicious war of choice, the Ukrainian forces have effectively leveraged assistance and shown outstanding bravery and skill,” he said. “Ukraine’s fight is a marathon, not a sprint. So we will continue to provide Ukraine with the urgent capabilities that it needs to meet the moment, as well as what it needs to keep itself secure for the long term from Russian aggression.”
Source: US Dept. of Defense
