headline news bulletin news
The United States on Wednesday announced a new $1.3 billion military aid package for Ukraine featuring air defense systems, anti-tank missiles, drones and other equipment. bulletin news
The package is part of US efforts to meet “Ukraine’s pressing requirements by committing critical near-term capabilities while also building the enduring capacity of Ukraine’s armed forces,” the Defense Department said in a statement.
The assistance will not immediately arrive on the battlefield, as it falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), under which Washington procures equipment from the defense industry or partners, rather than drawing it from US stocks.
The package includes four NASAMs air defense systems and related munitions, TOW anti-tank missiles, 152 mm artillery shells, drones as well as counter-drone systems, and various vehicles.
The announcement comes as Ukrainian forces are fighting to advance against invading Russian troops in a slow-moving counteroffensive that Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior aide to Ukraine’s president, said Wednesday “will be quite difficult, long and will take quite a lot of time.”
Podolyak also said that Kyiv’s forces need two to three hundred tanks as well as 60 to 80 F-16 warplanes.
The Netherlands and Denmark are leading a plan to train Ukrainian pilots on using the US-made aircraft as part of an 11-nation coalition, but the effort is still in its early stages.
The pace of Ukraine’s advance in the counteroffensive has raised questions about whether it will be successful, but US officials have highlighted the tough obstacles Kyiv’s forces must overcome when asked about the pace of advance.
Ukrainian troops are facing heavily fortified Russian positions that include complex minefields, tank obstacles, barbed wire and trenches, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley told journalists on Tuesday.
He also said that Ukraine has “a significant amount of combat power not yet committed.”
“Right now, they are preserving their combat power, and they are slowly and deliberately and steadily working their way through all these minefields, and it’s a tough fight.”
The United States has spearheaded the push for international support for Ukraine, quickly forging an international coalition to back Kyiv after Russia invaded and coordinating aid from dozens of countries.
Washington has committed to providing tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Kyiv since Russia invaded in February 2022.
wd/st
© Agence France-Presse. All rights are reserved.
headline news bulletin news
Notes from APS Radio News
According to the Council on Foreign Relations, thus far, the US has provided Ukraine nearly $77 billion in aid, including military equipment.
The website, Global Research.ca, is reporting on this story as well:
US Expected to Announce New $1.3 Billion Weapons Package for Ukraine
The arms will be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine
By Dave DeCamp
Global Research, July 19, 2023
Antiwar.com
The Biden administration is expected to announce a new $1.3 billion weapons package for Ukraine in the coming days, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing two unnamed US officials.
US Pledges New $600 Million Weapons Package for Ukraine
The funds will be provided through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows the US to purchase weapons for Ukraine as opposed to shipping them directly from US military stockpiles, which is the main way the US has been arming Kyiv.
The sources told Reuters that the new package will include an anti-drone air defense system, known as the VAMPIRE, Phoenix Ghost drones and Switchblade drones, which are both small loitering munitions, and another counter-drone system made by Australia’s DroneShield.
Because the weapons systems are being purchased, it could take months or years for them to be delivered. The report comes as US officials are warning the Pentagon is draining its stockpiles to dangerously low levels.
According to the State Department, the US has provided Ukraine with $10.8 billion in USAI funds so far in the 2023 fiscal year. In the 2022 fiscal year, which ended on September 30 for the federal government, the US announced $6.3 billion in USAI aid for Ukraine.
Funds for Ukraine are still being pulled from the $113 billion that Congress has authorized to spend on the war. The administration is expected to ask Congress to approve more soon.
Note to readers: Please click the share button above. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share widely Global Research articles.
Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.
headline news bulletin news
