According to persons familiar with the shipments, the White House is poised to begin revealing about $1 billion in new arms aid for Ukraine as soon as Wednesday, including anti-ship rocket systems, artillery rockets, and howitzer rounds.
The aid packages, which arrive as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin meets with allies in Brussels, could be divided into two categories: transfers of excess defence articles from US stockpiles and other weapons funded by the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a separate congressionally authorised programme.
According to three sources, Biden was set to announce more than $350 million in arms transfers, including more rockets for Ukraine’s Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS), artillery rounds for M777 howitzers, and spare components.
A second package, worth more than $650 million and funded by USAI, might include ground-based Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher capabilities, secure radios, night vision, and training.
In the face of heightened pressure from Russian soldiers in the eastern Donbass region, Ukraine is asking the United States and other Western nations for faster delivery of weapons.
In May, the Biden administration unveiled a plan to provide Ukraine with M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems in exchange for assurances from Kiev that they would not be used to strike targets inside Russian territory. Biden enforced the stipulation in order to avoid further escalation of the Ukraine conflict.
According to one source, the rocket artillery in this aid package would have the same range as previous US rocket shipments and would be funded through Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, which allows the president to authorise the transfer of articles and services from US stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency.
The United States is considering sending ground-based Harpoon launchers for the first time. According to Reuters, the US was working on potential options such as withdrawing a launcher from a US ship to enable Ukraine give Harpoon missile launch capability.
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