Pentagon reveals details of NASAMS supplies to Ukraine
The U.S. Department of Defense spokesman has elaborated on the latest package of security assistance to Ukraine, worth $775 million, approved on Friday.
That’s according to the Pentagon press service, Ukrinform reports.
“So the first kind of bucket of capabilities that I'll cover relate to artillery, obviously a critical area of need. So first, we are providing additional ammunition for the HIMARS system. That's the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System. We have been seeing Ukraine employing HIMARS masterfully on the battlefield. This long-range fire capability has changed -- really changed the dynamic on the battlefield,” the official said.
He noted that the U.S. seeks to make sure that Ukraine has a steady stream of ammunition to these MLR systems, which have practically put the enemy advance to a halt.
The second item in the package is 16 howitzers. “These are the 105 mm howitzers, and then 36,000 105 mm artillery rounds to go with these howitzers,” the spokesman said, adding that it was the UK that previously provided Ukraine with such capabilities. “We've seen that the Ukrainians have been able to make great use of this on the battlefield, in combination with the previous artillery systems that we provided them, giving them a layered effect with this capability,” the Pentagon official said.
The third item is unmanned aerial vehicles: the U.S. will provide 15 ScanEagle systems, which will give Ukraine additional opportunities to conduct better reconnaissance around the front lines.
Besides, weapons, the U.S. will also give Ukraine demining tools, and for the first time “40 MaxxPro MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles with mine rollers.”
“So this is going to give the Ukrainians a resilient capability for transporting troops in this challenging terrain,” said the official.
The next area to identify for the latest assistance package is missiles and anti-armor. The U.S. is providing additional High-speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, HARM. “Ukraine has successfully employed these missiles. They have successfully integrated them onto Ukrainian aircraft, and this enables Ukraine to seek and destroy Russian radars, so we'll be providing additional HARM missiles,” the spokesman said.
The second in this kind of missile category is for the land domain, so the U.S. is providing 1,500 TOW missiles. This stands for Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire-Guided missiles, able to pierce armor, and 1,000 additional Javelin anti-armor systems. Also, the U.S. will be handing over 2,000 anti-armor rounds for anti-armor and anti-personnel weapons systems, provided by allies and partners.
In the category of mobility, the U.S. will be providing 50 Humvees. “We've already provided hundreds of these and the Ukrainians have been using them and actually also are very capable in sustaining them and maintaining them,” the spokesman said.
Speaking of NASAMS air defense systems, the defense official said: “Specifically on the NASAMS delivery, we're expecting that to be within the next two to three months.”
The spokesperson added that the U.S. will ensure regular deliveries of Phoenix Ghost strike drones, expected later this month.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, U.S. President Joe Biden signed a decree instructing that the Secretary of State allocate $775 million for Ukraine support at the expense of the Pentagon budget.
Photo from open sources