Pentagon speeding up arms contracts to replenish U.S., Ukraine arsenals

The U.S. Department of Defense is looking for ways to speed up the procedure for concluding contracts for arms supplies for its own and Ukrainian stocks.

This is reported by Ukrinform with reference to Bloomberg.

As noted, the Pentagon staff responsible for procurement are undertaking a wide range of measures to streamline standard formalities for replenishing the U.S. arsenal and resupplying Ukrainian forces.

According to Sheila Kahyaoglu, an analyst with Jefferies Financial Group, defense suppliers would welcome if the Pentagon "moved faster issuing contracts."

One of the key methods is the conclusion of an "Undefinitized Contract Action" (UCA). This means entering into a contract before all its terms and payment issues have been made final. Some of these tools were used by the U.S. government during Operation Warp Speed to spur development of vaccines against COVID-19 and to rapidly procure and ship 1 billion home tests to Americans in 2020-2021.

As the agency writes, the Pentagon now relies on such methods of restocking Javelin anti-tank weapons and Stinger surface-to-air missiles. According to anonymous senior Pentagon officials, UCA was used during negotiations with Raytheon Technologies Corporation to supply Ukraine with the first two NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems).

The Pentagon also used UCA for a $476 million contract with Lockheed Martin Corporation regarding the supply of GPS-guided GMLR rockets for the HIMARS missile system.

It is noted that before the implementation of contracts, the Pentagon must seal a special approval from the U.S. Congress in the form of a monetary tranche approved for the purchase.

As reported by Ukrinform, the U.S. House on Thursday passed a bill approving the country's defense budget for fiscal year 2023, which includes, among other things, strengthening measures to contain the Russian Federation in Europe, as well as support for NATO allies and Ukraine.

In particular, $800 million was assigned to Ukraine. This amount is considered separately from other multi-billion-dollar legislation passed by U.S. Congress after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.