Biden administration announces new security assistance for Ukraine

USA / UKRAINE, (DOD) – On December 12, 2023, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance to meet Ukraine’s critical security and defense needs.

This announcement is the Biden administration’s fifty-third tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021. This package includes additional air defense capabilities, artillery ammunition, anti-tank weapons, and other equipment to help Ukraine counter Russia’s ongoing war of aggression.

This package utilizes assistance previously authorized for Ukraine during prior fiscal years under Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) that remained after the PDA revaluation process.

The capabilities in this package, valued at up to $200 million, include:

• AIM-9M missiles for air defense;
• Air defense system components;
• Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
• 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
• High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);
• Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
• Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
• More than 4 million rounds of small arms ammunition;
• Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing;
• Equipment to protect critical national infrastructure;
• Spare parts, generators, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.

In close cooperation with its Allies and partners, the United States continues to support Ukraine’s most pressing battlefield requirements, including capabilities needed to protect Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure from Russia’s unrelenting aerial attacks.

US leadership remains essential to sustaining the coalition efforts of some 50 allies and partners currently supporting Ukraine. This support has enabled Ukrainian forces to defend their sovereignty and independence. It is critical that Congress takes action soon and passes the President’s national security supplemental request to ensure that Ukraine can consolidate and extend its battlefield gains.

Security assistance for Ukraine remains a smart investment in our national security. It deters potential aggression elsewhere in the world, while strengthening our defense industrial base and creating highly skilled jobs for the American people.