The Biden administration announced Friday its latest batch of military aid, worth roughly $270 million, to Ukraine.
Roughly $175 million comes from a presidential drawdown authorization, which means these weapons come straight from U.S. stockpiles, while the remaining amount will go toward contracting as many as 580 Phoenix “Ghost” drones, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said.
‘PERFECT STORM BREWING’ IN SYRIAN REFUGEE CAMP, PRISON FOR ‘REEMERGENCE OF ISIS,’ GRAHAM WARNS
The Pentagon first sent the “ghost” drones to Ukraine in April when it allocated 121 of them to Ukrainian forces.
The Air Force began developing them prior to Russia’s invasion, and they are “designed for tactical operations, in other words, largely, but not exclusively, to attack targets,” then-Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on April 21. “It, like almost all unmanned aerial systems, of course, has optics. So it can still, it can also be used to give you a sight picture of what is seen of course, but its principal focus is attack.”
Four additional high-mobility artillery rocket systems are included in this tranche, bringing the total number of the Lockheed Martin HIMARS provided from the United States to Ukraine to 16.
“It’s increasingly clear we’re seeing Ukraine employing very precise, accurate targeting of critical Russian positions with their HIMARS, and we’re seeing Ukrainians have strong morale,” a senior defense official told reporters.
The administration has provided more than a dozen military aid packages totaling more than $7 billion, and the weapons have changed over time as the outlook of the war altered.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Ukrainian forces have already used the HIMARS to “destroy approximately 30 command stations,” Ukrainian Minister of Defense Oleksii Reznikov said earlier this week, going on to say that they needed “at least” 100 to launch an “effective” counterattack against Russia.
