Pentagon Preparing Package for Ukraine, Promising Armor, Artillery and Air Defenses ASAP

Following House passage of its $61 billion aid package, likely to be approved by the Senate this week and quickly signed by President Joe Biden, the US Department of Defense (DoD) is already preparing its next batch of weapons to be sent to Ukraine as soon as possible, along with possible military advisors in non-combat roles.

Anticipating the approval and signature, the Pentagon is preparing a “larger-than-normal package” for Kyiv that will include “urgently needed artillery and air defenses” along with Bradley Fighting Vehicles and other equipment, according to a report Tuesday by Politico, citing two DoD officials.

The report implies that the package was already in the works and will be “significantly larger than the most recent tranche of $300 million” Biden’s Department of Defense (DoD) “cobbled together” in March using savings from contracts previously awarded to Kyiv, the officials said.

Politico granted anonymity to the officials along with others to allow them to speak ahead of an announcement, also saying that a DoD spokesperson declined to comment.

The sources said the “big package to help meet Ukraine’s battlefield needs” would include “older Humvees, M113 armored personnel carriers, as well as missiles” and would “also include artillery and air defenses.”

According to the report, in a call on Monday, Biden promised President Volodymyr Zelensky that the US administration would work quickly to provide “significant new security assistance packages to meet Ukraine’s urgent battlefield and air defense needs.”

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With Russia’s full-scale invasion approaching the 1,000-day mark, 3.7 million people have already been displaced inside Ukraine and around 6.7 million have fled as refugees, according to UN figures.

Recently the DoD Deputy Secretary for International Security Affairs, Celeste Wallander, told Congressional members the Pentagon is ready to transfer the aid “within a week or two” once Biden signs the aid bill into law.

Another report published Saturday by Politico said: “The US is considering sending as many as 60 military advisers to Kyiv to facilitate the incoming weapons transfers while supporting the Ukrainian government. The advisers would be in a non-combat role.”