Today, the Department of Defense (DoD) announced additional security assistance as an extraordinary measure to address some of Ukraine's most pressing security and defense needs. This announcement is the Biden Administration's fifty-fifth tranche of equipment to be provided from DoD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021. This Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package is valued at up to $300 million and includes capabilities to support Ukraine's immediate air defense, artillery, and anti-tank requirements.
With a lack of replacement funds available to replenish DoD inventories, the Administration had been forced to pause PDA packages since December 2023. DoD is able to support this extraordinary package after identifying contract savings from previously appropriated supplemental funding that can be applied to replace DoD stocks. Today's announcement provides a short-term stop gap, but it is nowhere near enough to meet Ukraine's battlefield needs. Without supplemental funding, DoD will remain hard-pressed to meet Ukraine's capability requirements at a time when Russia is pressing its attacks against Ukrainian forces and cities.
The capabilities in this announcement include:
- Stinger anti-aircraft missiles;
- Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
- 155mm artillery rounds, including High Explosive and Dual Purpose Improved Cluster Munitions rounds;
- 105mm artillery rounds;
- AT-4 anti-armor systems;
- Additional rounds of small arms ammunition;
- Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing; and
- Spare parts, maintenance, and other ancillary equipment.
U.S. leadership is essential to sustaining the historic efforts of some 50 allies and partners from around the globe that have committed more than $87 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched its unprovoked, full-scale invasion in February 2022 – a war of choice that continues to undermine global security and stability.
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. The current supplemental request includes over $50 billion that could be invested in the United States. Funding from previous supplementals has enabled DoD to invest over $30 billion across nearly 40 states.
