The Defense Department on May 6 said a $150 million security package bound for Eastern Europe includes the jamming gear, as well as 25,000 artillery rounds, radar systems, and other field equipment and spares.
The Pentagon would not comment publicly on specific details about the electronic warfare kit, which Ukrainian forces requested as Russia continues its offensive in the east part of the country. A senior defense official said Monday it was the first time the US gave EW equipment to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion began Feb. 24.
“This is all of a piece of allowing the Ukrainians to operate more effectively, in a very condensed geographic area, where we know the Russians routinely tried to use electronic jamming as a way of their own ability to defend themselves against attack,” the official said.
The equipment will be siphoned from American defense stocks, marking the ninth drawdown for Ukraine since August. The US has committed more than $6.5 billion in security assistance to the country since 2014, with nearly $4 billion of that total made since Russia launched its latest invasion.
Also a report by Washington Post said a few days ago on May 6 that the Pentagon is expanding delivery of commercially available weapons and military equipment to Ukraine, detailing on Friday its $136 million in purchases of aerial drones, laser-guided rockets, binoculars and other items set for shipment soon.
The weapons and equipment, to be purchased from US companies, represent a separate category of military assistance than the vast quantities of armaments that the United States already has provided Ukraine from existing Pentagon stocks. This round includes $22.6 million worth of 70mm rockets — known as the advanced precision kill weapon system — that can be fired from helicopters, and $17.8 million in additional Switchblade drones, which when armed can be flown into Russian armored vehicles and troop formations. The Pentagon also will procure handheld Puma surveillance drones for $19.7 million, officials said, a decision initially announced last month.
KI/PR
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