The US Department of Defense announced the allocation of a new package of military assistance to Ukraine on September 25, 2024. This package in the amount of $ 375 million was provided by an order of the President of the United States within the framework of his administrative powers (Presidential Drawdown of Security Assistance - PDA) and is an operational allocation of property from the presence of the US Department of Defense. This is the 66th presidential package of military assistance to Ukraine under the PDA since August 2021, and the 12th package of assistance under the PDA in 2024.
American aviation long-range cluster guided aviation munition AGM-154A JSOW on the external suspension of the F-16 fighter of the United States Air Force (c) of the United States Air Force
According to American media reports, this package of assistance under the designation "air-to-surface ammunition" for the first time includes cluster long-range aviation guided munitions AGM-154A JSOW (Joint Stand-Off Weapon), planned for use with F-16 fighters transferred to Ukraine. JSOW has been in service with American military aviation since 1998 and it is a gliding cruise guided aerial bomb weighing about 500 kg with an inertial satellite guidance system. The range of JSOW application is up to 130 km when launched from a high altitude. In the execution of the AGM-154A (which, as reported, will be transferred to Ukraine), the bomb has a cluster warhead consisting of 145 BLU-97/B Combined Effects submunitions weighing 1.54 kg, and is designed primarily to defeat air defense positions when solving SEAD tasks.
This PDA assistance package also includes:
- guided missiles for the HIMARS missile system,- 105 mm artillery rounds,
- 155 mm artillery rounds,
- TOW anti-tank guided missiles,
- Javelin anti-tank guided missiles,
- disposable AT4 hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers,
- M1117 ASV wheeled armored vehicles;
- MRAP class armored vehicles;
- light tactical vehicles [possibly referring to JLTV armored vehicles];
- tank bridge-laying machines;
- small arms;
- patrol boats;
- explosive charges and explosive equipment;
- spare parts, auxiliary equipment, etc., as well as training and transportation services.
Following this, on September 26, the US Department of Defense announced the allocation of another $ 2.4 billion package of military assistance to Ukraine, but already within the framework of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), that is, the military equipment provided under it will be ordered by industry. Due to the fact that these weapons and equipment must still be contracted and then manufactured, the main part of it, in theory, should be delivered to Ukraine after a fairly long time. This is the 21st package of military assistance to Ukraine through the USAI, allocated since the beginning of its operation.
This package includes:
- anti-aircraft guided missiles for various anti-aircraft missile systems;
- high-precision air-to-surface aviation weapons;
- unmanned aircraft systems and components for their production in Ukraine;
- complexes for combating unmanned aerial vehicles;
- outboard boats;
- secure radio communication equipment;
- equipment and materials for the production of ammunition in Ukraine;
- spare parts, auxiliary equipment, etc.
