The US government announced on 21 September 2023 that it is sending an additional security assistance package to Ukraine: the Biden Administration’s 47th tranche of equipment to be provided to Ukraine from US Department of Defense (DoD) inventories since August 2021.
The package, valued at up to USD 325 M (EUR 305 M), comes as Ukraine’s armed forces attempt to further the incremental gains made since their counter-offensive against the invading Russian forces began in June. The Russian military, meanwhile, is reinforcing its lines in locations such as Robotyne, southeast of Zaporizhzhia, where Ukrainian forces have advanced.
The security package was announced by US President Joe Biden after hosting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House.
“We’re committed to help Ukraine build a force capable of ensuring Ukraine’s long-term security, capable of deterring future threats against sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom, which are underway now,” Biden said. “Because that’s what this is all about — the future, the future of freedom. America can never, will never walk away from that.”
Such a strong show of support from the United States will have provided a fillip for Ukraine in light of a recent spat with Poland, previously one of its staunchest allies, over Ukrainian grain exports. Given that Warsaw has been such an ardent supporter of Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, its recent decision to end weapon transfers to Ukraine will have rung some alarm bells in Kyiv regarding ‘Ukraine fatigue’ among its allies, even though the Polish position could at least in part be put down to domestic posturing in advance of an October election. The governing Law and Justice party (PiS) in Poland is positioning itself as the strongest defender of Polish interests and is chasing the Polish farming vote by claiming to protect its domestic market from Ukrainian grain, which must travel by land through eastern Europe as the result of a Russian maritime blockade.
The latest US security assistance package is a mix of both offensive and defensive systems and includes: AIM-9M missiles for air defence; additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS); Avenger air defense systems; .50 cal machine guns to counter unmanned aerial vehicles; 155 mm artillery rounds, including dual-purpose improved conventional munition (DPICM) rounds; 105 mm artillery rounds; Javelin, AT-4 and Tube-Launched, Optically Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) anti-armour missiles; over three million rounds of small arms ammunition; 59 light tactical vehicles; demolition munitions for obstacle clearing; and spare parts, maintenance, and other field equipment.
The package will utilise assistance previously authorized under Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for Ukraine that remained after the PDA revaluation process concluded in June as well as assistance under a new PDA.
Peter Felstead
