The US Department of Defense announced a new package of military aid worth almost $2.1 billion, which should strengthen Ukraineʼs air and missile defenses.
The aid package is allocated under the program of the Initiative for the Promotion of Defense Capability of Ukraine (USAI), that is, the USA orders weapons from manufacturers, and Ukraine will receive them after production.
In the list:
- MIM-23 Hawk anti-aircraft missile systems and ammunition for them;
- missiles for the Patriot air defense system;
- 105 and 203 mm caliber ammunition;
- reconnaissance drones RQ-20 Puma;
- laser-guided missiles.
Bloomberg wrote that the package will include missiles for the Patriot air defense system of two types. The first are anti-radar MSE for intercepting ballistic and winged targets at a range of up to 60 km manufactured by Lockheed Martin, and the second are anti-radar with an advanced GEM-T guidance system manufactured by Raytheon Technologies to destroy aerodynamic and ballistic targets at a range of up to 160 km.
It is currently known that the Ukrainian MIM-104F Patriot PAC-3 uses CRI (Cost Reduction Initiative) kinetic missiles, which are the predecessors of the MSE. Despite this, the CRI showed its effectiveness in the defense of Kyiv.