US bolsters Ukraine air defence and weapons development

John Hill

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Under the latest 47th tranche of military assistance to Ukraine worth $325m, the US Department of Defense (DoD) has donated more shells and munitions to secure Ukrainian airspace from indiscriminate Russian strikes against civilian and military personnel alike.

This comes off the heels of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group (UDCG) on the 19 September, when the US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin called for partners and allies to “dig deep and donate” more air defence equipment.

Since then, the US awarded several contracts that have expanded America’s domestic industrial infrastructure as a way of sustaining an appropriate level of munitions for the DoD’s inventory as well as Ukraine.

This endeavour has proven even more significant now that Poland, one of the first nations to provide military aid to Ukraine at the start of the invasion, has announced it will halt its military donations to its neighbour.

This decision was prompted in response to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s claim that some European countries “simulate solidarity while indirectly supporting Russia” over the exports of Ukrainian crops putting Polish farmers at economic risk.

As it stands, the US has committed more than $44.5bn in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of the Biden Administration, including $43.9bn since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022.

A new “long-term agreement” between the US and Ukraine on weapons development

The US continue to make air defence the name of the game as the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence announced that Zelenskyy’s second visit to Washington ended with a new agreement with the US to produce air defence weapons in Ukraine.

“There is a long-term agreement – we will work together for Ukraine to produce the necessary weapons together with the United States,” Zelenskyy declared in the early hours of this morning.

“Co-production in the defence industry with the United States is a historic thing. A new industrial base, new jobs for both our nations. In particular, Ukraine will be able to produce air defence systems.

“We are preparing to create a new defence ecosystem together with the United States to produce weapons to further reinforce freedom and the protection of life together.”