© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Javelin anti-tank missiles are displayed on a production line as U.S. President Joe Biden tours the Lockheed Martin weapons factory in Troy, Alabama, U.S., May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
Author: Mike Stone
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is preparing more than $2 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine, which is expected to include longer-range missiles and other munitions and weapons for the first time, two U.S. officials familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Question. .
The weapons aid is expected to be announced later this week, officials said. It is also expected to include equipment to support Patriot air defense systems, precision-guided munitions and Javelin anti-tank weapons, they added.
One of the officials said part of the package, $1.725 billion, would come from a fund known as the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which allows President Joe Biden’s administration to acquire weapons from industry rather than existing US arms stockpiles.
USAI funds would go toward the purchase of a new weapon, the Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB), which has a range of 94 miles (150 km). The United States rejected requests for an ATACMS missile with a range of 185 miles (297 km).
The longer range of the GLSDB glide bomb could allow Ukraine to hit valuable military targets that were out of range and help it continue counterattacks by disrupting Russia further behind its lines.
Reuters first reported Boeing’s (NYSE: ) Co proposal to set up a GLSDB for Ukraine in November.
The White House declined to comment.
In addition to the USAI funds, more than $400 million worth of relief was expected to come from the President’s Withdrawal Facility, which allows the president to draw funds from current U.S. stocks in an emergency.
That assistance was expected to include Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs), guided multiple rocket systems (GMLRS) and ammunition.