Avenger air defense systems, missiles for HAWK and HIMARS are in new USD 400 million aid package for Ukraine

On November 10, the US Department of Defense announced $400 million security assistance for Ukraine to meet the country's critical security and defense needs. 

This is the Biden Administration's twenty-fifth drawdown of equipment for Ukraine since August 2021, Pentagon says in its press release. 

Capabilities in this package include:

     •    Missiles for HAWK air defense systems;

     •    Four Avenger air defense systems and Stinger missiles;

     •    Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);

     •    21,000 155mm artillery rounds;

     •    500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;

     •    10,000 120mm mortar rounds; 

     •    100 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);

     •    400 grenade launchers; 

     •    Small arms, optics, and more than 20,000,000 rounds of small arms ammunition;

     •    Demolition equipment for obstacle clearing;

     •    Cold weather protective gear.

Earlier, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan announced the new aid package at a briefing. He said the aid package would include "an important contribution to air defense."

Therefore, the USA will provide Ukraine with Avenger air defense systems equipped with Stinger missiles.

The United States will also send missiles for the Hawk air defense systems. This will complement the assistance from Spain, which recently transferred four HAWK air defense systems to Ukraine, and will also send two more units to Ukraine.

Biden's adviser clarified that the new aid package will complement other air defense equipment already provided to Ukraine by US allies.

"Last week, when I was in Kyiv, I had the opportunity to discuss directly with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his team on the ground what exactly Ukraine needs in order to have the strongest possible position on the battlefield. Strengthening air defense plays a significant role for Ukraine amid Russia's use of cruise missiles and Iranian drones for attacks on critical civilian infrastructure," he added.

The head of the presidential office, Andriy Yermak, also announced on Telegram about a new aid package from the United States:

“The Pentagon announced a new $400 million military aid package for Ukraine, which includes Avenger air defense systems and Hawk air defense missiles, he wrote.