New US military package contains an interesting clause on air defence drones – military expert Katkov

He spoke about this on Espreso TV.

The military expert commented on the new US military aid package to Ukraine.

"There is still unofficial information from the Associated Press that there will be a military aid package of $1.2 billion under the USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative) program. This means that the weapons from this package will be ordered from manufacturers, so it will take much longer to deliver them to Ukraine compared to the PDA program (presidential authority to withdraw weapons from US warehouses and transfer them to the Armed Forces). The information about the presence of HAWK air defence systems in the new package, which have been previously provided to Ukraine, has already become public," said the editor-in-chief of Defence Express.

Oleh Katkov added that the new package also mentions the transfer of artillery and anti-aircraft ammunition.

"There is one more interesting item in this military aid package, of course, which we would like to wait for an official announcement. This item looks potentially interesting because the Associated Press publication mentions air defence drones. That is, usually when it comes to UAVs, some measures against drones are mentioned, but here it is reported about air defense drones. It should be noted that the United States has drones that can carry AIM-9 air-to-air missiles, the air version of the Stinger, and potentially shoot down aircraft, such as the Shahed. Since this is still a USAI package, meaning that orders go to developers and manufacturers, it is possible that we are talking about some drones that are just being created or have already been created, and mass production is yet to be deployed. In general, if we consider this type of drone as a fighter and air defence system, it is potentially quite effective in countering the threats of the Shahed and cruise missiles," Katkov said.

• On May 3, the United States announced a $300 million aid package for Ukraine. It includes additional ammunition for the HIMARS provided by the United States, additional howitzers, artillery and mortar shells, and anti-tank armour.

• On May 9, the United States said they would provide Ukraine with a new $1.2 billion military aid package to strengthen its air defence, provide artillery shells, spare parts, and intelligence.