The US will provide Ukraine with additional Patriot missiles for its air defence systems as part of a massive $6bn additional aid package, the defence secretary has announced.
“This is the largest security assistance package that we’ve committed to date,” Lloyd Austin said after the conclusion of a virtual meeting of dozens of Kyiv’s international supporters.
The missiles will be used to replenish previously supplied Patriot systems. The package also includes more munitions for the national advanced surface-to-air missile systems, or Nasams, and additional gear to integrate western air defence launchers, missiles and radars into Ukraine’s existing weaponry, much of which still dates back to the Soviet era.
The package is the second this week, following another valued at $1bn that was announced just after the US president, Joe Biden, signed a much-delayed bill to provide new funding for Ukraine as it struggles to hold back Russian advances.
But unlike the $1bn package announced on Wednesday, which featured items that will be drawn from US stocks, the latest assistance will be procured from the defence industry, meaning it will take longer to arrive on the battlefield.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, discussed the need for Patriots early on Friday with the Ukraine Defence Contact Group, a coalition of about 50 countries gathering virtually in a Pentagon-led meeting.
The meeting fell on the second anniversary of the group, which Austin said had “moved heaven and earth” since April 2022 to source millions of rounds of ammunition, rocket systems, armoured vehicles and even jets to help Ukraine rebuff Russia’s invasion.
Zelenskiy said at least seven Patriot systems were needed to protect Ukrainian cities. “We urgently need Patriot systems and missiles for them,” he said. “This is what can and should save lives right now.”
At a Pentagon press conference after the meeting, Austin said the US was working with allies to resource additional Patriot systems but did not commit to sending more US versions. He said he had been speaking one-on-one with a number of his European counterparts in recent days to hash out this issue and others.
“It’s not just Patriots that they need, they need other types of systems and interceptors as well,” Austin said. “I would caution us all in terms of making Patriot the silver bullet.”
Austin said he was asking allied nations to “accept a little bit more risk” as they consider what weapons to send to Ukraine. A number of nations have expressed some reluctance to send Patriot air defence systems to Ukraine because most don’t have very many and they believe they need them for their own defence.
US officials said the aid package would be funded through the Ukraine security assistance initiative (USAI), which pays for longer-term contracts with the defence industry and means that it could take many months or years for the weapons to arrive. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details not yet made public.
The new funding – the largest tranche of USAI aid sent to date – also includes high mobility artillery rocket system, or Himars, as well as Switchblade and Puma drones, counter drone systems and artillery.
The Ukraine Defence Contact Group has been meeting about monthly for the past two years and is the primary forum for weapons contributions to Kyiv for the war.
Gen CQ Brown, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, said the $1bn weapons package would have a key benefit.
“There’s some near-term effects,” said Brown, who stood alongside Austin at the Pentagon briefing. “Now the Ukrainians don’t necessarily have to ration what they have because they know things are coming out of this package and there will be follow-on packages.”
Associated Press and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report
