Washington, Feb 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) The administration of US President Joe Biden has announced an additional round of security assistance for Ukraine with a total value of $2.2 billion.
The latest package was divided into two parts - $425 million through the Presidential Drawdown Authority, and $1.75 billion from the congressionally-approved Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, Xinhua news agency reported, citing a statement from the Defense Department.
What's particularly noticeable in the materiel are long-range rockets for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS missile launchers that the United States have provided for Ukraine.
The new rockets are GPS-guided Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bombs (GLSDB) with a range of roughly 90 miles, more than doubling the 40-mile range that previous U.S.-provided HIMARS-compatible missiles have.
The GLSDB's range, however, falls short compared to that of the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS), which has long been sought by Ukraine but refused by the United States for fear of escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict. The ATACMS has a range of nearly 200 miles.
The US government will contract with weapons manufacturers to provide the GLSDB, as well as two HAWK air defense firing units and unspecified "equipment to integrate Western air defense launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukraine's air defense systems". That means it will be months away from the actual delivery of these weapons.
The US has committed more than $29.3 billion in security assistance for Ukraine since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out nearly a year ago, according to the Pentagon's statement.
Source: IANS
About Gopi
Gopi Adusumilli is a Programmer. He is the editor of SocialNews.XYZ and President of AGK Fire Inc.
He enjoys designing websites, developing mobile applications and publishing news articles on current events from various authenticated news sources.
When it comes to writing he likes to write about current world politics and Indian Movies. His future plans include developing SocialNews.XYZ into a News website that has no bias or judgment towards any.
He can be reached at gopi@socialnews.xyz