Patriot battery, JSOW bombs and other weapons: US announces new $7.9bn military aid package for Ukraine

The administration of US President Joe Biden has announced a large military aid package worth 7.9bn dollars for Ukraine.

Here's What We Know

The total includes $5.5bn under the PDA (Presidential Drawdown Authority) programme and $2.4bn under USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative).

The new military aid includes:

• An additional Patriot air defence battery;
• other air defence equipment;
• drones, long-range missiles and air-to-ground munitions;
• funds to strengthen Ukraine's defence industrial base.

The US President confirmed that the aid package will for the first time include a batch of Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) precision Joint Standoff Weapon bombs with a range of up to 130 kilometres.

In addition, the US is expanding its F-16 pilot training programme and has imposed additional sanctions against terrorist country Russia.

Biden said in a statement on the White House website that he had instructed the Pentagon to release the entire balance of the funds allocated to Ukraine before the end of his term as US President.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his sincere gratitude:

Thank you to US President Joseph Biden, the US Congress and its both parties, Republicans and Democrats, and the entire American people for today's announcement of significant defence aid to Ukraine totalling $7.9 billion and the imposition of sanctions against Russia

Source: The White House