The Biden administration’s efforts to send billions of dollars worth of military equipment to Ukraine before the president leaves office face major logistical hurdles. In addition, it raises concerns that the transfers will empty the reserves of the US, whose situation is also limited, according to officials.
The obstacles highlight the extent to which the election of Donald Trump has disrupted the campaign led by the US in favor of aid to Ukraine, which suffered severe defeats on the battlefield in its war against Russia, and now faces a future threat to the supply of weapons from the West, which allowed it to continue fighting.
More than $7 billion of the inventory that the Pentagon is authorized to use for the transfer of weapons and ammunition to Ukraine has not yet been spent, along with more than $2 billion to finance long-term equipment contracts for Kyiv.
Trump promised to end the war in Ukraine before taking office. The president-elect did not specify the plan he intends to implement to do so, but officials in the Biden administration fear that the incoming administration will reduce arms shipments to Ukraine as part of the effort to bring Kiev and Moscow to the negotiating table.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky / Photo: ap, Susan Walsh
Biden administration officials hope that by pouring as much military aid as possible into Kiev before January, they can give it a better negotiating position, and strengthen its defenses. Before the election, the administration intended to provide the rest of the aid to Ukraine by April, according to a Pentagon official. This schedule has taken on new urgency since the election.
Not just a weapon
In response to the increasing Russian drone and missile attacks, the Pentagon is sending Ukraine more than 500 interceptors for the Patriot missile defense system, and the advanced national surface-to-air missile system, NASAMS, which are expected to arrive in the coming weeks, according to a senior administration official.
Those deliveries should meet Ukraine’s air defense needs by the end of this year, a US official said.
On Friday, the administration announced it would send “a small number of contractors” to help Ukraine repair and maintain F-16s and other systems, according to a Pentagon official. The contractors will arrive in the coming months and will work away from the front line.
As recently as last August, the Biden administration rejected such a move, but since then more systems have become inoperable due to a lack of skilled workers to repair or maintain them. “For the defense of Ukraine against Russian aggression, it is critical to ensure that these weapons systems remain serviceable, in a condition that allows them to perform their missions,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
Arms shipments to Ukraine usually take weeks or even months, and the planned increase in arms transfers could affect the stockpiles of the US military, especially the air defense, in a way that causes “great concern”, according to another senior US official. The US is looking into options such as purchasing weapons from other countries to give them to Ukraine, the same source said.
Ukrainian officials have pressed for additional Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, which have a range of up to 320 km, saying they will allow strikes far beyond the Russian front lines.
The Pentagon is reluctant to send more ATACMS, arguing that Russia has moved aircraft and other valuable targets out of range. The Biden administration refused to allow Ukrainian forces to use these missiles to strike Russia itself.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin refused President Volodymyr Zelensky’s latest request to give priority to Ukraine over other buyers of ATACMS supplies, according to two US officials and an adviser to the Ukrainian government. Austin told Zelensky that violating long-standing agreements with other customers It is an “excessive request”, according to one official.
A new version of the weapon, called the Precision Strike Missile, is in production, but it will take years to produce it in large enough numbers to replace the ATACMS, one of the officials said.
Limited stocks
According to the first American source, the administration is asking allies to send Ukraine missiles from their stockpiles.
The Pentagon also has limited stockpiles of munitions it can send to arm Ukraine’s new F-16 fighter jets, according to the senior U.S. and former Defense Department official briefed on the discussions. Kyiv forces use the planes mainly for air defense, to help shoot down Russian missiles and UAVs.
The Pentagon has so far sent advanced anti-radar guided missiles of the AGM-88E type, which are air-to-surface missiles designed to target enemy radars like those used by surface-to-air missiles; advanced medium-range air-to-air missiles, which can be launched from F-16s as well as from NASAMS; and Joint Direct Attack Munition kits, which convert unguided bombs into smart weapons for attacking ground targets.