2 years ago
The White House is set to announce it will send four additional rocket launchers to Ukraine, as part of a new $450 million package of military assistance, a U.S. official said Thursday.
The move will double the number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems sent to Ukraine amid that nation's battle with Russian forces for control of the eastern Donbas region.
The news comes days after POLITICO first reported that officials crafting the next tranche of aid at the Pentagon were leaning toward sending four units of the HIMARS mobile rocket launcher.
The first four units the U.S. approved arrived in Ukraine this week, along with medium-range rockets that can strike targets up to 50 miles away, Ukrainian officials announced. The United Kingdom is also sending three units of a similar weapon, the American-made M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System, with a range of 50 miles. Germany will also transfer three M270s to Kyiv.
The first group of roughly 60 Ukrainians being trained on the HIMARS is now ready to use them, Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, said last week.
The Associated Press first reported that the White House is set to announce a new $450 million package of military aid to Ukraine and that it will include HIMARS, but did not report how many units the tranche would include.
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