The United States is providing a new round of military aid worth up to $300 million to Ukraine, the first such aid announced since late December in what defense officials describe as an “interim” package made possible by savings in U.S. Army procurement.
National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan announced the 55th Presidential Drawdown Authorization (PDA) plan at the White House on Tuesday and said it will include artillery shells and ammunition for HIMARS, which are urgently needed on the front lines in Ukraine where supplies are scarce.
Senior defense officials who spoke on condition of anonymity said the program was funded by savings from “multiple contracting actions over several months” and that the Army was able to “buy things at a better price than originally budgeted” following the White House announcement.
“This is somewhat of a temporary or one-time shot. We don’t know if or when there will be savings in the future and we certainly can’t count on this as a way of doing business,” a senior defense official said.
In one example provided by officials, the Army initially estimated the cost of 25mm ammunition at $130 but negotiated the price down to $93.
The savings were then put back into U.S. aid to Ukraine coffers, a process that had happened several times but was not considered newsworthy at the time because the fund had not previously been available, according to defense officials. “Bankruptcy”.
$10 billion shortfall
While the Pentagon has a funding gap of about $10 billion to replace U.S. military weapons that have been shipped to Ukraine, the shortfall will require additional funding from Congress to make up, according to senior defense officials.
“We foresee no possible alternatives to supplementary funding [bill] Or add that money to an appropriations bill to get the complement that we need,” Deputy Defense Secretary Katherine Hicks told reporters on Monday.
Pentagon officials expect to receive funding to replenish those stockpiles in a supplemental request from the Biden administration, which includes billions of dollars in additional aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. However, Congress has yet to pass a supplemental aid bill amid disputes over spending and U.S. border security.
As it’s been 15 months since Congress last approved funding for Ukraine, defense officials said Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has expressed concerns about any future cuts.
The department still has about $4 billion in authority to ship weapons to Ukraine but no congressionally approved funds to replenish the Pentagon’s weapons stockpile.
“We have the ability to move funds out of the stockpile, but without the ability to replenish the stockpile, there is some risk to our preparedness,” a senior defense official said.
The $10 billion shortfall is related to how the Pentagon accounts for aid to Ukraine. Last June, the Pentagon said the value of arms shipments to Ukraine over the past two years was overestimated by about $6.2 billion.
Officials told VOA at the time that in calculating the aid package, the Defense Department was calculating the cost of replacing the weapons provided to Ukraine, while the Defense Department said it should calculate the total cost of the systems actually sent.
The mistake gave the Pentagon the legal cover it needed to send more aid to Ukraine, but the question remains that more money is needed to replenish the U.S. military stockpile with newer, more expensive weapons.
When asked by VOA why the Pentagon was willing to use its own savings to send more aid to Ukraine but was unwilling to use the remaining $4 billion in presidential appropriations, a senior defense official told reporters there was a “lack of clarity” from Congress about whether it would The decision to approve additional aid left the Pentagon “very reluctant to dig deeper.”
“In this case, we are not digging the hole deeper. We are maintaining a balance while recognizing that Ukraine is in a very difficult situation right now,” the defense official added.
