Military

Pentagon Reportedly Preparing New $2Bln Air Defense Package for Ukraine

The Pentagon may announce as early as Friday a long-term arms package for Ukraine that includes air defense munitions worth over $2 billion, the US media reported, citing administration officials.
Sputnik
The package will be conducted in the framework of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and will possibly include Hawk missile launchers and two types of advanced Patriot air defense missiles.
As the report states, the first, Pac-3, or the Patriot Advanced Capability Missile-3, is manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp, the second, GEM-T, the Guidance Enhanced Missile - by Raytheon Technologies Corp.
Russia's Special Operation in Ukraine
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The announcement comes amid the background of the Ukrainian "counter-offensive", Kiev has been promising for the past month, but Ukrainian troops have failed to advance, only losing several key positions, including the city of Artemovsk (Bakhmut) in the DPR. However, Ukraine has boosted its activity on the frontlines following Kiev's alleged attack on the Novaya Kakhovka dam, which led to the flooding of a major area in the Kherson region.
Analysis
Kakhovka Dam Attack Lines Up With West’s ‘Scorched Earth’ Scenario for Ukraine
The US and its allies ramped up their military assistance to Kiev shortly after Russia launched its special military operation in Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned that NATO countries "play with fire" by supplying arms to Kiev, which the Kremlin said adds to prolonging the Ukraine conflict. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for his part, underscored that any cargo with weapons for Ukraine will become a legitimate target for Russian forces.
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