US to send advanced NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine

Europe, News, US July 3, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

The United States announced a new $820 million military aid package for Ukraine which includes advanced long-range air defense systems and counter-artillery radar systems.

The announcement of the new military aid package came from the Pentagon on Friday, July 1. The package includes delivery of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), which would account for $770 million of the announced $820 million military aid package. Along with the NASAMS, the U.S. would also give four counter-artillery radars and up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition to Ukraine under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.

The NASAMS was jointly developed by Norway’s Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace American-based Raytheon Technologies. It is equivalent to the Russian-made S-300 air defense system that is already being used by Ukrainian forces.

The aid would also include more Harpoon anti-ship launcher missiles, Guided Multiple Rocket Launch Systems (GMLRS) as well as 18 new M777 Howitzer artillery guns along with 36000 rounds of 155mm ammunition and thousands of secure radios.

For a long time, the U.S. has been trying to acquire Soviet-era military equipment for Ukrainian because the Ukrainian military has been trained on such equipment. It is easier for the Ukrainian forces to integrate such weapons into their operations. In order to integrate western weapons such as NASAMS into the Ukrainian military operations, it would require special training for the forces.

Now it has become inevitable for Ukraine’s western allies to provide more western weapons to Ukraine because due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine procurement of new stocks of Soviet-era weapons systems has become much harder. The maintenance of the existing Soviet-era weapons system has also become harder due to the lack of parts and assistance.

*^{National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Raytheon. (Image Credit: Raytheon)}*

Pentagon is looking to finalize the contract for new NASAMS with Kongsberg Defense and Raytheon Technologies within months while a training program would start soon in order to train Ukrainian forces for system operations.

According to a senior U.S. Defense Official, “This system, co-produced by Norway and the U.S., is a NATO system, so for us, it’s important to start to help the Ukrainians transition their air defense systems from what is now a Soviet-type system, to introduce some of this modern technology.”

The U.S.’s newly announced military aid to Ukraine also includes $50 million worth of ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). HIMARS arrived in Ukraine last week and has proven to be quite useful in targeting the long-range Russia targets.

To this date, the United States has provided $8.8 billion worth of military aid to Ukraine, while $6.9 billion of this aid was provided after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.