US to rush Patriot missiles to Ukraine as Pentagon builds up support

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The US is rushing more Patriot missiles to Ukraine and will spend $6bn to build up domestic weapons manufacturing to support Kyiv, as the Joe Biden administration begins parcelling out funds unlocked by Congress this week.

Lloyd Austin, the defence secretary, and CQ Brown, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, on Friday said the $6bn would procure military aid from US defence companies, which means it will take longer to reach Ukraine but should shore up its defences over a longer timeframe.

The $6bn package will include munitions for air defence systems including Patriots, and for High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, known as Himars, as well as radars and drones, the Pentagon said.

The announcement comes two days after President Biden signed into law a $95bn foreign aid package that included $61bn for Ukraine, which has been fighting Russia’s full-scale invasion for more than two years.

Shortly after the law was passed on Wednesday, the Pentagon also authorised $1bn worth of military equipment and weapons to be drawn from stockpiles and rushed to Ukraine.

The $6bn parcel announced on Friday “highlights the strong and unwavering US commitment to meet Ukraine’s most-pressing immediate and longer-term capability needs to fight Russian aggression as part of the global coalition we have built with some 50 allies and partners”, the Pentagon said.

As the White House sought congressional approval for aid to Ukraine, it frequently made the case that it would benefit US defence manufacturers.

“We’re helping Ukraine while at the same time investing in our own industrial base, strengthening our own national security, and supporting jobs in nearly 40 states all across America,” Biden said as he signed the long-delayed Congressional aid package into law this week.

Eric Fanning, the chief executive of the Aerospace Industries Association, the biggest lobbying group for US defence companies, described the legislation passed this week as a “much-needed injection of funding that will safeguard America’s future by replenishing US stocks and increasing production capacity here at home”.

Austin and Brown announced the $6bn plan after a meeting with the Ukraine contact group, which brings together military leaders from a group of countries supporting Kyiv. Earlier in the day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’s president, called on Western countries to maintain their support.

“While we were waiting for a decision on American support, the Russian army managed to seize the initiative on the battlefield,” Zelenskyy said in a video message.

“We’re currently forming new brigades to strengthen our positions. They need support, just like the brigades already operating at the front.”

Ukraine has asked for new deliveries of air defence systems and missiles to protect Ukrainian cities against missile attacks as well as troops on the frontline.

The Russian military has launched more than 9,000 guided aerial bombs since the beginning of the year, Zelenskyy said. Missile attacks this month destroyed several power plants across Ukraine, triggering power outages.