Aviation360 MEA

The latest batch of aid from the Pentagon to Ukraine includes additional missiles for Ukrainian aircraft to target Russian surface-to-air missile systems.

On March 20, the Defense Department announced the latest $350 million batch of aid, consisting of equipment authorized by the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA). It is notable for containing an unspecified number of Raytheon AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles (HARM). The announcement came as Chinese President Xi Jinping was visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow.

More ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, 155-mm artillery rounds, mortars, anti-armor weapons, grenade launchers, demolition munitions, thermal imagery systems, patrol boats, and other equipment are also included in the latest batch. It is the 34th reduction in US military equipment since August 2021.

The Pentagon first announced in August 2022 that it would send HARMs to Ukraine, and US officials say it took contractors about two months to integrate the missiles onto Ukrainian MiG-29s and Su-27s.

The Northrop Grumman Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile-Extended Range is a modernized missile used by the United States military services (AARGM-ER). According to budget documents obtained by Aviation Week, the United States Air Force intends to purchase 14 of the missiles in fiscal 2024, and a procurement of 57 additional weapons is pending approval to replenish munitions sent under PDA. This would bring the total AARGM-ER inventory of the service to 357.

The service intends to spend at least $283.2 million in 2024 on the Stand-in Attack Weapon, the successor to the AARGM-ER.