The Department of Defense quietly included long-range missiles, ATACMS, in one of the only aid packages it has been able to provide to Ukraine this year.
Pentagon officials affirmed on Wednesday that the department gave Ukraine Army Tactical Missile Systems last month after it announced its latest aid package.that President Joe Biden directed his national security team to provide these weapons, which he had previously declined to give Ukraine, in February. U.S. officials told thethat Ukraine bombed a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and hit Russian forces in another occupied area overnight.
FILE – In this image provided by the U.S. Army, soldiers conduct live fire testing at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, on Dec. 14, 2021, of early versions of the Army Tactical Missile System. “We did not announce that we were providing Ukraine with this new capability at the time in order to maintain operational security for Ukraine at their request, and I will defer questions about their potential use to Ukraine since they should speak for their own military operations,” Dietz added. “Up until recently, and as we have said on many occasions, we were unable to provide long-range ATACMS to Ukraine because of readiness concerns.
The Pentagon’s acknowledgment came the same day Biden signed the Ukraine national supplemental package into law. It provided more than $60 billion in funds available for the Pentagon to help Ukraine.
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