The U.S. military has awarded a $1.2 billion contract to Raytheon Co. to help Ukraine bolster its air defenses by purchasing six domestically advanced surface-to-air missile systems (NASAMS), it announced on Wednesday. Pentagon.
Washington last month pledged to send eight NASAMS to Ukraine as Kiev and Western nations try to fend off Russia’s constant barrage of missiles.
Two of the advanced systems are already operational in Ukraine, which have been “hugely successful,” according to a US Department of Defense report this week.
A Ukrainian soldier watches a ‘Bureviy’ 220mm self-propelled multiple rocket launcher fire toward frontline Russian positions in eastern Ukraine November 29, 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images)
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The other six missiles will be sent to Ukraine once they are built.
NASAMS was first engaged in Kiev under the Security Assistance Initiative of Ukraine (USAI) in July, and bids were opened to military contractors for development of the other six systems.
Supplying weapons to Ukraine under USAI allows the Biden administration to procure weapons for Ukraine from industry contractors rather than using presidential levies to send weapons from existing weapons stockpiles.
Rescuers work in the maternity ward of a hospital destroyed by a Russian missile attack as their attack on Ukraine continues, in Vilniansk, Zaporizhzhia region, Ukraine November 23, 2022.
(REUTERS/Stringer)
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The Raytheon contract also includes the supply of equipment, services and associated spare parts to Ukraine to keep the advanced air defense systems operational.
Work to develop NASAMS, which will be performed in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, will be completed by November 28, 2025.
The top arms buyer for the military, Doug Bush, confirmed last week that the United States is speeding up its arms acquisition process to more effectively replenish its stockpiles of weapons as the war in Ukraine continues, Reuters reported.
“Procurement speed and agility are a top priority,” Bush said in a statement Wednesday. “The rapid award of this contract is another example of the Army’s ability to expedite the delivery of critical capabilities through our industrial partners to our allies.”
Russia has ramped up its bombing campaign across Ukraine as its frontline forces falter.
A Ukrainian serviceman observes the booster stage of a Russian ballistic missile that fell in a field in Bohodarove, eastern Ukraine April 25, 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP via Getty Images)
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Despite significant gains in Kharkiv and Kherson, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned this week that Russia was attempting to advance in both frontline sectors.
Defense officials have assessed that Russia’s missile stockpiles are dwindling and its forces are now deploying unarmed cruise missiles to target civilian populations, meaning Russian troops are relying on the destruction caused by missile force rather than impact a warhead would achieve.
