US to supply USD 175 Mn additional military assistance for Ukraine including uranium-depleted tank ammunition.

The Defense Department announced on September 6 an additional security assistance package for Ukraine valued at up to $175 million. The package includes additional air defense equipment, artillery rounds and anti-tank weapons. This latest round of assistance marks the 46th drawdown of equipment from DOD inventories for Ukraine since August 2021 and reflects the U.S. enduring commitment in the face of Russian aggression.
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Pallets of ammunition bound for Ukraine sit on a commercial aircraft during a security assistance mission at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware (Picture source: U.S. DoD/ Air Force Staff Sgt. Marco A. Gomez)

As commented by Joseph Clark, U.S. DoD, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken, who traveled to Kyiv today to meet with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, underscored the United States' unwavering support: "We want to make sure that Ukraine has what it needs not only to succeed in the counteroffensive but has what it needs for the long term to make sure that it has a strong deterrent, strong defense capacity so that, in the future, aggressions like this don't happen again", Blinken said ahead of his meeting with Kuleba.

The latest tranche is being provisioned as part of the $6.2 billion in presidential drawdown authority restored in June following a reevaluation of the total value of items already committed to Ukraine. As of the end of last month, there was approximately $5.75 billion in restored funding remaining.

The Biden administration has committed more than $43 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's invasion in February 2022. That assistance has included more than 2,000 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, more than 10,000 Javelin anti-armor systems and more than 2 million 155-mm artillery rounds, among other items. The assistance has been provisioned through drawdowns of existing U.S. stocks and through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), the authority under which the U.S. procures capabilities from industry and partners.

The Biden administration has pledged to extend support for Ukraine for as long as necessary to counter Russian aggression and the U.S. continues to lead the international coalition that has rallied behind Ukrainian forces. Pentagon officials have also pledged to continue supporting Ukraine while maintaining U.S. readiness.

Speaking last week at the National Defense Industrial Association's emerging technologies conference, William A. LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said DOD leaders are closely monitoring U.S. readiness as U.S. support continues: "Every item that is decided and taken from the U.S. stock and provided to the Ukrainians, the chairman and secretary go through it, and they look exactly at what is the effect for readiness," he said. "And if they think it's any impact, negative on readiness, or increases risk ... we won't do it. So, by definition, if it's taken out of drawdown, the assessment's been made we can do it and we can manage the risk".

The U.S. has also ramped up production of key artillery rounds used most by Ukraine in defending its territory against the invading Russian forces.

Last month, Douglas R. Bush, assistant secretary of the Army for acquisition, logistics and technology, said the U.S. is currently producing new artillery rounds at a rate of 24,000 per month and is on track to produce more than 80,000 rounds per month over the following year.

The capabilities in this 46th military assistance package, valued at up to $175 million, include:
* Equipment to support Ukraine's air defense systems;
* Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
* 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds;
* 81mm mortars systems and rounds;
* 120mm depleted uranium tank ammunition for Abrams tanks;
* Tube-Launched, Optically-Tracked, Wire-Guided (TOW) missiles;
* Javelin and AT-4 anti-armor systems;
* Over 3 million rounds of small arms ammunition;
* Tactical air navigation systems;
* Tactical secure communications systems and support equipment;
* Demolitions munitions for obstacle clearing; and
* Spare parts, maintenance, and other field equipment.

This security assistance package will utilize assistance previously authorized under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) for Ukraine that remained after the PDA revaluation process concluded in June.

A US soldier carries a an armor-piercing munition tipped with depleted uranium during "Operation Desert Shield", the US military operation against Iraq in 1991 (Picture source: U.S. DoD)

Depleted Uranium - A hard look at the facts

On February 28, 2007, David Steigman, Office of Force Health Protection, wrote that the Department of Defense (DoD) uses depleted uranium (DU) for armor on some of its tanks and in some munitions used to penetrate enemy tanks because it is the most effective material for these purposes. The use of DU has saved countless U.S. Service members' lives by offering additional offensive and defensive capability against hostile forces.

Medical science has evaluated natural uranium for health effects for more than 50 years and depleted uranium for about 30 years. We encounter uranium every day of our lives. More than four tons of natural uranium exists in the top foot of soil in every square mile on earth. All humans eat and breathe natural uranium every day, and there are approximately 80 micrograms of uranium in each individual's body.

Natural uranium becomes depleted uranium when more radioactive

isotopes are removed to make nuclear fuel. Depleted uranium is 40 percent less radioactive than natural uranium and is not nuclear waste. There are multiple scientific studies to validate that DU does not pose an environmental threat to people in areas where it has been used in combat.

More than 2,215 Service members and veterans of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) have been tested for DU exposures. Of this group, only nine had positive tests for DU and all these had fragment exposures.

Current scientific knowledge indicates no environmental or radiological exposure concerns with DU. This is based on studies by more than 20 U.S. and international government agencies, including the World Health Organization.

In February 2022, the maker of depleted-uranium ammunition announced it had ceased its production.

According to a report by Newsweek, Russia has been using depleted uranium (DU) tank rounds, originally provided by the United Kingdom to Ukraine, which Moscow claimed had a "nuclear component." However, there is no confirmed evidence of their use in Russia's ongoing military campaigns. The United Kingdom's Ministry of Defense spokesperson clarified that the British armed forces have been using depleted uranium in their armor-piercing shells for many years, emphasizing that it is a standard component and has no connection to nuclear weapons or capabilities. The spokesperson accused Russia of deliberately spreading misinformation.

Russia itself possesses its own stockpile of DU munitions, as confirmed by Russian President Putin in a video interview on September 6. He mentioned having "hundreds of thousands of such ammunition." Military technology expert David Hambling explained that Russia extensively uses DU munitions, particularly high-velocity armor-piercing tank rounds that are identical to those the UK is supplying to Ukraine. Retired Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, who previously commanded UK and NATO chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear defense forces, concurred that Russian DU munitions must closely resemble Western stocks. In 2018, the Russian state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta also reported plans to upgrade DU ammunition for T-72 and T-90 tanks.

Defense News September 2023