Ukraine to get a Patriot missile battery and smart weapons for its aircraft

The new $1.85 billion military assistance package granted by the US to Ukraine includes the transfer of a Patriot air defense battery, along with more HARM anti-radiation missiles and other types of smart munitions for its fighter jets.

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Yesterday, Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelenskyy arrived at the White House to meet with his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden and speak to Congress.  This is President Zelenskyy’s first trip outside the country since the beginning of the Russian invasion.

On the occasion of this visit, President Joe Biden announced the delivery of a new military aid package valued at $1.85 billion, which for the first time includes the delivery of one of the much-requested MIM-104 Patriot long-range air defense batteries.

The new military assistance package includes:

• One Patriot air defense battery and munitions;
• Additional ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS);
• 500 precision-guided 155mm artillery rounds;
• 10 120mm mortar systems and 10,000 120mm mortar rounds;
• 10 82mm mortar systems;
• 10 60mm mortar systems;
• 37 Cougar Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) Vehicles;
• 120 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs);
• Six armored utility trucks;
• High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs);
• Precision aerial munitions;
• Over 2,700 grenade launchers and small arms;
• Claymore anti-personnel munitions;
• Demolition munitions and equipment;
• Night vision devices and optics;
• Tactical secure communications systems;
• Body armor and other field equipment;
• 45,000 152mm artillery rounds;
• 20,000 122mm artillery rounds;
• 50,000 122mm GRAD rockets;
• 100,000 rounds of 125mm tank ammunition;
• SATCOM terminals and services;
• Funding for training, maintenance, and sustainment.

What is particularly interesting, in addition to the Patriot missile system, is the reinforcement that the Ukrainian Air Force will receive with the addition of more HARM anti-radiation missiles and air-launched precision munitions, the number and type of which were not defined.

Clearly much progress has been made in recent times in the ability to integrate Western weaponry into Soviet-era aircraft, building on the experience of equipping MiG-29 Fulcrum aircraft with HARM missiles for suppression of air defenses (SEAD) missions.

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While there is no mention of the type of munitions to be delivered, the most likely candidates we see under the wings of the Ukrainian Air Force’s MiG-29, Su-24/25/27 should be JDAM-type satellite-guided bombs, laser-guided Paveway and GBU-39 SDB (Small Diameter Bomb).

In fact, there is a Boeing proposal on the table to equip the Ukrainian HIMARS rocket launchers with the GLSDB ammunition, which is nothing more than adapting the GBU-39 SDB bomb for ground launch by coupling it with the M26 rocket motor for ground launch. In this way, the star rocket launcher system of the war in Ukraine would be able to accurately attack targets up to 150kms from the launching point. It is therefore highly likely that we will see the adoption of the GBU-39 in both the Ukrainian Air Force and the Ukrainian Army.