US awards $1.2bn contract to Raytheon for air defence support to Ukraine as war rages on

Paying no heed to Russia’s recent warning about supplying missile defence systems to Ukraine, the Pentagon announced on Thursday that the United States Army is handing a $1.2 billion contract to defence conglomerate Raytheon Technologies Co to provide National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) to the war-torn nation. 

According to The Guardian, the US authorised sending a total of eight NASAMS to Ukraine in order to boost the country’ troops as they battle against Russian forces. The latest contract is meant for NASAMS batteries, training and logistical assistance to the Ukrainian military. 

Earlier in November, Ukraine received two NASAMS. The rest of the air defence systems will be provided in the coming months following their production. The Pentagon stated that the systems that have been recently provided to Ukraine are of stellar quality, and have fully helped the country's forces intercept Russian missile strikes. 

“NASAMS are just the latest in the diverse set of air-defence capabilities we are delivering to Ukraine,” said Bill LaPlante, Under Secretary of Defence for Acquisition and Sustainment. According to a statement by the US Army, the latest air defence systems comprise the fifth Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) package, which was first declared on 24 August with a value of $2.98 billion. So far, the United States has committed over $19.3 billion of defence aid to Ukraine. 

The initiative allows the US government to provide Ukraine with weapons which are acquired directly from the industry, instead of taking them from the country’s existing arsenal. Previously, financial aid for two other NASAMS was derived from the third USAI package that was announced in the month of July.

Russia warns NATO to not supply Patriot missile defence systems to Ukraine

This comes just a week after Doug Bush, the chief weapons buyer for the Army, told journalists that the US Army is boosting the procedure of acquiring weapons due to a long backlog of contracts that are required by the country to stock up on weaponry as it has experienced a shortage of it due to sending arms to Ukraine.

The Pentagon’s announcement of the $1.2 billion contract comes right after Russia warned NATO to refrain from providing Ukraine with Patriot missile defence systems. Calling the intergovernmental alliance a “criminal entity”, erstwhile Russian president Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram: “If, as [NATO secretary general Jens] Stoltenberg hinted, NATO were to supply the Ukrainian fanatics with Patriot systems along with NATO personnel, they would immediately become a legitimate target of our armed forces."