U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin revealed on Wednesday, during opening remarks to the fourth meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, that the next weapons package that the Biden Administration will send to Ukraine will include four more HIMARS rocket launchers along with ammunition and other support. This will bring the total number of HIMARS supplied by the US to 16.
“The Ukrainians have made excellent use of HIMARS, and you can see the impact on the battlefield,” Austin claimed later during a joint press conference with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley. “One key theme of today’s discussion was ensuring that Ukraine can sustain the fight to defend itself and its citizens. So we’re even more focused on Ukraine’s near-term needs — as we’re … also looking ahead to provide Ukraine with the capabilities that it will need for deterrence and self-defense over the longer term.”
Gen. Milley reported that supplying the Kiev regime with combat aircraft and training for Ukrainian pilots is now under discussion. “[A]s you know we look at all kinds of options to present to the Secretary and the President,” he said in response to a reporter’s question. “And there’s been no decisions on any of that, but we do examine a wide variety of options, to include pilot training.” Separately, U.S. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. confirmed that such discussions are underway within the U.S. military and its allies. Brown, oblivious to the results of the 20 years of U.S./NATO efforts to build up an Afghan air force, told Reuters on Wednesday: “You want to build a long-term plan on how you build their air force and the air force that they’re going to need for the future.”
