The funds are intended to support contracts for supplying UAVs, other weapons, and military or special equipment that could appear on the battlefield in the next year or two, according to Defense News.
Unlike earlier aid packages, this latest allocation is largely aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s national defense capabilities in the medium to long term.
Previously, shipments focused on Ukraine’s most urgent arms and ammunition needs and included items the Pentagon already had in U.S. storage and could ship quickly.
To date, the United States has provided about $10.6 billion in military aid to Ukraine. Pentagon officials also aim to expand the training of Ukrainian military personnel outside Ukraine.
“Winter is coming and it will be tough, and what we’re seeing right now is a grueling war of attrition. This is a battle of will and logistics. In his speech at the Crimean Platform summit, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stressed the need to sustain support for Ukraine over the long term,” a spokesperson noted regarding U.S. aid.
The Crimean Platform is a diplomatic initiative by Ukraine. Kyiv says its goal is to restore control over Crimea, while Moscow maintains that Crimea has been part of Russia since 2014.
Among the items in the American aid package are ScanEagle drones (15 units) intended for artillery reconnaissance and adjustment of fire.
ScanEagle was developed by Boeing and Insitu from the SeaScan design, a civilian drone used to assist fishermen and monitor fish migration. It entered service with the U.S. Navy in 2005 and is also deployed by the armies of the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and several other nations. It is notable that ScanEagle was supplied to Afghanistan and, according to some reports, some units ended up with the Taliban, a group banned in Russia.
ScanEagle is designed for reconnaissance, battlefield surveillance, and target designation. It carries a stabilized infrared or electro-optical camera in its nose. The drone does not require an airfield to operate and launches via a pneumatic catapult. For landing, a hook catches a stretched cable. Its range is about 100 kilometers, flight time around 20 hours, top speed near 139 km/h, and a wingspan of about 3 meters.
“This is a specialized drone that serves artillery interests. It helps in the so-called artillery duels.” It can record the moment of enemy fire, analyze the shot’s sound, estimate the firing point, and transmit that information. Some experts say ScanEagle could be used as part of efforts to neutralize Russian artillery in Ukraine.
In practice, such drones are unlikely to rapidly alter the course of the current operation. The number of units is limited, and similar air systems from other countries are deployed in larger quantities. Moreover, even when sensor data is captured, adversaries can employ countermeasures that degrade the drone’s effectiveness, including sound interference tricks or electronic warfare techniques. The drone’s protection against modern electronic countermeasures is relatively modest by today’s standards.
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