UA
FR
DEU.S. Congress members suggest that the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden should sell or transfer new air and missile defense systems to Ukraine, including the Iron Dome.
Politico reports that the corresponding amendment to the fiscal 2022 defence policy bill was made by Congressman Scott Franklin, and passed by a bipartisan vote.
The amendment requires the Pentagon to submit a report to Congress outlining options for potentially selling or transferring “existing systems” to Ukraine that are likely not going to be deployed in the near term.
Moreover, it is reported that the US had purchased two Iron Dome batteries in 2019. But the U.S. Army has struggled to integrate the missile defense: Iron Dome wasn’t designed to operate within the Army’s new command and control system.
The version of the fiscal 2022 defence bill doesn’t specify any particular weapons system to hand over to the Ukrainians. But one congressional staffer said the language about transferring current systems is telling, and that the Army’s two Iron Dome batteries are prime candidates because there are few relevant systems the Army possesses that could defeat the threat Ukraine faces from Russia.
The House bill already calls for $275 million in military aid to Ukraine even before any new transfer of a missile defense system.
The official website of the President of Ukraine published this news with reference to Politico, noting that these are the first results of Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to the United States.
Bohdan Marusyak
