WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th April, 2022) Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks has led another round of discussions with the heads of major US defense contractors, including Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon, about their potential support to Ukraine amid Russia's special operation in the country, Defense Department spokesperson John Kirby said on Wednesday.
"This one (meeting) was really focused on the kinds of systems and weapons that have been relevant in the Ukraine war. We wanted to make sure that we had a good, honest, candid discussion with these CEOs, about the systems that they're producing, about the rate at which they're being produced, about the possibility for accelerating some of those production lines and expanding them based on the heavy draw on our inventory to support Ukraine," Kirby said during a press briefing.
The CEOs of L3Harris Technologies, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman, BAE Systems, and Huntington Ingalls Industries were also present at the meeting.
Earlier on Wednesday, President Joe Biden said he had approved an additional $800 million in weapons, ammunition and other security assistance to Ukraine. The new package includes artillery systems, artillery rounds, armored personnel carriers and Soviet-made helicopters. The package is the seventh drawdown of equipment from US inventories for Ukraine.
On February 24, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. The Russian Ministry of Defense said the operation is solely targeting Ukrainian military infrastructure and the civilian population is not in danger.
