The Pentagon cannot yet name the exact timing of the delivery of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) to Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th September, 2022) The Pentagon cannot yet name the exact timing of the delivery of National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS) to Ukraine, Pentagon Press Secretary Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Tuesday.
"I don't have a delivery time (of NASAMS). As part of the USAI (Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative) process, (we are) working with industry to have them manufacture that capability and provide it to Ukraine," Ryder said during a press briefing.
On Monday, a senior defense official said that the United States had moved forward to procure for Ukraine air defense systems, including NASAMS.
Ukraine expects to receive at least six NASAMS as part of a $2.98 billion package of military aid for Kiev announced in August. However, the United States does not have NASAMS in stock that are immediately available for Ukraine.
Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response, Western countries rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and have ramped up lethal weapons supplies to Ukraine.
The United States alone has supplied Ukraine with military equipment and services worth more than $15 billion since the beginning of the military operation.
