A new surface-to-air missile with a warhead to be ordered from Boeing will be part of the latest package of US weapons for Ukraine to be announced Friday by the White House and the Pentagon.
This is reported by Bloomberg with reference to officials.
The long-range hybrid weapon combines two proven devices: an Air Force small-diameter bomb guided by GPS satellites and an army missile that is already in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Like some other equipment provided by the US and allies, it will not be deployed in Ukraine anytime soon. According to an industry representative, the first deliveries will take about nine months after the contract is signed.
Funding for the precision missiles will come from $1.75 billion in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is expected to be announced on Friday. According to one of the officials, no more than 200 million dollars will be allocated for this at the initial stage.
On Friday, an additional $475 million will be announced as part of the US President's authority to remove weapons from the Defense Ministry's stockpiles. These include additional Claymore antipersonnel mines, winter parkas, GPS-guided 155mm Excalibur rounds, Patriot missile support equipment and Mk 153 shoulder-mounted rocket launchers.
The new warhead of the Boeing missile has been tested three times since 2015 in partnership with the Swedish company Saab AB. It flew 130 kilometers and hit a target within 102 centimeters of its GPS target, according to an industry official familiar with the test results. This is roughly twice the range of current missiles fired from Himars launchers, which have become a valuable asset to Ukrainian forces.
Boeing said in a statement that the order would mark the first sale of the weapon.
The Reuters agency was the first to report on the possible transfer of long-range "bombs" to Ukraine. The Wall Street Journal also reported that the US could announce a new military aid package on Friday that would contain long-range missiles for the first time.
The US Air Force introduced a GPS-guided small-diameter bomb in 2006. Boeing-Saab's new weapon is designed so that after launch from the Himars, the bomb separates from the missile in flight, deploys mini-wings and flies to a target determined by GPS.