Speed Up Arms Deliveries To Ukraine And The Allies, Pentagon Revives Special Teams

Pentagon. (Wikimedia Commons/mariordo59)

JAKARTA - The United States Department of Defense (Pentagon) is turning to a special team to respond to increased requests for new arms sales, as well as requests for arms transfers to Ukraine after the Russian invasion, three sources with knowledge of this said.

The Pentagon's Office of Acquisition and Sustainability, an arms buyer for the US Department of Defense, has been increasing requests from European allies hoping to send weapons to Ukraine via third-party transfers or purchase weapons to strengthen their own defences, the sources said.

Rapid response teams were revived in recent days to coordinate and cut red tape around sales and transfers while prioritizing requests from allies, the sources said.

The previously unreported effort comes as the Pentagon works to respond to the rapidly changing landscape for arms deals and transfers. The Pentagon utilized rapid response teams during the Donald Trump Administration.

"As part of the Department of Defense's ongoing supply chain resilience efforts, the Department is evaluating the capacity of the industrial base to produce goods critical to our national security and that of our allies and partners. These efforts are focused on identifying key supply chain constraints and mitigating actions to improve capacity," said a defense official.

The operation was run in collaboration with the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency, which oversees arms sales and transfers to other countries for the Department of Defense.

According to an email seen by Reuters, the DSCA recently asked the defense industry for devices that can be used to disable or shoot down drones that are available or ready to ship within 120 days.

"In light of the ongoing crisis in Europe, the US Government (USG) is continuing its efforts to identify effective solutions that will assist Ukraine in the ongoing situation. One of our focus areas is C-sUAS," the message said. Counter small unmanned aerial systems (C-sUAS) technology was used to defeat drones.

Counter-drone sets come in a variety of sizes, prices, and formats including Dronekillers such as the portable radar gun made by IXI Electronic Warfare and the Dronebuster from Radio Hill Technologies that cost tens of thousands of dollars each.

There is also a larger version of the technology included which can protect an area the size of a stadium made by SRC Inc. Larger systems could cost in the $3 million to $6 million range, industry executives said.

The Pentagon has stressed that smaller systems such as the Javelin anti-tank system and the Stinger anti-aircraft missile, which the allies send to Ukraine via trucks on an almost daily basis, are the most useful.

"We believe the best way to support Ukraine's defenses is to provide them with the weapons and systems they need most to defeat Russian aggression, particularly anti-armor and air defense," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby.

In some cases, allies have tried to take advantage of the Ukrainian situation to "press the things they wanted even before the conflict," said a US official who asked not to be named.

He added that supply chains are still under stress due to the pandemic so there is uncertainty about how this is going to happen. requests can be fulfilled immediately.

To note, countries in Europe and around the world, are considering expanding defense budgets to meet increasingly uncertain security prospects.