Congress Unveils $858 Billion NDAA
The NDAA also includes $800 million in the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, a program that allows the US government to purchase weapons for Ukraine. But the vast majority of spending on the Ukraine war will come through emergency funding, and the White House is hoping Congress approves a new $37.7 billion tranche of Ukraine aid during the lame-duck period.
Video via Activist News Network
Trump Calls Out ‘Fake News’ Over Reports He Did Nothing for Ukraine
“The fake news media refuses to report that I was the one who, very early and strongly, gave the anti-tank busters (Javelins) to Ukraine, while Obama/Biden was giving blankets, to great and open complaints,” Trump said in a statement Tuesday.
“Then [President Joe] Biden came in, and canceled the remaining military equipment that was packed, loaded, and ready to be shipped. Now the fake news media is trying to say that Trump gave Ukraine nothing, and it was Biden who is their great friend and gave them weaponry. The dishonesty is so unbelievable. All I can do is report it!”
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“When Trump was elected, the first thing they did was send in the Javelin,” U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy Jim Townsend said at the time. “It wasn’t exactly high-end, but we were very happy, and they built on a very firm foundation.”
Related:
Trump Says Russia-Ukraine Tensions ‘Would Never Have Happened’ Under His Presidency:
The Russian Embassy in Washington said if the U.S. was “truly committed to diplomatic efforts to resolve the internal Ukrainian conflict” it would “abandon plans to supply new batches of weapons for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.”
On the claim that Obama didn’t send military weapons to Ukraine (supposedly he just didn’t send Javelins)
U.S. officials were concerned that providing the Javelins to Ukraine would escalate their conflict with Russia. Key allies, including Germany, were not keen on sending weapons into the conflict zone, said Michael Kofman, an expert on Russia and senior research scientist at the CNA Corporation.
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The 2016 National Defense Authorization Act, which became law in November 2015, called for “lethal assistance such as anti-armor weapon systems, mortars, crew-served weapons and ammunition, grenade launchers and ammunition, and small arms and ammunition.”
Update on Russian military operations in and around Ukraine for November 11, 2022.
– Russia completes withdrawal from Kherson city to east bank of the Dnieper River;
– Ukraine has lost its last major opportunity to corner and destroy/capture large numbers of Russian forces/equipment;
– Russia continues stated process of de-militarizing Ukraine; – US aid to Ukraine becomes increasingly unrealistic
– Hawk missiles designed in the 1960s and unused for 2 decades are being “refurbished” for a lack of better options;
– “Avenger” systems to be sent in small numbers (4) which are essentially Stinger missiles attached to a Hummer
– after training for Ukrainian operators is completed;
– Dwindling amounts of basic ammunition continue to be sent to Ukraine, prolonging the conflict, but not in quantities to even allow Ukraine to hold what it has;
– As Russian forces withdrew from Kherson city, they advanced elsewhere in southern and northern Donbass.
References:
Russia’s De-militarization of Ukraine Continues – US Sending Decades-Old Arms to Kiev (Odysee) via The New Atlas
Update on Russian military operations in and around Ukraine for November 5, 2022
US Sending Moth-balled Gear to Ukraine as Russian Reinforcements Continue to Gather
October 25, 2022 by Vijay Prashad
Ukrainians have been paying a terrible price for the failure to ensure sensible and reasonable negotiations from 2014 to February 2022, which could have prevented the invasion by Russia in the first place, and once the war started, could have led to the end of this war. All wars end in negotiations, but these negotiations to end wars should be permitted to restart.
The West must stop blocking negotiations between Ukraine and Russia (archived)
Defense News | October 25, 2022
Ukraine-bound NASAMS are in US hands now: Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies has delivered two sophisticated NASAMS air defense systems due for Ukraine to United States government, its chief executive said Tuesday.
Raytheon provides Pentagon with interceptor missiles for war in Ukraine
Starlink, Ukraine and Musk’s Payment Request
The Ukrainians are now asking SpaceX for an additional 6,200 terminals and around 500 new terminals every month to replace those which on average the Russians manage to destroy in that time.
Related:
Elon Musk Says Starlink, SpaceX Faced ‘Relentless Jamming, Cyberwar,’ Courtesy Russia
Musk also confirmed that some Starlink terminals were active in Iran — a country rocked by protests in recent days.
Pentagon considers funding Musk’s Starlink network for Ukraine – Politico
The Pentagon is considering paying for Elon Musk’s Starlink satellite network in war-torn Ukraine, Politico reported on Monday, citing two U.S. officials involved in the discussions.
EU weighs paying for Musk’s donated Starlink internet service in Ukraine
But the EU is evaluating whether to negotiate a formal contract with SpaceX and set up a joint fund to pay for the Starlink terminals the company donated. EU officials will also explore alternative satellite options, they said.
Proponents of a fund say that it would allow them to take Musk to court if he suspended the service, rather than relying simply on his personal decision to keep providing it.
Biden Details New $625 Million Arms Package for Ukraine in Zelensky Call
The new $625 million package is being provided through the presidential drawdown authority, which allows Biden to send arms to Ukraine directly from US military stockpiles. A stopgap funding bill President Biden signed into law last week included $3.7 billion for this authority. It also included $12.3 billion for other military and economic aid for Ukraine, bringing total US spending on the war to about $67.5 billion, a number that’s higher than Russia’s entire military budget for 2021.
New $1.1 Billion Arms Package for Ukraine Includes 18 HIMARS Launchers
The HIMARS that the US has been sending to Ukraine are equipped with missiles that have a range of about 50 miles. But that can change, and Kyiv is requesting Army Tactical Missile Systems, which have a range of 190 miles, but Washington has been hesitant to send the longer-range missiles. Russia has warned that providing such arms would cross a “red line.”
Related:
The U.S. and Europe are running out of weapons to send to Ukraine
In the U.S. weapons industry, the normal production level for artillery rounds for the 155 millimeter howitzer — a long-range heavy artillery weapon currently used on the battlefields of Ukraine — is about 30,000 rounds per year in peacetime.
The Ukrainian soldiers fighting invading Russian forces go through that amount in roughly two weeks.
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Is the U.S. ability to defend itself at risk?
The short answer: no.
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The U.S. has essentially run out of the 155 mm howitzers [M777?] to give to Ukraine; to send any more, it would have to dip into its own stocks reserved for U.S. military units that use them for training and readiness. But that’s a no-go for the Pentagon, military analysts say, meaning the supplies reserved for U.S. operations are highly unlikely to be affected.
U.S. has now allocated over $80 billion to Kiev.
Sure, financial markets and national currencies are imploding worldwide, but the military industrial regime needs to keep churning, and that means pumping more money into the Slava Slush Fund.
Slava Slush Fund: despite economic crisis, Congress readies $12 billion more for Ukraine
Related:
There’s no debating it: Biden will get billions in new Ukraine aid
“Oversight of Ukraine aid is sorely needed,” Julia Gledhill, a defense analyst for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), tells Responsible Statecraft. “The State and Defense departments are handling billions of dollars in Ukraine funding, but neither have permanent inspectors general in place to investigate and prevent abuse of funds.”
Senate advances spending bill for Ukraine with $12 Billion
After the Senate invoked cloture for the legislative vehicle to carry out the CR, it will now be up for a full vote by the Senate. The House will next vote on it, likely on Friday.
Report: US Preparing $1.1 Billion Arms Package for Ukraine
The weapons package will likely include HIMARS rocket systems, HIMARS ammunition, counter-drone systems, radar systems, training, and technical support.
The arms package is expected to be provided to Kyiv using the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) as opposed to sending the arms directly from US military stockpiles. The USAI allows the Biden administration to purchase military equipment for Ukraine from the US arms industry.
Ms. Cat’s Chronicles 
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