The Pentagon is redirecting shipments of anti-drone technology initially meant for Ukraine to U.S. forces, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday.
The specialized anti-drone munitions, which were originally marked for Ukraine, will instead be sent to U.S. Air Force units in the Middle East, according to an internal memo from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth obtained by the WSJ. The administration has stressed the need for Europe to take on a larger share of the defense burden for Ukraine as the U.S. shifts focus to other theaters, most notably the Indo-Pacific.
“This capability is urgent and vital to Ukraine’s layered air defense against Russian attacks,” Celeste Wallander, former senior Defense Department official in the Biden administration, told the WSJ. “But there is also an urgent requirement to protect U.S. personnel and bases in the Middle East against Houthi and potentially Iranian drone attacks.”
The munitions are designed for the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, a platform the U.S. has provided to Ukraine for several years, according to the WSJ. The specialized munitions equip proximity fuses that detonate upon nearing a drone.
After Hegseth’s memo was issued, the Pentagon reportedly told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the fuses were a “Secretary of Defense Identified Urgent Issue,” according to the WSJ.
The U.S. has tempered its support for Ukraine after President Donald Trump assumed office, pausing military aid to the nation in March after contentious negotiations between Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. However, the aid resumed shortly after Ukraine signaled its openness to pursuing a ceasefire.
Hegseth has warned Europe that it must do more to support Kyiv as the U.S. shifts its focus to the Pacific, which the secretary characterizes as the Pentagon’s “priority theater.” Continued attacks from both Kiev and Moscow have imperiled peace prospects, with Ukraine most recently launching a massive covert drone attack on Russian strategic bombers and airbases on Sunday.
Drone warfare has largely defined battlefield tactics in the conflict, halting infantry and armor advances by use of cheap drones fitted with basic anti-infantry and anti-armor explosives. Drone warfare has spread into other U.S. theaters, including in the mission against Houthi rebels in Yemen.
The Pentagon did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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