The Pentagon said the latest tranche of $1 billion in U.S. military aid to Ukraine will include ammunition for the 16 High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) sent by the U.S., as well as new missiles for the National Advanced Land-Based Missile System. system (NASAMS), a thousand Javelin anti-tank missiles and hundreds of Swedish-made AT4 anti-tank systems, The Guardian reports.

Colin Kahl, the Pentagon’s policy director, said it was the 18th reduction in U.S. military supplies sent to Ukraine, bringing total security assistance under the Biden administration to $9.8 billion.

“The package includes a significant amount of additional ammunition, weapons and equipment, the types of ammunition, weapons and equipment that the Ukrainian people use so effectively to defend their country,” Kahl said.

Kahl said the missiles (launched multiple-launch rocket systems, or GMLRS) that the U.S. sent to Ukraine to launch from the Himars mobile launchers “have a very profound effect.”

“These are GPS-guided munitions. They very effectively hit targets that were difficult for the Ukrainians to reliably hit before – these are control nodes, supply and logistics centers, key radar systems, and more. And what he did was make it harder for the Russians to move forces across the battlefield… It slowed them down. It was more difficult for them to refuel other forces. So I think it has real operational implications,” he says.

Kahl estimated Russian losses at 70,000–80,000 killed and wounded.

The United States will provide an additional $4.5 billion to the government of Ukraine, the U.S. Agency for International Development announced, bringing the total aid provided since Russia’s February invasion to $8.5 billion.

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