Ukraine has received a great deal of support from around the world in its war against Russia, including defense systems and tools from the United States. Some of the hardware comes by way of contracts with major defense industry manufacturers (such as Raytheon Missiles & Defense) but more than $12 billion of about $14 billion in equipment supplied to Ukraine comes according to presidential drawdown authority from U.S. President Joseph R. Biden. As a result, equipment such as Switchblade unmanned aerial systems, Javelin missiles, Stinger missiles, and HIMARS rocket launchers has been pulled from U.S. inventory and sent to Ukraine and will need to be replaced.
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) has already been contacted by many defense electronics manufacturers for replacement systems. During a recent briefing at the Pentagon, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment Bill LaPlante, explained: “As we work with industry to accelerate production on both replenishment systems and direct procurements under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative or USAI, we're using a number of tools to get the funding moving, and the contracting happening quickly.”
LaPlante noted that about $1.2 billion in contracts are underway to replace the U. S. military stocks sent to Ukraine, with about $352 million for replacement Javelin missiles, $624 million for replacement Stinger missiles (see the figure), and $33 million for replacement HIMARS systems. Another $1.2 billion in contracts are underway now for equipment promised to Ukraine under USAI, including Switchblade unmanned aerial systems, radar systems, and tactical vehicles. The contracts provide realistic insight into global supply-chain conditions, for microelectronic systems, and how the DoD can work with industry to improve the speed and efficiency of the supply chain in replacing key systems and equipment.