WASHINGTON, June 15 (Reuters) - The White House is expected as soon as Wednesday to begin announcing around $1 billion worth of new weapons aid for Ukraine, including anti-ship rocket systems, artillery rockets, and rounds for howitzers, people familiar with the packages said.
The aid packages, which come as U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is meeting with allies in Brussels, could be split into two categories: transfer of excess defense articles from U.S. stocks and other weapons being funded by the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), a separate congressionally authorized program.
Three people said that Biden was expected to announce more than $350 million worth of arms transfers, including more rockets for Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) that had been sent to Ukraine and artillery rounds for M777 howitzers and spare parts.
A second package, anticipated to be more than $650 million in size and funded using USAI, could include ground based Harpoon anti-ship missile launcher capabilities, secure radios, night vision and training.
The White House declined to comment.
Ukraine is pressing the United States and other Western nations for speedy deliveries of weapons in the face of increased pressure from Russian forces in the eastern Donbass region.
In May, the Biden administration announced a plan to give Ukraine M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems after receiving assurances from Kyiv that it would not use them to hit targets inside Russian territory. Biden imposed the condition to try to avoid escalating the Ukraine war.
The rocket artillery in this aid package would have the same range as previous U.S. rocket shipments and would be funded using Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, in which the president can authorize the transfer of articles and services from U.S. stocks without congressional approval in response to an emergency, one of the source said.
For the first the U.S. is considering sending ground based Harpoon launchers. In May, Reuters reported that the U.S. was working on potential solutions that included pulling a launcher off of a U.S. ship to help provide Harpoon missile launch capability to Ukraine.
Harpoons made by Boeing (BA.N) cost about $1.5 million per missile, according to experts and industry executives.
