The Pentagon is poised to redirect key antidrone technology earmarked for Ukraine to U.S. forces in the Middle East, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The Pentagon notified Congress last week that special fuzes for rockets designed to down drones will be diverted to U.S. Air Force units, citing an urgent need to protect American forces in the Mideast, the Journal reported Wednesday.
The order came from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in an internal memo last month authorizing the Joint Rapid Acquisition Cell, a Pentagon office tasked with resolving shortfalls and capability gaps in ongoing U.S. operations, to provide the fuzes to the Air Force, according to the report.
The Kyiv Post reported that the fuzes and other military equipment will continue to be delivered to Ukraine until the end of 2026.
The need for the fuzes was a “Secretary of Defense Identified Urgent Issue,” the Pentagon told the Senate Armed Services Committee, according to the report.
The move comes as the U.S. prepares for potential conflicts in the region against Iran and/or renewed attacks from the Houthi terrorists in Yemen, according to the report.
The fuzes, earmarked for Ukraine’s defense efforts against Russian drones by the Biden administration under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, are intended for the Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System, according to the Journal. The component, called a “proximity fuze,” detonates explosives when a rocket encounters a drone.
“This capability is urgent and vital to Ukraine’s layered air defense against Russian attacks,” Celeste Wallander, a senior Defense Department official during the Biden administration, told the Journal. “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 Trump administration inherited authority to send Ukraine nearly $4 billion from Pentagon weapons stocks but has not done so, the Journal reported. Nor has it asked for more funding for the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
The report comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin told President Donald Trump that he will respond to Ukraine’s attacks on Russia’s fleet of warplanes and bridges, including a key transport route connecting Russia to the Crimea Peninsula. The U.S. estimated 20 planes were hit and 10 destroyed.
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