US: Pentagon Overestimates Value of Ukraine Military Aid by $6bn

By Staff, Agencies

The United States has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by $6.2bn over the past two years – about double early estimates – resulting in a surplus that will be used for future security packages.

During an audit, “inconsistencies” were found in valuations of equipment sent from the US since the Kremlin’s operation in 2022, deputy Pentagon press secretary Sabrina Singh.

 “In a significant number of cases, services used replacement costs rather than net book value, thereby overestimating the value of the equipment drawn down from US stocks and provided to Ukraine,” Singh said.

The spokeswoman said that the calculation was for the 2022 and 2023 financial years combined added up to $6.2bn.

Singh stressed that the “valuation errors” did not restrict Washington’s “provision of support to Ukraine”.

As a result, the department now has additional money in its coffers to use to support Ukraine as it pursues its counteroffensive against Russia. And it come as the fiscal year is wrapping up and congressional funding was beginning to dwindle.

“It’s just going to go back into the pot of money that we have allocated for the future Pentagon stock drawdowns,” said Singh.

Based on previous estimates announced on June 13, the US had committed more than $40bn in security assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded. Using the new calculation, the US has actually provided less than $34bn in aid.