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Patriot PAC-3 MSE interceptor.
The Pentagon on July 2 confirmed it has paused shipments of military aid to Ukraine as part of a broader review of the department’s decreasing stockpiles and to ensure its aid policy matches President Donald Trump’s agenda.
Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said during a briefing that the capability review “is being conducted to ensure U.S. military aid aligns with our defense priorities.”
His comments come after multiple media reports about shipments being paused in Poland before crossing over the border. NPR reported the shipments included dozens of AIM-7 missiles, Patriot PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement interceptors, AGM-114 Hellfire missiles, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System ammunition, 155m artillery rounds, Stinger missiles and grenade launchers.
Parnell declined to go into specifics about the weapons that were paused and a potential schedule to begin deliveries again.
The move prompted some bipartisan concern on Capitol Hill. For example, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who co-chairs the Congressional Ukraine Caucus and serves on the Intelligence committee, requested an emergency briefing from the White House and Defense Department on the move.
“The U.S.’s provision of Patriot air defense interceptors, air-to-air missiles, Hellfire air-to-ground missiles and surface-to-surface rockets, artillery rounds and Stinger surface-to-air missiles have allowed Ukraine to effectively counter Russian offensive strikes and limit the loss of human life,” he wrote in a letter to President Trump. “While the United States needs [to] continue to strengthen our Defense Industrial Base here at home, we can and must simultaneously provide urgently needed assistance to our allies who are defending their freedom from brutal invading dictators.”
After reports emerged, Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement that it called on the U.S. envoy in Kyiv for a briefing on the move, saying any delay would encourage Russia to continue the war.
The review comes after the U.S. conducted a large-scale intercept of incoming Iranian ballistic missiles to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, on June 23—an event that Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Dan Caine said was the largest intercept using Patriot missiles in the system’s history. The U.S. has also been surging systems to Israel, and for several months conducted intensive operations downing Houthi weapons off the coast of Yemen.
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