Pentagon uses Ukraine funds to split supply chains from Russia, China – By Bryant Harris (Defense News) / June 27, 2023
WASHINGTON ― More than a year ago, Congress passed a $40 billion Ukraine aid package. Lawmakers allocated a miniscule portion of that package ― less than 2% ― to expedite munitions production and expand access to critical minerals via the Defense Production Act.
The Pentagon is now starting to make use of the bill’s $600 million appropriation for Defense Production Act funding.
As it expands munitions production, the department hopes that these funds will also help onshore critical defense supply chains and lessen the industrial base’s reliance on Russia and China.
The Pentagon’s Defense Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization office, which oversees DPA grants, issued several grants in recent months as part of a series of awards from the Ukraine aid bill. The grants kicked off in April, with a $215.6 million award for Aerojet Rocketdyne to modernize its complex rocket propulsion systems facilities in Arkansas, Alabama and Virginia with the aim of speeding up the production of munitions sent to Ukraine like Javelin anti-tank and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.
