Cnn
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The Pentagon informed the congress last week that it will divert critical anti-drone technology which had been allocated for Ukraine To the units of Air Force in the Middle East, according to the correspondence obtained by CNN and people familiar with the issue.
This decision reflects the changing defense priorities of the United States under President Donald Trump – to the Middle East and the Pacific – and the fact that the American stocks of certain defense components are becoming more and more stretched.
The technology, the proximity of the rockets for the rockets that Ukraine uses to shoot down the Russian drones, was redirected from Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) to the central command of the Air Force on the orders of the Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to the correspondence dated May 29 and sent to the Senate and to the armed services of the Senate and the Chamber.
USAI is a financing program of the Ministry of Defense which was created in 2014, when Russia invaded East of Ukraine for the first time and annexed Crimea. It authorizes the US government to buy weapons and equipment for Ukraine directly from American weapons manufacturers. The local rockets were originally bought for Ukraine but were redirected to the Air Force as “defense secretary identified an urgent problem,” said correspondence.
The notification was reported for the first time by the Wall Street Journal.
The Pentagon has redirected a large amount of equipment and resources to the Middle East in recent months, including air defense systems from Indo-Pacific Command, in the midst of threats from Iran and Houthi rebels in Yemen.
It is not yet clear what will be the impact of diverting the rockets from Ukraine. But technology has made their rockets more effective against Russian drones, because the Fuze triggers an additional explosion as the rocket is approaching the drone. American forces in the Middle East also had to face drones, in particular groups supported by Iran in Syria and Iraq.