The Pentagon notified Congress last week that it will be diverting critical anti-drone technology that had been allocated for Ukraine to US Air Force units in the Middle East, according to correspondence obtained by CNN and people familiar with the matter.
The move reflects the US’ shifting defense priorities under President Donald Trump – toward the Middle East and the Pacific – and the fact that US stockpiles of some defense components are becoming increasingly stretched.
The technology, proximity fuzes for the rockets Ukraine uses to shoot down Russian drones, was redirected from the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) to Air Force Central Command on orders from Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, according to the correspondence dated May 29 and sent to the Senate and House Armed Services committees.
USAI is a Defense Department funding program that was established in 2014, when Russia first invaded eastern Ukraine and annexed Crimea. It authorizes the US government to buy arms and equipment for Ukraine directly from US weapons manufacturers. The proximity fuzes were originally purchased for Ukraine but were redirected to the Air Force as a “Secretary of Defense Identified Urgent Issue,” the correspondence says.
The notification was first reported by the Wall Street Journal.
The Pentagon has in recent months redirected a large amount of equipment and resources to the Middle East, including air defense systems out of the Indo-Pacific Command, amid threats from Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
It is not yet clear what the impact will be of diverting the fuzes away from Ukraine. But the technology has made their rockets more effective against Russian drones, since the fuze sets off an added explosion as the rocket nears the drone. US forces in the Middle East have had to contend with drones, too, however, particularly from Iran-backed groups in Syria and Iraq.
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