Biden Admin Prioritizes Ukraine for Air Defense Missiles

Ukraine will be given priority status for interceptor orders, but it will not affect Israel or Taiwan.

Patriot launchers modules mounted on M983 HEMTT part of the U.S. MIM-104 Patriot surface-to-air missile system are pictured in Zamosc, Poland, on Feb. 18, 2023. Omar Marques/Getty Images

The Biden administration will begin redirecting deliveries of new batches of air-defense missiles to Ukraine, said White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby.

Mr. Kirby said that Ukrainian forces are “in desperate need of additional air defense capabilities” amid a particularly heightened campaign of Russian air and missile strikes.