Push to arm Ukraine putting strain on US weapons stockpile

Washington, May 3 (AP): The planes take off almost daily from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware — hulking C-17s loaded up with Javelins, Stingers, howitzers and other material being hustled to Eastern Europe to resupply Ukraine's military in its fight against Russi.

Push to arm Ukraine putting strain on US weapons stockpile

Washington, May 3 (AP): The planes take off almost daily from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware — hulking C-17s loaded up with Javelins, Stingers, howitzers and other material being hustled to Eastern Europe to resupply Ukraine's military in its fight against Russia.

The game-changing impact of those arms is exactly what President Joe Biden hopes to spotlight as he visits a Lockheed Martin plant in Alabama on Tuesday that builds the portable Javelin anti-tank weapons that have played a crucial role in Ukraine.

But Biden's visit is also drawing attention to a growing concern as the war drags on: Can the US sustain the cadence of shipping vast amounts of arms to Ukraine while maintaining the healthy stockpile it may need if a new conflict erupts with North Korea, Iran or elsewhere? The US already has provided about 7,000 Javelins, including some that were delivered during the Trump administration, about one-third of its stockpile, to Ukraine, according to an analysis by Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies international security program.

The Biden administration says it has given about 5,500 to Ukraine since the Russian invasion more than two months ago.

Analysts also estimate that the United States has sent about one-quarter of its stockpile of shoulder-fired Stinger missiles to Ukraine.

Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investors last week during a quarterly call that his company, which makes the weapons system, wouldn't be able to ramp up production until next year due to parts shortages.

“Could this be a problem? The short answer is, Probably, yes,” said Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and former government specialist on Pentagon budget strategy, war funding and procurement.

He said that Stingers and Javelins were where "we're seeing the most significant inventory issues," and production of both weapons systems has been limited in recent years.

The Russian invasion offers the US and European defense industry a big opportunity to bolster profits as lawmakers from Washington to Warsaw are primed to increase defense spending in response to Russian aggression.

Defence contractors, however, face the same supply chain and labour shortage challenges that other manufacturers are facing, along with some others that are specific to the industry.

Military spending by the US and around the world was rising even before Russia's February 24 invasion. Biden's proposed 2023 budget sought USD 773 billion for the Pentagon, an annual increase of about 4 per cent.

Globally, total military spending rose 0.7 per cent to more than USD 2 trillion for the first time in 2021, according to an April report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.

Russia ranked fifth, as its spending on weapons increased ahead of its invasion of Ukraine.

The war will mean increased sales for some defense contractors, including Raytheon, which makes the Stinger missiles Ukrainian troops have used to knock out Russian aircraft.

The company is also part of a joint venture with Lockheed Martin that makes the Javelins.

Biden will visit Lockheed Martin's facility in Troy, Alabama, which has the capacity to manufacture about 2,100 Javelins per year. The trip comes as he presses Congress to quickly approve his request for an additional USD 33 billion in security and economic assistance for Kyiv.

The president is expected to use his remarks to highlight the importance of the Javelins and other US weaponry in helping Ukraine's military put up a vigorous fight as he makes the case to keep security and economic assistance flowing.

A White House official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said the Pentagon is working with defense contractors “to evaluate the health of weapons systems' production lines and examine bottlenecks in every component and step of the manufacturing process.” The administration is also considering a range of options, if needed, to boost production of both Javelin and Stingers, the official said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said on Monday that defense officials have determined that the weapons transfers have not impacted military readiness. Still, the administration has included funding in the Ukraine supplemental bill Biden introduced last week to replenish US inventories of depleted weapon stockpiles.

Psaki added that Biden would also use the visit to the Javelin plant to press Congress to pass an innovation and competition bill to boost the semiconductor industry.

“Each Javelin missile requires more than 200 semiconductors to make, and boosting domestic chip manufacturing isn't just critical to making more in America or lowering prices, it's also a vital component of our national security,” Psaki said.

Cancian, the former government specialist on defense budget strategy, said the fact that Stingers and Javelins were not included in the most recent tranche of weapons the Biden administration announced it was sending to Ukraine could be a sign that Pentagon officials are mindful about inventory as they conduct contingency planning for other possible conflicts.

“There's no question that whatever war plan they're looking at there is risk associated with the depleting levels of Stingers and Javelins, and I'm sure that they're having that discussion at the Pentagon,” he said. (AP) RHL

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)