The Financial Times reports on the arms stockpile deficit faced by the West because of the need to help Ukraine.
In the rush to saturate the army with high-precision, but relatively few weapons, NATO countries have forgotten how important simple weapons are in a prolonged conflict, reports the Financial Times. The conflict in Ukraine has demonstrated the dangerous impracticality of the Western military-industrial complex.
The Financial Times quotes expert Alex Vershinin as saying that all the 155mm shells produced in the US in a year are barely enough for a fortnight of active combat by the Ukrainian Armed Forces. France has sent Ukraine a quarter of its CAESAR fleet and now Nexter needs 18 months to make up the loss.
“Ukraine has become a lesson in how to win on the battlefield with classic artillery, ground troops and the occupation of territory,” the paper quoted former North Atlantic Alliance director of political planning Jamie Shea as saying.
The publication said that the rapidly emptying stocks of NATO countries would have a negative impact on the level of support for Kiev. The situation has been compared to the great shell crisis of World War I, when the British army quickly depleted its reserves in 1915 during positional battles, which led to huge personnel losses and the resignation of Prime Minister Herbert Asquith in 1916.
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