The West has almost depleted its arms stockpile by helping Ukraine, but it could take years to build up production capacity to meet Kiev’s needs, Bloomberg writes.
“Consider the startling reality – the US has to buy conventional artillery ammunition from South Korea to supply the Ukrainians,” the publication reports.
The depleted arsenals, coupled with limited capacity to replenish them, raises questions about the ability of Western industry to continue military support for Ukraine, the author explains.
For example, the British company BAE Systems recently told the Pentagon that it would need at least 30 months to resume production of M777 howitzers and 155-mm shells needed by the Ukrainian armed forces, while Germany’s Rheinmetall said it would take at least a year to repair and modernise battle tanks.
In the early months of the conflict, Ukraine sometimes expended up to 500 Javelin anti-tank weapons in a single day, the article said. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, which now jointly produce 2,100 of these systems a year, intend to double that figure, but not before 2025. This arms shortage explains the transfer of US cluster munitions to Kiev, Bloomberg summarises.
Moscow previously emphasised that these deliveries put civilians at risk and are aimed at prolonging the crisis.
According to the Defence Ministry, the AFU has already used cluster munitions to shell Donbass. According to the agency’s official spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, this shows that the Ukrainian troops see their task as killing the maximum number of civilians.
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