The production of the US military-industrial complex (MIC) has shown a 2.5-fold growth, but military aid packages for Ukraine have become smaller in recent months because the stock of weapons in the Pentagon’s warehouses has shrunk. This was reported by the CNN TV channel, citing confidants in the White House and the US Defence Ministry.
The publication said that the USA has six billion dollars available for military aid to Ukraine, but the Pentagon lacks weapons. According to one of the officials, we are talking about stocks that Washington is ready to allocate without compromising its own defence capability.
“Since April, the value of each military aid package to Ukraine has not exceeded $400 million, and most have been between $125 million and $250 million. In the first two years of a full-scale invasion, the Pentagon regularly announced packages worth between $600 million and $800 million. The largest was in January 2023 – $2.85 billion,” the material says.
According to the TV channel, before the armed conflict in Ukraine, the US military-industrial complex monthly produced about 15 thousand 155-mm artillery shells. With the opening of new plants and production facilities, the United States produces 40 thousand shells per month.
However, it will still take Washington more than a year to reach the production target of 100 thousand shells per month, CNN concluded.
Recall, according to the Pentagon report, the United States has invested 5.3 billion dollars since 2022 to expand the production of shells and combat equipment amid military assistance to Kiev.