US defence production lines are not scaled to supply a major land war, and some, like for the Stinger, were previously shut down.
That’s putting pressure on US reserves and has officials asking whether US weapons stockpiles are big enough. Would the US be ready to respond to a major conflict today, for example if China invaded Taiwan?
“What would happen if something blew up in Indo-Pacom? Not five years from now, not 10 years from now, what if it happened next week?” Bill LaPlante, the Pentagon’s top weapons buyer, said, referring to the military’s Indo-Pacific Command. He spoke at a defence acquisitions conference this month at George Mason University in Virginia.
“What do we have in any degree of quantity? That will actually be effective? Those are the questions we’re asking right this minute,” he said.
The Army uses many of the same munitions that have proven most critical in Ukraine, including high mobility artillery rocket systems, known as Himars, Stinger missiles and 155mm howitzer rounds, and is now reviewing its stockpile requirements, Doug Bush, the Army’s assistant secretary for acquisition, told reporters on Monday.
“They’re seeing what Ukraine is using, what we can produce and how fast we can ramp up, all of which are factors you would work into, ‘okay, how [big] does your pre-war stockpile need to be?” Bush said. “The slower you ramp up, the bigger the pile needs to be at the start.”
The military aid packages the US sends either pull inventory from stockpiles or fund contracts with industry to step up production. At least US$19 billion ($NZ30.32b) in military aid has been committed to date, including 924,000 artillery rounds for 155mm howitzers, more than 8500 Javelin anti-tank systems, 1600 Stinger anti-aircraft systems and hundreds of vehicles and drones. It’s also provided advanced air defence systems and 38 Himars, although the Pentagon does not disclose how many rounds of ammunition it sends with the rocket systems.
The infusion of weapons is raising questions on Capitol Hill.
This month, the administration asked Congress to provide $37 billion ($NZ59b) more in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine in the post-election legislative session, and to approve it before Republicans take control of the House in January. House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California, who is seeking to become speaker, has warned that Republicans would not support writing a “blank check” for Ukraine.
Even with fresh money, stockpiles cannot be quickly replenished. Several of the systems proving most vital in Ukraine had their production lines shut down years ago. Keeping a production line open is expensive, and the Army had other spending priorities.
The Pentagon awarded Raytheon a US$624 million (NZ$995m) contract for 1300 new Stinger missiles in May, but the company said it will not be able to increase production until next year due to parts shortages.
“The Stinger line was shut down in 2008,” LaPlante said. “Really, who did that? We all did it. You did it. We did it,” he said, referring to Congress and the Pentagon’s decision not to fund continued production of the Army’s anti-aircraft munition, which can be launched by a soldier or mounted to a platform or truck.
Based on an analysis of past Army budget documents, Centre for Strategic and International Studies senior adviser Mark Cancian estimates that the 1600 Stinger systems the US has provided to Ukraine represent about one-quarter of its total arsenal.
The Himars system, which Ukraine has used so effectively in its counteroffensive, faces some of the same challenges, LaPlante said.
“The thing now that is saving Ukraine, and that everybody around the world wants, we stopped production of it,” he said.
Himars production was shut down by the Army from about 2014 to 2018, LaPlante said. The Army is now trying to ramp up production to build up to eight a month, or 96 a year, Bush said.
Himars effectiveness in Ukraine has increased interest elsewhere, too. Poland, Lithuania and Taiwan have put in orders, even as the US works to rush more to Ukraine. If the conflict drags on and more Himars ammunition is prioritised for Ukraine, that could potentially limit US troops’ access to the rounds for live-fire training.
The Pentagon this month announced a $14.4 million (NZ$22.97m) contract to speed production of new Himars to replenish its stocks.
“This conflict has revealed that munitions production in the United States and with our allies is likely insufficient for major land wars,” said Ryan Brobst, an analyst at the Centre on Military and Political Power at the Foundation for the Defence of Democracies.
The US also recently announced it would be supplying Ukraine with four Avenger air defense systems, portable launchers that can be mounted on tracked or wheeled vehicles, to provide another shorter-range option against the Iranian drones being used by Russia’s forces. But the Avenger systems rely on Stinger missiles, too.
Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said stockpile concerns were taken into account.
“We wouldn’t have provided these Stinger missiles if we didn’t feel that we could,” Singh said at a recent Pentagon briefing. - AP
