Push to help in conflict puts strain on stockpile of arms
Concern over depletion of reserves of Javelins and Stingers, which have been a game-changer
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 was exactly what United States President Joe Biden hoped to mention as he visited a Lockheed Martin plant in Alabama that built the portable Javelin anti-tank weapons that have played a crucial role in Ukraine.
But Biden’s visit also drew 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 has already 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 Centre for Strategic and International Studies international security programme.
The Biden administration said it had given about 5,500 Javelins to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began more than two months ago.
Analysts also estimated that the US had sent about onequarter 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 made the weapons system, would not 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 the Pentagon’s 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 had been limited in recent years.
The Russian invasion offers the US and European defence industry a big opportunity to bolster profits as lawmakers from Washington to Warsaw are primed to increase defence spending in response to Moscow’s 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 US$773 billion for the Pentagon, an annual increase of about 4 per cent.
Globally, total military spending rose by 0.7 per cent to more than US$2 trillion for the first time last year, according to a report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute last month. Russia ranked fifth, as its spending on weapons increased ahead of its invasion of Ukraine.
The war will mean increased sales for some defence 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’s visit to the Lockheed Martin facility in Troy, Alabama, came as he pressed Congress to quickly approve his request for an additional US$33 billion in security and economic help for Kyiv. The Troy plant has the capacity to manufacture about 2,100 Javelins per year.
The president was 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 made the case to keep security and economic help flowing.
A White House official, who was not authorised to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said the Pentagon was working with defence contractors “to evaluate the health of weapons systems’ production lines and examine bottlenecks in every component and step of the manufacturing process”.
The administration was also considering a range of options, if needed, to boost the production of Javelins and Stingers, he said.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said defence officials had determined that the weapons transfers had not impacted on 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.