Posted on 09/09/2022 8:44:25 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
WASHINGTON—The war in Ukraine has depleted American stocks of some types of ammunition and the Pentagon has been slow to replenish its arsenal, sparking concerns among U.S. officials that American military readiness could be jeopardized by the shortage.
The U.S. has during the past six months supplied Ukraine with 16 U.S. rocket launchers, known as Himars, thousands of guns, drones, missiles and other equipment. Much of that, including ammunition, has come directly from U.S. inventory, depleting stockpiles intended for unexpected threats, defense officials say.
One of the most lethal weapons the Pentagon has sent are howitzers that fire high-explosive 155mm ammunition weighing about 100 pounds each and able to accurately hit targets dozens of miles away. As of Aug. 24, the U.S. military said it had provided Ukraine with up to 806,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition. The U.S. military has declined to say how many rounds it had at the start of the year.
In recent weeks, the level of 155mm combat rounds in U.S. military storage have become “uncomfortably low,” one defense official said. The levels aren’t yet critical because the U.S. isn’t engaged in any major military conflict, the official added. “It is not at the level we would like to go into combat,” the defense official said.
The U.S. military used a howitzer as recently as last week to strike at Iranian-backed groups in Syria, and the depletion of 155mm ammunition is increasingly concerning for a military that seeks to plan for any scenario.
The Army said the military is now conducting “an ammunitions industrial base deep dive” to determine how to support Ukraine while protecting “our own supply needs.” The Army said it also asked Capitol Hill for $500 million a year in upgrade efforts for the Army’s ammunition plants.
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
I find the idea that a dedicated pro Putin poster like yourself has any positive thoughts in favor of our national security. The only real threat at the moment is the invasive behavior of your Pal Pooty. I feel sorry the Ukrainians are suffering, but glad my son will be retiring after more than 20 years in the military, and hopefully Ukraines efforts will prevent his ever being threatened again.
The IRS has plenty.
It seems to me that 155 mm arty w/ long range guided munitions would be pretty rough on an invasion fleet.
“If a war in Korea goes nuclear, it will be Kimmy who does it. You apparently have entirely missed what’s going on with S. Korea’s defense industry...”
How about you tell us what’s going on there?
We have a few Pooty-posters here who someone with time should really go collect their posts from several months ago...
It’s past my betime and I posted Comment 81 before I included all of you to ping at that comment. The Putin crowd has been really busy here tonight, thought some reinforcements could help.
A computer knowledgeable friend has told me that Taiwan has excellent chips, mainland China not so much. Congress, I believe, recently voted money for upgrading US chip production, and I think Taiwan is going to work with us.
No. Biden depleted a lot of our military materials when he fled Afghanistan with his tail between his legs, approximately 80 Billion dollars worth. You can deduct our buildings and you still come up with some staggering inventory losses.
Exactly!
Concern troll is concerned!
Regards,
No. Biden depleted a lot of our military materials when he fled Afghanistan with his tail between his legs, approximately 80 Billion dollars worth. You can deduct our buildings and you still come up with some staggering inventory losses.
No, you aren't!
Regards,
Q.E.D.!
Bravo!
Regards,
You don’t need piles of unguided shells or hundreds of artillery tubes for that. Note that GPS guided shells (Excalibur) are useless on moving targets.
What you do need, other than guided weapons, is a blizzard of shells on invasion beaches for a few hours. That’s not going to draw down stockpiles. The whole thing is over and done in a couple of hours.
“Is the Army deficient now in a core competency, wholesale stock management?”
No doubt that there are automatic processes in place. Item managers in the Army Materiel Command and Defense Logistics Agency, and pre-existing contract options for contingency production.
Left to itself, the requirement would be identified, and work it’s way into the budget next year or the year after, likely spread over how ever many years the staff officers in the Pentagon had to juggle competing budget requirements.
To get faster fills would require identification of a pressing risk, acceptance of the urgency of that requirement by Senior Leaders, and new money from Congress.
Perhaps (hopefully) some over-caffeinated staff officer is toiling away to get two dozen signatures on such a formally identified urgent requirement, as we recline in our armchairs….
Go look at all the critical components on our weaponry and gear that come from China.
How do you propose that we replenish our inventory while we’re fighting our supplier and do not have the production capacity here at home, hm?
Major increases in capability & capacity. Good stuff, too. Not quite as good as our best, but way better than the Norks.
That Polish order alone is pretty impressive, and no way S. Korea will short itself 1st. It appears Obama (and to some degree Trump) scared ‘em the US might not always “be there” except in case of a nuclear attack.
That is *several* years away at best and we have ‘unrelated’ Democrats blocking it at the state and Federal level on environmental grounds.
“The facts of the changing situation are fluid.”
Yes, that is war. No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
We have thinking, adaptive people on both sides.
With all the NATO planners and resources engaged, this is playing out as a proxy form of the WW III scenario that NATO was always designed to prepare for.
Putin must have assessed that NATO was not capable of, or would not choose to take on that fight.
Epic fail on his part.
He can, and will react to what NATO is doing, but this conflict has been fought countless times in war game simulations, the numbers counted, and the different options explored.
Bottom Line: Russia loses. The harder and longer they persist in pressing their attempted conquests, the harder and longer they will be screwed for it - up to and including the complete nuclear destruction of their society.
Please, many of the weapons sent are older versions. For instance the M113 is never going to be used in combat by the US, of which we have 6,000 in storage. Any war right now against China, would use air and naval assets which are basically untouched.
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