$3 billion accounting error means the Pentagon can send more weapons to Ukraine

AP ^ | 18 May 2023 | Staff

[Red Badger]

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Pentagon has overestimated the value of the weapons it has sent to Ukraine by at least $3 billion — an accounting error that could be a boon for the war effort because it will allow the Defense Department to send more weapons now without asking Congress for more money.

The acknowledgment Thursday comes at a time when Pentagon is under increased pressure by Congress to show accountability for the billions of dollars it has sent in weapons, ammunition and equipment to Ukraine and as some lawmakers question whether that level of support should continue.

It also could free up more money for critical weapons as Ukraine is on the verge of a much anticipated counteroffensive — which will require as much military aid as they can get. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has previously said the offensive was delayed because they did not yet have everything they needed.

The error was caused when officials overvalued some of the systems sent to Ukraine, using the value of money it would cost to replace an item completely rather than the current value of the weapon. In many of the military aid packages, the Pentagon has opted to draw from its stockpiles of older, existing gear because it can get those items to Ukraine faster.

“During our regular oversight process of presidential drawdown packages, the Department discovered inconsistencies in equipment valuation for Ukraine. In some cases, ‘replacement cost’ rather than ‘net book value’ was used, therefore overestimating the value of the equipment drawn down from U.S. stocks,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh.

[Retain Mike]

‘replacement cost’ rather than ‘net book value’

So, they used the Walmart price rather than what it might be priced at in a garage sale. The Walmart price has some objective value. The garage sale price is a totally subjective estimate of whatever someone thinks a passerby will pay that day.

Am I really supposed to be that stupid or are they really that arrogant?

[refreshed]

That’s creative

[Red Badger]

Yes and yes.........................

[Red Badger]

I wonder if the IRS would mind if I used that same accounting method...................

[Tupelo]

Boy Howdy!
Coming from both the AP and the Pentagon, I seriously think the words “Accounting Error” should be not only be in quotes but bold & italicized.

[Vaduz]

Yep just like three card Monte huh.

[Waverunner]

So more weapons for Ukraine are an accounting error.
Who is getting fired over this "accounting error"
Oh wait, they are now probably being promoted for finding a way to further degrade US preparedness while seeing our weapon stocks destroyed in Ukraine.
My question is what's the new Pentagon price on an F16?. Biden's handlers reached a deal in Japan to train Ukrainian pilots.
Now the DOD doesn't need to go to congress with 3 billion found money.
The outcome of this continued escalation is easy to predict.
A shooting war with Russia so that "real socialism" can be brought back to Moscow.
I am composing a new hit song, " They dropped the bomb and the bomb won".
And how appropriate that they made this decision in Japan.

[SaveFerris]

Yes, because we, the taxpayers, can just pay for the more expensive item next go-around

A few trillion here, a few trillion there.....

[bgill]

Don’t we all have $3 billion accounting errors. The US needs a major house cleaning.

[drwoof]

Just another step towards the war we are being led into.

[Red Badger]

Both Russia and the US are being played by China.

Both are being weakened by this on-going war.

China will be the ultimate victor......................

[FMBass]

No doubt that they are graduates of the Jethro Bowdin school of higher mathematics (naught carry naught).

[jz638]

Am I really supposed to be that stupid or are they really that arrogant?

They honestly don't care what you think. They found a way to do what they wanted and they're gonna do it, and online forum posters can suck eggs for all they care. Also, 'error' is a deliberate misdirection, it is an accounting trick.

Military equipment (materiel for the fancy) is rarely priced in a sensible way, you can't go to walmart and buy a Patriot missile, and you can put some costs to acquisition, maintenance, and disposal, but "value" is highly subjective because for a lot of this stuff there is no secondary market outside of scrap or a foreign government. it's all a racket and involves questionable contracts and political paybacks.

They probably won't even publicly release what equipment they overvalued, and what values they originally assigned or reassigned. I'd bet a lot of fully operational materiel that was pulled from active duty forces and will have to be replaced was given scrap value.

[Revel]

“The error was caused when officials overvalued some of the systems sent to Ukraine, using the value of money it would cost to replace an item completely rather than the current value of the weapon.”

This is a scam. You can’t devalue a functioning weapon like that. Its value is what it costs to replace it. The level of corruption is unending.

[NWFree]

How convenient 😒

[wastedyears]

The Zelenskiites on here see nothing wrong with that, and probably want more money to go there.

[wastedyears]

You see nothing wrong with an "extra" 3 billion dollars going to some dump that we have no reason to be involved with?

[IncPen]

All that money is going to the DNC to pay for the guards at our gulags…