WASHINGTON (AP) – Planes take off almost daily from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware – massive C-17s loaded with Javelins, Stingers, howitzers and other materials are transported to Eastern Europe to supply the Ukrainian military in its fight against Russia.
The game-changing impact of these weapons is exactly what President Joe Biden hopes to see as he visits Lockheed Martin’s Alabama plant on Tuesday, which produces Javelin portable anti-tank weapons, which have played a crucial role in Ukraine.
But Biden’s visit also draws attention to growing concerns as the war drags on: can the United States keep pace with the supply of huge quantities of weapons to Ukraine while maintaining the health supplies it may need if a new conflict breaks out? with North Korea, Iran or elsewhere?
The United States has already provided about 7,000 Javelins, including some that were delivered during the Trump administration, about a third of its supplies to Ukraine, according to an analysis by Mark Kansian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, International Program for security. The Biden administration says it has pledged to send about 5,500 to Ukraine after the Russian invasion more than two months ago.
Analysts also estimate that the United States has sent about a quarter of its stockpile of Stinger missiles to Ukraine. Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investors last week in a quarterly conversation that his company, which makes the weapons system, will not be able to increase production until next year due to a shortage of parts.
“Could this be a problem?” The short answer is “Probably yes,” said Kansian, a retired Marine colonel and former government specialist on the Pentagon’s budget strategy, military funding and public procurement.
He said Stingers and Javelins were where “we see the most significant inventory problems” and that the production of both weapons systems has been limited in recent years.
The Russian invasion offers the American and European defense industries a great opportunity to increase profits, as lawmakers from Washington to Warsaw are ready to increase defense spending in response to Russian aggression. However, defense contractors face the same supply chain and labor shortages that other manufacturers face, along with some others that are industry-specific.
Military spending in the United States and around the world increased even before Russia’s invasion on February 24. Biden’s proposed budget for 2023 requires $ 773 billion for the Pentagon, an annual increase of about 4%.
Globally, total military spending rose 0.7 percent to more than $ 2 trillion for the first time in 2021, according to an April report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Russia ranked fifth as its arms spending rose before it invaded Ukraine.
The war will mean increased sales for some defense subcontractors, including Raytheon, which makes Stinger missiles used by Ukrainian troops to destroy Russian planes. The company is also part of a joint venture with Lockheed Martin, which produces Javelins.
Biden will visit the Lockheed Martin facility in Troy, Alabama, which has the capacity to produce about 2,100 Javelins a year. The trip comes as he pushes Congress to quickly approve his request for an additional $ 33 billion in security and economic aid to Kyiv, Western allies and the return of weapons the United States has sent to those countries.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DNY, said Monday that he hoped a quick bipartisan agreement on the security package would be reached so the Senate could begin considering it “next week at the earliest.”
The president is expected to use his remarks to emphasize the importance of Javelins and other US weapons in helping the Ukrainian military fight a vigorous battle as he defends security and economic aid.
A White House spokesman, who was not authorized to comment publicly and asked on condition of anonymity, said the Pentagon was working with defense officials “to assess the health of weapons system production lines and explore bottlenecks in every component and step of the production process.” . The administration is also considering a number of options, if necessary, to increase production for both Javelins and Stingers, the official said.
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Monday that America’s military readiness does not depend on a system like Javelin. He said that every time the Pentagon develops a package of weapons to be sent to Ukraine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the ministry assess the wider impact.
“It’s not about counting, say, Javelins, and the ability to say that when you reach a certain level, all your readiness disappears,” Kirby said. “Javelin is an anti-armor tool, so we value all of this as a conglomeration of our ability to complete this particular set of missions, realizing that Javelin is not the only ability you have against armor.”
Kansian, a former government specialist on budget defense strategy, said the fact that Stingers and Javelins were not included in the latest tranche of weapons the Biden administration said it was sending to Ukraine could be a sign that Pentagon officials are aware of the inventory as conducting emergency planning for other possible conflicts.
“There is no doubt that whatever military plan they consider, there is a risk associated with the exhausting levels of the Stingers and Javelins, and I am sure they are leading this discussion at the Pentagon,” he said.
The US military effort to move weapons to Eastern Europe for the battle of Ukraine was Herculean. From Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, American pilots have completed nearly 70 missions to deliver about 7 million pounds of Javelins, Stingers, 155 mm howitzers, helmets and other basic items in Eastern Europe since February. Colonel Matt Hugman, commander of the 436th Air Wing, described the mission as “a holistic, hopeful government approach.”
“It’s great,” Husseman said after giving the AP a recent tour of the air transport operation.
The light but deadly Javelin helped the Ukrainians inflict heavy damage on the larger and better-equipped Russian army. As a result, the weapon acquired an almost mythical attitude, celebrated with a song by Javelin and images of Mary Magdalene wearing Javelin, becoming a meme in Ukraine.
Lockheed CEO Martin James Tylett said in a recent interview with CNBC that demand for Javelin and other weapons systems will increase significantly over time due to the Russian invasion. He said the company was working “to expand our supply chain”.
“We have the ability to meet current production needs, invest in increased capacity and explore ways to further increase production if necessary,” a statement from Lockheed Martin said.
Pentagon officials recently met with some of the leading defense executives, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics, BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman, to discuss efforts to increase production.
Big defense entrepreneurs face serious challenges.
Raytheon, for example, can’t just get Stingers to replace the 1,400 the United States sent to Ukraine. Hayes, CEO of Raytheon, said in a recent conference call with analysts that the company has only limited supplies of components to make the rocket. Only one undiscovered country has bought them in recent years, and the Pentagon has not bought new ones in nearly 20 years.
Sanctions further complicate the picture. Companies need to find new sources of important raw materials such as titanium, a crucial component of aerospace production in Russia.
Concerns about Stinger’s stockpile were expressed by House of Representatives Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., And the Republican’s senior Republican, Mike Rodgers of Alabama. In March, the two wrote to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Millie, describing the stockpile problem as “urgent.”
Rodgers said he remained concerned that the issue had not been properly addressed.
“I’ve been asking the Department of Defense for almost two months about a plan to replenish our Stinger supplies as well as our Javelin launchers,” Rodgers said. “I am concerned that without an easily accessible replacement or fully active production lines, we could leave Ukraine and our NATO allies in a vulnerable position.
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Reeves reports from Birmingham, Alabama, and Huff from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Associated Press authors Lolita S. Baldor and Alan Fram of Washington contributed to the report.
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