Ammo stockpile8/8/2023 ![]() ![]() "This would occur in less than one week in a Taiwan Strait conflict." The think tank concluded that "the U.S. The conclusion? America would run out of some munitions, quickly. CSIS recently ran a war game to imagine a possible U.S.-China confrontation. "I am worried about ammunition and shell shortages not only for the Wagner private military company but for all units of the Russian army," said Wagner's Yevgeny Prigozhin, though he also said ammo is now being produced "in huge quantities." ( The Jerusalem Post reports that Russia's ammunition shortage has forced its fighters to go to battle only with "firearms and shovels.")īut it's China that is always on the minds of American war planners. Earlier this month the head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group expressed concerns about munitions supplies, The Guardian reports. The West isn't the only side of the Ukraine conflict with ammunition problems. The Ukrainians have outfought the Russians, but they depend on the West to ensure that advantage continues: "As long as Ukraine continues to receive sufficient ammunition, particularly for artillery, and spare parts, it stands a good chance of retaking territory."īut Maiya Clark of the Heritage Foundation suggests the United States can't just turn a switch: "Once the stockpiles are expended, the Department of Defense cannot simply buy more munitions - manufacturing takes years." Yes, defense planners must build a new, larger stockpile of ammunition, but to do so "contractors need time to expand their production facilities, hire more workers, and obtain more components from their suppliers." What's next "Ammunition availability might be the single most important factor that determines the course of the war in 2023, and that will depend on foreign stockpiles and production," Rob Lee and Michael Kofman wrote in December for the Foreign Policy Research Institute. The first worry for Western officials, of course, is keeping Ukraine in the fight. America's armed forces are "watching … stocks of some key weapons dwindle," the Times reports - the result of "industry consolidation, depleted manufacturing lines and supply chain issues" that have become more critical while war rages in Europe, and as a potential conflict with China looms. Indeed, The New York Times reports that American efforts to supply Ukraine have left the military low on artillery shells and other "more sophisticated" weapons, exposing fault lines in how the U.S. Now, though, the "number of those stockpiles are now decreasing." has been able to do is use a range of its stockpiles of weapons," to supply Ukraine, Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) tells PBS NewsHour. But Europe isn't the only place where ammunition and other critical military supplies are in short supply. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |