Push to arm Ukraine putting strain on US weapons stockpile

A depleted US inventory of Javelins, Stingers and other arms could be an issue if a new conflict erupts with North Korea, Iran or elsewhere

Defence contractors are facing the same supply chain and labour shortage challenges as other manufacturers, along with some industry-specific ones

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US Marine Corps M777 towed 155 mm howitzers are staged on the flight line before being loaded onto a US Air Force C-17 Globemaster III aircraft bound for Europe for delivery to Ukrainian forces, at March Air Reserve Base, California, in April. Photo: US Marine Corps via Reuters

Published: 5:03am, 3 May 2022Updated: 8:22am, 3 May 2022

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 is exactly what US President Joe Biden hopes to spotlight as he visits a Lockheed Martin plant in Alabama on Tuesday that builds the portable Javelin anti-tank weapons that have played a crucial role in Ukraine.

But Biden’s visit is also drawing 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 already has 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 says it has given about 5,500 to Ukraine since the Russian invasion more than two months ago.

Analysts also estimate that the US has sent about one-quarter 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 makes 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 Pentagon budget strategy, war funding and procurement.