The US does not have the ammunition for a conflict with China
The USA has been supplying Ukraine with arms and ammunition for 15 months to fight against the Russian invasion, investing tens and tens of billions of dollars. Now, according to officials, the nation has depleted its stockpiles of critical munitions so badly that it probably wouldn't be able to fight a major war.
Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth said US munitions production capacity is being pushed to the "absolute limit."
Chief of Staff Mark Milley said the nation "has a long way to go" to replenish its depleted stockpiles.
An unnamed Pentagon official reportedly told The Wall Street Journal that the nation's stockpiles of critical ordnance were "uncomfortably low" as early as August of last year.
The Pentagon declined to provide the Epoch Times with an update on the status of its current ammunition stockpile, and a spokesman said providing any details on the matter could jeopardize "operational security."
The spokesman suggested, however, that the United States was making great strides in rebuilding what was lost.
“Of note, the department has enabled a rapid increase in production of 155mm ammunition, from approximately 14,000 a month in February 2022 to more than 20,000 a month most recently, with plans to produce more than 70,000 a month in 2025,” he said. the spokesman at the Epoch Times. “This represents a 500% increase.”
There's just one problem with the Pentagon's rosy predictions about its rapidly dwindling inventories: Even with a 500% increase in production by 2027, the nation would still be only halfway to staying afloat, on top of the fact that there it is still two years before 2025 and 4 years before 2027…
This is because, at the end of August last year, the United States had already sent just over 800,000 155mm artillery shells to Ukraine. The number has since risen to more than two million, according to a factsheet provided by the Pentagon to the Epoch Times.
That's a rate of over 130,000 shells a month. Nearly double the proposed production rate of 70,000 the Pentagon hopes to achieve in five years.
The US is struggling to produce enough ammunition
Sure, the Pentagon has taken steps to stop the haemorrhage of critical munitions stockpiles. In particular, it has sought, wherever possible, to purchase ammunition for Ukraine from other countries rather than emptying its own stores.
How long it will maintain the current balance is open to debate. Even allies' supplies aren't infinite, after all, and already some partners are thinking about their own security concerns.
Key ally South Korea, for example, has already rejected requests to sell munitions to the United States, citing fears of North Korean aggression.
Now the United States is coming to withdraw equipment from units stationed in Israel and South Korea to adequately supply Ukraine without depleting its own stocks.
Similarly, the US military is asking Congress for $18 billion to expand and modernize its ammunition manufacturing capabilities over the next 15 years. According to Secretary Wormuth, this effort will help replenish the more than $20 billion in lethal aid already delivered to Ukraine directly from US stockpiles.
However, even this may not be enough.
“My feeling is that we're going to have to do more,” Wormuth said during a March 30 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“One thing the war in Ukraine has shown us is that the estimates we have made of munitions [needed] for future conflicts are low.”
The first tranche of the Army's investment, worth $1.5 billion, is included in the Pentagon's fiscal year 2024 budget request.
This amount is expected to help the Army expand and modernize the nation's munitions manufacturing facilities, arsenals and depots, many of which date back to World War II.
Despite the stoic facade presented by politicians, the idea that it will take 15 years to modernize US munitions production capacity worries some lawmakers. Particularly those who want to defend Taiwan's independence believe this level of ammunition reserves is incompatible with protecting the island.
Luckily the Chinese haven't gone on the offensive yet…
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The article The US does not have the ammunition for a conflict with China comes from Scenarios Economics .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/gli-usa-non-hanno-le-munizioni-per-un-conflitto-con-la-cina/ on Thu, 08 Jun 2023 09:00:22 +0000.