{"id":544869,"date":"2023-01-28T20:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-01-28T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/is-helping-ukraine-reducing-us-preparedness-security\/"},"modified":"2023-01-28T20:00:00","modified_gmt":"2023-01-28T17:00:00","slug":"is-helping-ukraine-reducing-us-preparedness-security","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-helping-ukraine-reducing-us-preparedness-security\/","title":{"rendered":"#Is helping Ukraine reducing US preparedness, security?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28ce638e40f\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a28ce638e40f\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/is-helping-ukraine-reducing-us-preparedness-security\/#Is_helping_Ukraine_reducing_US_preparedness_security\" >Is helping Ukraine reducing US preparedness, security?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_helping_Ukraine_reducing_US_preparedness_security\"><\/span>Is helping Ukraine reducing US preparedness, security?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/ukrainerubble_012623_ap-andriy-andriyenko_tanks-jets.jpg?w=900\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Questions are mounting as to how long the\u00a0United States can continue to supply Ukraine from its own weapons stockpiles without hindering its own security. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With more than $27 billion in weapons committed to Kyiv since the start of Russia\u2019s Feb. 24, 2022, attack on the country, Washington shows no sign of slowing down on shipping munitions and other lethal aid overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr1_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But experts question what that might mean for U.S. military readiness should another conflict arise with\u00a0China in the near future, with a\u00a0U.S. defense industry that is far behind where it needs to be to account for a major war.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That concern is merited,\u00a0according to a new report\u00a0by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, which found that the\u00a0U.S.\u00a0defense-industrial base is ill-prepared for Washington to enter a fight with Beijing over Taiwan\u2019s independence, in addition to aiding Kyiv. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Among the most alarming points in the report was the\u00a0estimate that the U.S. military would run out of critical long-range, precision-guided munitions within a week should China start a fight in the Taiwan Strait. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The war\u00a0in Ukraine has \u201cexposed serious deficiencies in the U.S. defense industrial base,\u201d according to Seth Jones, the report\u2019s author. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cGiven the lead time for industrial production, it would likely be too late for the defense industry to ramp up production if a war were to occur without major changes,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The estimate as to how long the U.S. can continue to pull from its own weapons stocks and how fast defense firms can refill them has been a topic of discussion since shortly after the war began.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr2_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Since nearly a year ago, Washington has pledged to send Ukraine everything from helmets to high-tech systems, including a Patriot air defense battery, Bradley fighting vehicles, various types of missiles and now M1 Abrams tanks. The military aid, along with that of other Western allies, has been credited with helping the Ukrainian troops beat back Russian forces in the largest land war in Europe since World War II.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But the war, which currently has no end in sight,\u00a0has exposed weaknesses within the U.S. defense industry. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>With the U.S. withdrawal of the Afghanistan War in August 2021, the nation found itself not directly involved in a conflict for the first time in 20 years. The end of that American chapter meant a drop in the U.S. of manufactured material needed to produce weapons and ammunition for a war.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr3_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Further hampering the weapons supply chain were production delays and worker shortages due to the COVID-19 pandemic, defense firms claimed. <\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, Jones said defense manufacturers have for decades been working under the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other counterterrorism operations in the Middle East, which as the years went on became less demanding for major war-fighting weapons and ammunition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon, however, has remained steadfast in its insistence that there\u2019s no cause for concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr4_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>In May, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin\u00a0asserted that the U.S. military would not go below its readiness requirements after being pressed by Senate lawmakers over how it would replenish munitions being sent overseas.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s very critical to ensure that we maintain what we consider to be our minimum required stockage levels, and you can rest assured that I will not allow us to go below that in critical munitions,\u201d Austin told Senate lawmakers at the time. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And just this week, Defense Department press secretary Big. Gen. Pat Ryder brushed off questions over the numbers of munitions being expended in Ukraine and what it means for U.S. stockpiles in the event of another conflict, telling reporters the U.S. military\u00a0won\u2019t \u201cdo anything that\u2019s going to affect our readiness or our ability to meet our national security requirements.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr5_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>But the fears are not unwarranted.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In November,\u00a0<a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/11\/17\/politics\/us-weapon-stocks-ukraine\/index.html\">CNN rep<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/11\/17\/politics\/us-weapon-stocks-ukraine\/index.html\">orted\u00a0that the Pentagon\u2019s stockpiles<\/a> of certain systems including 155mm artillery shells and some missiles were \u201cdwindling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mark Cancian, a senior adviser also with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, earlier this month also identified 155 mm artillery rounds as part of six categories of weapons and ammunition that won\u2019t be restocked for at least three years, forecasting that some might not be rebuilt for up to 18 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr6_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>Cancian, who pulled from Defense Department documents and sources for his report, said certain artillery shells could eventually run low enough to reach a crisis point for Ukraine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat will h<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>en is that they will have to prioritize targets as the flow of ammunition slows,\u201d he said of Ukrainian forces. \u201cThey can\u2019t fire at everything, they\u2019ll only fire at the highest priority.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Pentagon Undersecretary for Policy Colin Kahl told reporters in November that \u201cthere\u2019s no question\u201d the constant flow of weapons to Ukraine has \u201cput pressure\u201d on U.S. stockpiles and the industrial base.\u00a0<\/p>\n<aside class=\"ad-unit ad-unit--mr7_ab\"><\/aside>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re seeing the first example in many decades of a real high intensity conventional conflict and the strain that that produces on not just the countries involved but the defense industrial bases of those supporting, in this case supporting Ukraine,\u201d Kahl said. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He insisted, however, that the U.S. military has not been put \u201cin a dangerous position as it relates to another major contingency somewhere in the world\u201d due to the constant flow of lethal aid given to Ukraine.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Still, the heads of several military services have recently acknowledged that they\u2019re keeping a close eye on their own weapons stocks to ensure they have enough to keep up readiness should the U.S. be pulled into a conflict.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If\u00a0\u201cyou draw that down too much, now the risk is on you,\u201d Marine Corps Commandant\u00a0Gen. David Berger told reporters in December.\u00a0\u201cYour own readiness might suffer if you didn\u2019t monitor it closely. So we have to do that and we have.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>And Navy Secretary\u00a0Carlos Del Toro\u00a0earlier this month told reporters that\u00a0if defense contractors can\u2019t increase production in the next six to 12 months, Washington could find it \u201cchallenging\u201d to help Ukraine and arm itself at the same time. \u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith regards to deliveries of weapons systems for the fight in Ukraine \u2026 yeah, that\u2019s always a concern for us,\u201d Del Toro said, <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/threats\/2023\/01\/navy-secretary-warns-if-defense-industry-cant-boost-production-arming-both-ukraine-and-us-may-become-challenging\/381722\/\">as\u00a0r<\/a><a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.defenseone.com\/threats\/2023\/01\/navy-secretary-warns-if-defense-industry-cant-boost-production-arming-both-ukraine-and-us-may-become-challenging\/381722\/\">eported by Defense One<\/a>. \u201cAnd we monitor that very, very closely. I wouldn\u2019t say we\u2019re quite there yet, but if the conflict does go on for another six months, for another year, it certainly continues to stress the supply chain in ways that are challenging.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>But there is a cause for optimism.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Jones said the Pentagon is aware of its industrial base issue and could address it by awarding multiyear contracts with defense manufacturers to produce munitions, something that has typically not been done in the past.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon, meanwhile, revealed on Wednesday that it is set to place a number of large orders in the next two months to replenish the drained U.S. stockpiles.<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are going to be several big awards coming in February and March that will just move us further down that path,\u201d said Doug Bush, assistant Army secretary for acquisition, logistics, and <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Defense production companies also have publicly said they are working to increase production supply. Two of the largest defense manufacturers, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, did not respond to a request for comment on this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Raytheon CEO Greg Hayes said during an investor call this month the company has the capacity to meet demand, but still needs more materials, according to the Wall Street Journal.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Lockheed Martin pointed The Hill toward a quarterly earnings call with CEO Jim Taiclet this week in which he noted several ways to increase production.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Taiclet said the Defense Department should fix multiyear contracts, ease the burden of auditing and regulation on smaller companies in particular, and bolster supply chains to ensure there are multiple sources of components.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis issue of restocking raised an important industry issue that we\u2019re going to try to work with government to solve,\u201d he said in the call.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The Pentagon did not respond to a request for comment on this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/policy\/defense\/3832541-is-helping-ukraine-reducing-us-preparedness-security\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is helping Ukraine reducing US preparedness, security? Questions are mounting as to how long the\u00a0United States can continue to supply Ukraine from its own weapons stockpiles without hindering its own security. \u00a0 With more than $27 billion in weapons committed to Kyiv since the start of Russia\u2019s Feb. 24, 2022, attack on the country, Washington&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":544870,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thehill.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2023\/01\/ukrainerubble_012623_ap-andriy-andriyenko_tanks-jets.jpg?w=1280","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[73798,139095,10574,70610,80445,134614,128582,134354,134345,70868,134845,139096,42873],"class_list":["post-544869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-defense","tag-defense-department","tag-education","tag-finance","tag-healthcare","tag-judiciary","tag-lloyd-austin","tag-nexstar-media-wire-news","tag-state-watch","tag-ukraine","tag-ukraine-aid","tag-us-military","tag-white-house"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}