[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by opendoor

It sounds like the US is still concerned with escalation if they provide weapons that Ukraine could use to directly attack Russia. And they're worried about depleting their own supply, which might explain the delays with providing MLRS:





https://edition.cnn.com/2022/05/26/p...lrs/index.html

The U.S. is understandably concerned about their own supplies. With the chip shortages and other supply chain issues they won’t be able to replace hardware anywhere near as quickly as the military has prepared for.

Take the Javelin. America does not release details of its stock of weapons. But according to budget documents, its army has bought around 34,500 Javelins since they went into service in 1996. Mark Cancian of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, another think-tank, reckons that it has used 12,500-17,500 for training and testing. That would leave 17,000-22,000 in stock at the end of 2021. So the 7,000 Javelins given to Ukraine may account for a third or more of the army’s stock (see chart). His calculation excludes about 2,400 Javelins bought by the marines, and perhaps 5,000 expended in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On May 3rd Mr Biden visited the factory in Troy, Alabama, where the Javelins are assembled. It produces 2,100 of them a year. It would thus take three or four years to replenish the army—more if orders from other countries take priority. The factory could in theory turn out 6,480 Javelins a year. But this assumes that its makers, a joint venture by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon Technologies, receive firm orders, can find the extra workers and, crucially, components. On earnings calls with investors last month the bosses of both firms spoke of supply-chain constraints.

https://www.economist.com/united-sta...y-is-depleting