Ukraine a drain on U.S. arsenal; Stingers, Javelins slow to replace, makers say

Airmen with the 436th Aerial Port Squadron place 155 mm shells on aircraft pallets ultimately bound for Ukraine, Friday, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Airmen with the 436th Aerial Port Squadron place 155 mm shells on aircraft pallets ultimately bound for Ukraine, Friday, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

WASHINGTON -- Hulking C-17 planes take off almost daily from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware -- 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 impact of those arms is exactly what President Joe Biden hopes to spotlight as he visits a Lockheed Martin plant today in Alabama 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 of the country's ability to sustain the cadence of shipping vast amounts of arms to Ukraine while maintaining the healthy stockpile it may need if a new conflict erupts elsewhere as the war drags on.

The U.S. 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 Center for Strategic and International Studies international security program. The Biden administration says it has committed to sending about 5,500 to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began.

Analysts also estimate that the United States 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, wouldn't be able to ramp up production until next year because of parts shortages.

He said Stingers and Javelins were where "we're seeing the most significant inventory issues," and production of both weapons systems has been limited in recent years.

The war will mean increased sales for some defense contractors, including Raytheon, which makes the Stinger missiles Ukrainian troops have used to knock out Russian aircraft. The company is also part of a joint venture with Lockheed Martin that makes the Javelins.

Biden will visit Lockheed Martin's facility in Troy, Ala., which has the capacity to manufacture about 2,100 Javelins per year. The trip comes as he presses Congress to quickly approve his request for an additional $33 billion in security and economic assistance for Kyiv, Western allies and restocking weapons the U.S. has sent to those countries.

Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday he hoped quick bipartisan agreement on the security package could be reached so the Senate could begin considering it "as early as next week."

The president is expected to use his remarks to highlight the importance of the Javelins and other U.S. weaponry in helping Ukraine's military put up a vigorous fight as he makes the case to keep security and economic assistance flowing.

A White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said the Pentagon is working with defense contractors "to evaluate the health of weapons systems' production lines and examine bottlenecks in every component and step of the manufacturing process." The administration is also considering a range of options, if needed, to boost production of both Javelins and Stingers, the official said.

A PIECE OF THE WHOLE

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday that America's military readiness is not dependent on one system, such as the Javelin. Every time the Pentagon develops a package of weapons to send to Ukraine, he said the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the department assesses the broader impact.

"It's not about counting, say, Javelins and being able to say that when you reach a certain level then all your readiness is gone," Kirby said. "The Javelin is an anti-armor capability, so we judge it all as a conglomerate of what's our ability to meet this particular mission set, realizing that a Javelin isn't the only capability you have against armor."

Cancian, the former government specialist on defense budget strategy, said the fact that Stingers and Javelins were not included in the most recent tranche of weapons the Biden administration announced it was sending to Ukraine could be a sign that Pentagon officials are mindful about inventory as they conduct contingency planning for other possible conflicts.

"There's no question that whatever war plan they're looking at there is risk associated with the depleting levels of Stingers and Javelins, and I'm sure that they're having that discussion at the Pentagon," he said.

The U.S. military effort to move weaponry to Eastern Europe for Ukraine's fight has been Herculean. From Dover Air Base in Delaware, U.S. airmen have carried out nearly 70 missions to deliver some 7 million pounds of Javelins, Stingers, 155mm howitzers, helmets and other essentials to Eastern Europe since February.

Col. Matt Husemann, commander of the 436th Airlift Wing, described the mission as a "whole of government approach that's delivering hope."

The lightweight but lethal Javelin has helped the Ukrainians inflict major damage on Russia's larger and better-equipped military.

Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet said in a recent CNBC interview that demand for the Javelin and other weapon systems would increase broadly over time because of the Russian invasion. He said the company was working "to get our supply chain ramped up."

Pentagon officials recently sat down with some of the leading defense contractorsto discuss efforts to ramp up production. The big defense contractors face some serious challenges.

Raytheon, for example, can't simply crank out Stingers to replace the 1,400 that the U.S. sent to Ukraine. Hayes said in a recent conference call with analysts that the company has only limited supplies of components to make the missile. The Pentagon hasn't bought any new ones in nearly 20 years.

Sanctions further complicate the picture. Companies must find new sources of important raw materials such as titanium, a crucial component in aerospace manufacturing that is produced in Russia.

Concerns about the Stinger stockpile have been raised by House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and the top Republican on the committee, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama. The two in March wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, describing the stockpile issue as one of "urgency."

Rogers said he remains concerned that the matter hasn't been properly addressed.

MARIUPOL TRUCE OVER

In Ukraine, Russia resumed pulverizing the Mariupol steel mill that has become the last stronghold of resistance in the bombed-out city, Ukrainian fighters said Monday, after a brief cease-fire over the weekend allowed the first evacuation of civilians from the plant.

Mariupol Deputy Mayor Sergei Orlov told the BBC that the evacuees were making slow progress and would probably not arrive in Zaporizhzhia on Monday as hoped. Authorities gave no explanation for the delay.

The Russian bombardment of the sprawling plant by air, tank and ship picked up again after the partial evacuation, Ukraine's Azov Battalion, which is helping to defend the mill, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Orlov said high-level negotiations were underway among Ukraine, Russia and international organizations on evacuating more people.

Before the weekend evacuation, overseen by the United Nations and the Red Cross, about 1,000 civilians were believed to be in the plant along with an estimated 2,000 Ukrainian defenders.

As many as 100,000 people overall may still be in Mariupol, which had a prewar population of more than 400,000.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he hoped more people would be able to leave Mariupol in an organized evacuation on Monday. The City Council told residents wanting to leave to gather at a shopping mall to wait for buses.

Zelenskyy told Greek state television that remaining civilians in the steel plant were afraid to board buses because they feared they would be taken to Russia. He said he had been assured by the U.N. that they would be allowed to go to areas his government controls.

Also Monday, Zelenskyy said at least 220 Ukrainian children have been killed by the Russian army since the war began and 1,570 educational institutions have been destroyed or damaged.

With most of Mariupol in ruins, a majority of the dozen Russian battalion tactical groups that had been around the city have moved north to other battlefronts in eastern Ukraine, according to a senior U.S. defense official who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the Pentagon's assessment.

A senior U.S. official warned that Russia is planning to annex large portions of eastern Ukraine this month and recognize the southern city of Kherson as an independent republic.

Michael Carpenter, U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said that those suspected actions are "straight out of the Kremlin's playbook" and will not be recognized by the United States or its allies.

Russia said Monday it struck dozens of military targets in the region in the past day. It said it hit concentrations of troops and weapons and an ammunition depot near Chervone in the Zaporizhzhia region, west of the Donbas.

A Russian missile strike Monday on an Odesa infrastructure target caused deaths and injuries, Maksym Marchenko, the governor of the Odesa region, said on Telegram. He gave no details. Zelenskyy said the attack destroyed a dormitory and killed a 14-year-old boy.

Ukraine said Russia also struck a strategic road and rail bridge west of Odesa. The bridge was heavily damaged in previous Russian strikes, and its destruction would cut a supply route for weapons and other cargo from neighboring Romania.

Also Monday, Ukraine claimed to have destroyed two small Russian patrol boats in the Black Sea.

PELOSI IN POLAND

Russia's invasion of Ukraine merits the strongest possible military response and the toughest sanctions, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday, adding that the West should not be deterred by the threat of retaliation from Moscow.

Pelosi held talks Monday in Poland with President Andrzej Duda, a meeting aimed at deepening Washington's partnership with a key NATO ally as the United States significantly escalates its involvement in Ukraine's fight against Russian forces.

Pelosi said the "strongest possible military response, the strongest sanctions" are necessary "to make the case that this is not tolerable."

"We shouldn't do anything less because of a threat from Russia," she said. "They have already delivered on their threat that killed children and families, civilians and the rest."

Pelosi will soon return to Washington, where members of Congress from both parties have called for swift approval of Biden's request for more artillery, anti-tank weapons and other hardware for Ukraine.

She said she also discussed with the U.S. ambassador to Warsaw, Mark Brzezinski, the possible enlargement of NATO's military presence in Poland as part of "an ongoing conversation about how we support global security."

She reaffirmed "our nation's pledge to continue supporting Poland's humanitarian efforts" and hailed the country's people for taking in more than 3 million refugees from Ukraine, more than any other nation, with most of them being hosted by individuals.

TURNING OFF TAP

The European Union is close to a deal on phasing out Russian oil imports in response to the war in Ukraine -- but objections from Hungary and Slovakia are holding up a sanctions agreement, according to two EU diplomats and an EU official.

To seal the deal, the EU may grant the two countries exemptions, the officials said under condition of anonymity to discuss private negotiations, noting that the details are still being hammered out.

The European Commission is preparing the proposal on oil as part of its sixth round of sanctions on Russia over the war. A draft is expected to be circulated to member states on today and debated by EU ambassadors on Wednesday, with a formal agreement possible this week.

The energy ministers focused Monday on finding ways to ensure Poland and Bulgaria continue to have enough gas from other sources and to prepare for possible shutdowns in other countries. EU officials denounced the shut-offs by Russia's Gazprom as "blackmail."

"Energy efficiency, the fast growth of renewables and EU coordination of energy policies must progress quickly," Robert Habeck, Germany's economy and climate protection minister, told reporters in Brussels on Monday.

The EU is not ready for a gas embargo, but it imposed a ban on Russian coal after the massacre in the Ukrainian town of Bucha.

Baltic nations and some central European countries -- though not Hungary -- have called for a total energy embargo, arguing that buying Russian fossil fuels amounts to funding war crimes. Others, notably Germany and Austria, have been reluctant, worried about the economic impact of supply disruptions.

Slowly, the holdouts have come around. Austria will support the commission's phaseout proposal, Energy Minister Leonore Gewessler said Monday.

Hungary and Slovakia remain heavily dependent on Russian oil and say they need more time and money to adjust, particularly to update their oil infrastructure.

Information for this article was contributed by Ben Fox, Aamer Madhani, Jay Reeves, Dan Huff, Lolita C. Baldor, Alan Fram, Cara Anna, Inna Varenytsia, Yesica Fisch, Jon Gambrell, Yuras Karmanau and Mstyslav Chernov of The Associated Press, by Monika Pronczuk and Matthew Mpoke Bigg of The New York Times and by Emily Rauhala and Quentin Aries of The Washington Post.

  photo  Airmen push over 8,000 pounds of 155 mm shells ultimately bound for Ukraine on to a C-17 aircraft for transport, Friday, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment . (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
 
 
  photo  U.S. Air Force Airman Megan Konsmo, from Tacoma, Wash., checks pallets of helmets ultimately bound for Ukraine in the Super Port of the 436th Aerial Port Squadron, Friday, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
 
 
  photo  U.S. Air Force Airman Megan Konsmo, from Tacoma, Wash., checks pallets of equipment ultimately bound for Ukraine in the Super Port of the 436th Aerial Port Squadron, Friday, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
 
 
  photo  Pallets of 155 mm shells and fuses are loaded, ultimately bound for Ukraine, Friday, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
 
 
  photo  U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Cody Brown, right, with the 436th Aerial Port Squadron, checks pallets of 155 mm shells ultimately bound for Ukraine, Friday, April 29, 2022, at Dover Air Force Base, Del. President Joe Biden asked Congress on Thursday for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
 
 


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