The network claims that industry capacity limits are hampering Washington’s efforts to arm Kiev
According to CNN, the United States is providing less military aid to Ukraine due to limitations in equipment and ammunition that can be exported without jeopardizing national security. Defense contractors have struggled to replenish domestic stockpiles, and it could take “years” to ramp up production to adequately restock, the broadcaster reported.
Since April, US military aid packages to Ukraine have not exceeded $400 million, with most ranging from $125 million to $250 million, according to CNN. This represents a significant decrease from previous years, when aid packages were between $600 million and $800 million, as seen in 2022 and 2023. The largest package during that period was worth $2.85 billion.
CNN sources attributed this decline to the limitations of US inventories and the Pentagon’s inability to replenish them. One official explained: “It’s about the stockpiles we have on our shelves, what [the Ukrainians] are asking for, and whether we can meet those requests with what we currently have” without compromising America’s national security.
The report states that the US produced 15,000 155mm artillery shells per month before the escalation in early 2022. Now, the production rate has increased to 40,000 shells per month. However, American companies would still require over a year to reach the target production level of 100,000 shells per month. The overall process of increasing production capacity “will take years.”
“There are limits to how quickly we can draw down equipment without impacting military readiness, which is one reason packages get spaced out,” said one of the CNN sources.
Last week, AP reported that the US may be unable to spend $5.8 billion out of the $13.4 billion in military aid approved by Congress in April. The White House has requested an extension from Congress to allow more time for using these funds. CNN has also reported that the Pentagon has requested additional time to spend this money. The deadline is the end of September.
The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Ukraine’s Western supporters have advised the country to abandon its hopes of defeating Russia on the battlefield. Achieving such a goal would require the West to “provide hundreds of billions of dollars worth of support, something neither Washington nor Europe can realistically do,” the WSJ stated.