Pentagon halts some weapons shipments to Ukraine after concerns were raised about low stockpiles.

 

File photo of a US supplied M777 Howitzer. NBC News/AP.

The Pentagon has halted some weapons shipments to Ukraine after concerns were raised about low stockpiles. NBC News. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth had ordered a review of US weapons stockpiles a few weeks ago. The results were concerning enough that shipments have been stopped and will not resume until the review is complete. Even then, they could be held back all together. The war in Ukraine, along with the conflict with the Houthis depleted weapons stockpiles, along with the most recent conflicts involving Israel. Weapons systems include the Patriot interceptors, 155mm Howitzer shells, Hellfire missiles, GMRLS rocket artillery, Stinger MANPADS, AIM air to air missiles and even grenade launchers. Ukraine has faced a shortage of weapons systems for awhile as Western manufacturing can not keep up with the attrition and use rate. The lack of new anti-air weapons could be critical, given how Russia has stepped up the pace of drone and missile attacks.

My Comment:

This pause is absolutely necessary, the burn-through of our most critical equipment has been obscene. It's to the point if a major war were to break out with Russia and/or China, we might not have the weapons needed to win. Though that kind of war would be hard to win anyways, the truth remains, our war readiness has suffered.

The most critical system we have depleted is obviously air defenses. Both the Ukraine conflict and the various fights Israel has been in have largely depleted our best interceptors. And keep in mind that Russian air weapons have improved to the point where the Ukrainians often have to volley fire Patriot missiles in order to get a hit. Russian missiles even have decoys now, so it's almost required to use at least two missiles to intercept one. 

Not to mention the ever present threat that drones cause. It's no surprise that we had to hold off on sending Ukraine MANPADS and air-to-air missiles. Russia is now attacking with gigantic drone swarms, partially to evade these weapons, but mostly to deplete them. Between missiles and drones, is it any surprise that Ukraine is running out of weapons?

Of course, there is the argument that we shouldn't be sending weapons to Ukraine period. That's been my position since the start of the war, given that Ukraine has no realistic path to victory. Plus them being Nazis and everything, can't forget that. The depletion of these weapons systems only adds to that argument. 

Ukraine isn't the only problem here, Israel has gotten a lot of weapons that probably would have gone to Ukraine in other circumstances. Given Israel's fairly aggressive foreign policy lately, they have been burning through the weapons we have supplied them at an astonishing rate. Indeed, I think one of the reasons why they took the cease fire when Trump demanded it, is because they were running out of interceptors. 

You could argue that we shouldn't be supplying Israel either, though at least they pay for much of what they get. I also have a lot less sympathy for Israel's enemies. Hamas I have zero sympathy for and even Iran is a theocratic radical Muslim regime. I don't think Israel is always a good actor, or even a rational one, but their enemies are a lot worse. 

It's possible that Trump administration is just using this as an excuse to cut off Ukraine, but I am not sure if that's the case. Trump has been a disappointment when it comes to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as he seems to think that he would be able to cut a deal to end the war, when no such thing seems likely. To be fair to Trump, he has ended at least three wars in the past few months by my count, so if anyone can do it it's him. But my gut says that Trump isn't ready to cut off Ukraine until it's clear that there isn't going to be a negotiated settlement.