The US is about to run out of Javelin missile arsenal because of over-delivering to Ukraine?

According to 19 Forty Five, the United States has committed to supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons, while its own missile stockpile has plummeted.

The United States has committed to an additional $800 million aid package for Ukraine that will include heavier weapons such as 155mm cannons, armored vehicles, and Switchblade drones, President Joe Biden confirmed during the phone call. with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The new aid package comes at a time when Russian forces are preparing for a new offensive in eastern Ukraine against the Donetsk and Luhansk regions in the Donbass.

President Biden wants to assure President Zelensky that the US “will continue to stand with” Ukraine. The European Union also pledged an additional $544 million in aid to Ukraine at the same time.

“This new support package will include many of the highly effective weapons systems that we already provide and new types of weapons that are relevant to the broader offensive we think Russia will launch in the east. Ukraine,” President Biden said in a statement.

However, The US supply of Ukraine with so many Javelin anti-tank missiles that it desperately needs has caused the US stockpile of highly effective missiles to run out and could take years to replenish.

The Biden administration had previously been reluctant to supply Ukraine with heavier weapons for fear that this would escalate the Russians into the war. The changing situation on the ground has now convinced the Biden administration that now is the right time to deliver heavier weapons.

The US has delivered about 7,000 Javelin anti-armor missiles to Ukraine in its fight against Russian armored forces. That number represents about a third of the total US missile stockpile.

In early April, members of the US House Armed Services Committee asked General Mark Milley whether shipments to Ukraine would deplete the US stockpile to a risky level. General Milley then replied that what the US military provided Ukraine was a variety of small arms, machine guns, grenades, grenade launchers. The US Javelin missile stockpile still has enough quantity needed for the US alone.

But observers say that this latest move to send more Javelins missiles to Ukraine could change that assessment of General Milley. The US military buys about 1,000 Javelins a year. In case of necessity, supplies could grow to almost 6,500 Javelin missiles a year, but that will take several years to achieve.