“There are already supply problems”: how the Pentagon intends to increase the production of modern weapons

The Pentagon intends to solve the problems associated with increasing the production of innovative technologies in the military sphere by attracting small companies.

This was stated by US Deputy Secretary of Defense Heidi Shue during the Reagan National Defense Defense Forum.

“We, again, will help small companies in terms of capital so that they can increase production if necessary (innovative technologies in the military sphere.

).

So we are all for finding innovation, demonstrating the necessary critical capabilities and advancing it at a timely pace,” Shu said.

She said that as part of the program to accelerate the introduction of innovative technologies, $ 100 million was allocated.

Shu also said that the Pentagon aims to accelerate the introduction of commercial technology into military use.

According to her, the US defense department is ready to quickly start testing solutions that can be 70-80% effective in order to eliminate difficulties "within the framework of the concept of joint warfare."

“And we will certainly do this as soon as we receive an appropriation,” the deputy defense minister said.

In turn, the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, General Charles Brown, said that the United States should intensify its work on new technical solutions, without waiting for the crisis, in particular, it is necessary to intensively introduce innovations. 

Brown gave an example of an original, in his opinion, technical solution that the US Air Force came to.

The US military has found a way to install AGM-88 HARM high-speed anti-radar missiles, originally designed as air-to-surface missiles for the F-16, on MiG-29 fighter jets used by the Kyiv regime, the chief of staff said.

• US missile HARM

• © Wikimedia Commons / David Monniaux / CC BY-SA 3.0

“If we were asked before the events in Ukraine if we could install the HARM missile on the MiG-29, we would say that it is too difficult.

But in a crisis, we find ways to solve certain issues,” he said.

According to Brown, the US Department of Defense needs to stay ahead of its adversaries when it comes to deploying effective capabilities.

“Accelerate change or you will lose,” he stressed.

According to military expert Yuri Knutov, the Pentagon spokesman's statement about the need to attract small companies to cooperate with the military-industrial complex is explained by the lack of existing capacities for the production of new and existing types of weapons in order to subsequently supply them to Ukraine.

“Therefore, the Pentagon's appeal to even small companies is a kind of cry for help.

The US Department of Defense announces this in order to find new firms that are ready to produce weapons, create innovations.

This indicates serious problems in the US military-industrial complex, which, according to Washington's idea, should continue to meet the needs of the Ukrainian army in modern types of weapons, ”Knutov said in a comment to RT.

The potential of the American military-industrial complex

Recall that the Pentagon's appeal to small companies about the need to cooperate with the military-industrial complex was heard against the backdrop of media reports about the lack of weapons from the United States to supply Kyiv and replenish its own stocks.

Thus, The New York Times reported on November 26, citing sources, that it is becoming more difficult for the United States and other NATO countries to supply weapons to Kyiv and at the same time maintain a sufficient amount of their arsenals.

The reason lies in the "fundamental unpreparedness" of the West to conduct large-scale hostilities in Europe, writes NYT.

The publication also notes that the United States has a limited supply of weapons needed by the Kyiv regime, namely: there are problems with 155-mm artillery shells, guided missiles, launchers, howitzers, Javelin anti-tank systems and Stinger MANPADS.

It is reported that the American side will need at least four years to increase the production of 155-mm artillery shells.

As the CEO of the American company Raytheon Greg Hayes clarified, the United States has already used up its reserves in many ways, in particular, the 13-year production volume of the Stinger and the five-year-old Javelin.

Hayes also added that the issue of replenishing the arsenal is extremely acute, noting that the Pentagon has not made purchases of MANPADS since 2004.

At the same time, Washington continues to declare its intention to supply weapons to Kyiv, although in reality the speed and volume of such trenches do not meet the demands of the Kyiv regime.

So, at the end of November, the Pentagon allowed the delivery of six more NASAMS air defense systems to Ukraine, but not immediately, but “within a couple of years.”

Brigadier General of the US Air Force Patrick Ryder told the press secretary of the US Department of Defense.

Later, the Pentagon reported that the United States had signed a contract with Raytheon to purchase NASAMS for Kyiv.

The amount of the transaction, including maintenance of systems, equipment and spare parts, is $ 1.2 billion.

After that, already in early December, the US Department of Defense signed a contract with Lockheed Martin for the "full-scale production" of the HIMARS MLRS.

The transaction amount is more than $431 million. According to experts, it will take at least a year to create such a party.

"plug the gap"

According to experts, the Kyiv regime is experiencing big problems with weapons, and the United States understands this, but cannot cover all of Ukraine's needs for weapons.

“Here, the desire of the United States to plug the gap in the supply of weapons to Kyiv as soon as possible is understandable: today Ukraine is experiencing very serious problems.

In particular, we are talking about the lack of both ammunition and other types of modern weapons.

And in these conditions, the Pentagon is trying to find contractors who could very quickly organize the production of new weapons, ”explained Yuri Knutov.

As the expert noted, the attempt of the United States to quickly rebuild the military-industrial complex to the needs of the Kyiv regime is obvious and "reminiscent of hysteria to some extent."

• US military

• AP

• © Nathan Posner

“If the United States, with the military-industrial complex capacities that are already involved, could solve the problem of arms supplies to Ukraine, they would have done it long ago,” the analyst stated.

Military expert Ivan Konovalov took a similar position.

According to him, the Pentagon sets the task "by any means" to increase the growth in the production of weapons and military equipment, as well as ammunition.

“They need this in order, firstly, to fill their arsenals, and secondly, to satisfy Kyiv’s requirements for arms supplies.

But these tasks can only be completed by expanding production capacity by attracting private enterprises, albeit small ones, to introduce some kind of innovation or some kind of trick, as, for example, with the HARM rocket, ”he said in a comment to RT.

At the same time, analysts explained that the innovations that the Pentagon is talking about should be understood as certain technical solutions that make it possible to more effectively use the existing American equipment in Ukraine, taking into account the realities on the battlefield.

In particular, as an example of such an “innovation”, the method of using the AGM-88 HARM missile in Ukraine is given, which, however, analysts do not consider a good solution in a real battle.

“Kyiv, at the suggestion of the US military, began to use HARMs as air-to-surface missiles, trying to destroy some ground targets with them.

But the effectiveness of these strikes is very low.

The United States had to come up with such an “innovation” because HARM in Ukraine could not be used for its intended purpose - to combat radar and missile guidance stations.

After all, almost all of these missiles are shot down by Russian air defense systems during such work, ”explained Knutov.

Konovalov, for his part, drew attention to the fact that the most important task for the Pentagon is to increase the production of ammunition.

“At the moment, this is the main goal, since the consumption of ammunition by the Ukrainian side is so huge that the United States and its partners cannot replenish their stocks, which are constantly decreasing.

And already now there are problems with deliveries.

At the same time, the production of new ammunition can take years.

And no innovation will help here to a large extent, ”the expert said.

As Knutov noted, despite Washington’s loud statements about plans to continue supporting Kyiv, “there will soon be almost nothing to help Ukraine.”

“Small companies that are approached by the Pentagon, even if they get involved in the production of weapons, will not be able to create large batches.

And new technical solutions are unlikely to change the situation much, since it may take a lot of time to test them, ”concluded the analyst.