US failing to keep pace with Ukraine’s demand for advanced weaponry: American media

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin has signaled that the US and its Western allies are having trouble keeping pace with Ukraine’s demand for advanced weaponry, according to Fox News.

That signal reflects dwindling supplies for Ukraine and fear in the White House of escalation that could result in a war between the US and Russia.

At a press conference where Ukraine’s key Western allies gathered in Brussels, Austin avoided providing a clear answer when he was asked whether the US and other nations can supply the weapons Ukraine needs and stressed that the desire is there to get Ukraine what it needs.

The risk of reduced US stockpiles of high-end munitions has been reported almost since the US began contributing to Ukraine.

Now, nearly eight months since the start of Russia's military operation, experts interviewed by Fox News Digital argue the US is at or very near the end of its capacity to give.

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They agreed that Austin’s remarks indicate that the initial rush of high-end munitions like HIMAR rocket launchers, Javelin anti-tank missiles, anti-aircraft Stingers and M-777 Howitzers is over. 

“There are some areas where we’re basically at the bottom of the barrel,” Mark Cancian, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic & International Studies told Fox News Digital. He added that Biden administration has “limited” supplies of HIMARs, Javelins, Stingers and M-777 Howitzers.

Cancian believes that Austin's speech signaled that US support for Ukraine will continue in a different way like sending over lower-end substitutions such as lighter Howitzers that are serviceable, providing substitutes or buying weapons from other nations.

Other experts, however, say that the Biden administration is purposefully slowing down the transfer of critical munitions to Ukraine, because it is increasingly worried about stumbling into a direct conflict with Russia.

“Another sign of US caution is that the administration allowed nearly $2.8 billion in authority to supply Ukraine with weapons to expire a few weeks ago, at the end of fiscal year 2022,” a congressional aide said.

The aide explained that many of the weapons sent to Ukraine were stockpiled largely for use in a possible conflict with Russia, and that conflict is already playing out with Ukraine in the lead so a corresponding drop in US inventories is not putting the US anywhere near a stockpile crisis.

To put it another way, the Biden administration has more flexibility to give Ukraine more but is choosing not to.

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The US has been by far the largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine since Russia launched its “special military operation” there in February, supplying more than 800,000 NATO standard 155mm artillery shells to Kiev - three-quarters of the total amount delivered by all Western countries, according to official Pentagon statistics.

Earlier this month, Russia warned that Washington would cross a “red line” and become “a party to the conflict” if it supplied Ukraine with longer-range missiles. The Pentagon, however, said late last month that it was committed to sending another 18 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to Ukraine.

On Thursday, Germany and 13 other members of the US-led NATO military alliance also signed a letter of intent to jointly purchase air defense systems in the category of systems such as the Israeli regime's Arrow 3, US Patriot and German IRIS-T units in order to enhance Ukraine’s air and missile defense capabilities.

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