The game-changing impact of those arms is exactly what President Joe Biden hopes to spotlight as he visits a Lockheed Martin plant in Alabama on Tuesday that builds the portable Javelin anti-tank weapons that have played a crucial role in Ukraine.

But Biden’s visit is also drawing attention to a growing concern as the war drags on: Can the U.S. sustain the cadence of shipping vast amounts of arms to Ukraine while maintaining the healthy stockpile it may need if a new conflict erupts with North Korea, Iran or elsewhere?

The U.S. already has provided about 7,000 Javelins, including some that were delivered during the Trump administration, about one-third of its stockpile, to Ukraine, according to an analysis by Mark Cancian, a senior adviser with the Center for Strategic and International Studies international security program. The Biden administration says it has committed to sending about 5,500 to Ukraine since the Russian invasion more than two months ago.

Analysts also estimate that the United States has sent about one-quarter of its stockpile of shoulder-fired Stinger missiles to Ukraine. Raytheon Technologies CEO Greg Hayes told investors last week during a quarterly call that his company, which makes the weapons system, wouldn’t be able to ramp up production until next year due to parts shortages.

“Could this be a problem? The short answer is, ‘Probably, yes,’” said Cancian, a retired Marine colonel and former government specialist on Pentagon budget strategy, war funding and procurement.

He said that Stingers and Javelins were where “we’re seeing the most significant inventory issues,” and production of both weapons systems has been limited in recent years.

The Russian invasion offers the U.S. and European defense industry a big opportunity to bolster profits as lawmakers from Washington to Warsaw are primed to increase defense spending in response to Russian aggression. Defense contractors, however, face the same supply chain and labor shortage challenges that other manufacturers are facing, along with some others that are specific to the industry.

Military spending by the U.S. and around the world was rising even before Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion. Biden’s proposed 2023 budget sought $773 billion for the Pentagon, an annual increase of about 4%.

Globally, total military spending rose 0.7% to more than $2 trillion for the first time in 2021, according to an April report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. Russia ranked fifth, as its spending on weapons increased ahead of its invasion of Ukraine.

The war will mean increased sales for some defense contractors, including Raytheon, which makes the Stinger missiles Ukrainian troops have used to knock out Russian aircraft. The company is also part of a joint venture with Lockheed Martin that makes the Javelins.

Biden will visit Lockheed Martin’s facility in Troy, Ala., which has the capacity to manufacture about 2,100 Javelins per year. The trip comes as he presses Congress to quickly approve his request for an additional $33 billion in security and economic assistance for Kyiv, Western allies and restocking weapons the U.S. has sent to those countries.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Monday he hoped quick bipartisan agreement on the security package could be reached so the Senate could begin considering it “as early as next week.”

The president is expected to use his remarks to highlight the importance of the Javelins and other U.S. weaponry in helping Ukraine’s military put up a vigorous fight as he makes the case to keep security and economic assistance flowing.

A White House official, who was not authorized to comment publicly and requested anonymity, said the Pentagon is working with defense contractors “to evaluate the health of weapons systems’ production lines and examine bottlenecks in every component and step of the manufacturing process.” The administration is also considering a range of options, if needed, to boost production of both Javelins and Stingers, the official said.

Pentagon press secretary John Kirby said Monday that America’s military readiness is not dependent on one system, such as the Javelin. He said that every time the Pentagon develops a package of weapons to send to Ukraine, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the department assesses the broader impact.

“It’s not about counting say Javelins and being able to say that when you reach a certain level then all your readiness is gone,” Kirby said. “The Javelin is an anti-armor capability, so we judge it all as a conglomerate of what’s our ability to meet this particular mission set, realizing that a Javelin isn’t the only capability you have against armor.”

Cancian, the former government specialist on defense budget strategy, said the fact that Stingers and Javelins were not included in the most recent tranche of weapons the Biden administration announced it was sending to Ukraine could be a sign that Pentagon officials are mindful about inventory as they conduct contingency planning for other possible conflicts.

“There’s no question that whatever war plan they’re looking at there is risk associated with the depleting levels of Stingers and Javelins, and I’m sure that they’re having that discussion at the Pentagon,” he said.

The U.S. military effort to move weaponry to Eastern Europe for Ukraine’s fight has been Herculean. From Dover Air Base in Delaware, U.S. airmen have carried out nearly 70 missions to deliver some 7 million pounds of Javelins, Stingers, 155mm howitzers, helmets and other essentials to Eastern Europe since February. Col. Matt Husemann, commander of the 436th Airlift Wing, described the mission as a “whole of government approach that’s delivering hope.”

“It is awesome,” said Husemann, after providing AP with a recent tour of the airlift operation.

The lightweight but lethal Javelin has helped the Ukrainians inflict major damage on Russia’s larger and better-equipped military. As a result, the weapon has gained almost mythic regard, celebrated with a Javelin song and images of Mary Magdalene carrying a Javelin becoming a meme in Ukraine.

Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet said in a recent CNBC interview that demand for the Javelin and other weapon systems would increase broadly over time because of the Russian invasion. He said the company was working “to get our supply chain ramped up.”

“We have the ability to meet current production demands, are investing in increased capacity and are exploring ways to further increase production as needed,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement.

Pentagon officials recently sat down with some of the leading defense contractors, including Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, Boeing, General Dynamics, BAE Systems and Northrop Grumman to discuss efforts to ramp up production.

The big defense contractors face some serious challenges.

Raytheon, for example, can’t simply crank out Stingers to replace the 1,400 that the U.S. sent to Ukraine. Hayes, the Raytheon CEO, said in a recent conference call with analysts that the company has only limited supplies of components to make the missile. Only one undisclosed country has been buying them in recent years, and the Pentagon hasn’t bought any new ones in nearly 20 years.

Sanctions further complicate the picture. Companies must find new sources of important raw materials such as titanium, a crucial component in aerospace manufacturing that is produced in Russia.

Concerns about the Stinger stockpile have been raised by House Armed Services Committee chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., and the top Republican on the committee, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama. The two in March wrote to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, describing the stockpile issue as one of “urgency.”

Rogers said he remains concerned that the matter hasn’t been properly addressed.

“I’ve been asking the DoD for almost two months for a plan to replenish our Stinger stockpile as well as our Javelin launch units,” Rogers said. “I worry that without a readily available replacement or fully active production lines, we could leave Ukraine and our NATO allies in a vulnerable position.”

Reeves reported from Birmingham, Ala., and Huff from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. Associated Press writers Lolita C. Baldor and Alan Fram in Washington contributed to this report.

Source: https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2022-05-02/push-to-arm-ukraine-puts-strain-on-us-weapons-stockpile-5871626.html

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The Pentagon does not expect another request to extend National Guard troops in Washington who are helping to protect the U.S. Capitol, two officials said on Wednesday, with the current mission for the roughly 2,000 personnel expiring on Sunday.

Since the Jan. 6 attack on the seat of the U.S. Congress by supporters of then-President Donald Trump, National Guard troops have been dispatched to the grounds and some fencing had been erected to extend the security perimeter.

The officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said no extension request had been received and it was unlikely to be made.

At its height, there were about 5,200 National Guard troops protecting the Capitol and the mission had already once been extended from March to May 23.

Federal prosecutors have charged more than 300 people for involvement in the attack that led to five deaths, including a police officer. Those arrested include members of armed militia groups such as the Oath Keepers and the Three Percenters.

Last month, a motorist rammed a car into U.S. Capitol police, killing one officer and injuring another and forcing the Capitol complex to lock down.

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/national-guard-troops-expect-leave-us-capitol-next-week-officials-2021-05-19/

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Also included on the list is the video surveillance company Hangzhou Hikvision Digital Technology, Co. Ltd., which manufactures equipment that may be used in China’s Xinjiang region, where the ethnic Uighur people and other Turkic Muslims are reportedly being detained in concentration camps. Other entities on the list include aerospace, transportation and nuclear technology companies. Companies on the Pentagon’s list may be engaged in delivering U.S. technological information to the Chinese Communist Party.

Lawmakers, including U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton, requested the list in a 2019 letter to Secretary of State Mark Esper. According to the letter, China was using a “Military-Civilian Fusion” tactic involving technological espionage to further its goals.

“If Beijing cannot develop technology on its own, it attempts to steal it from the United States using cyber espionage, intelligence assets operating in the United States, and state-directed companies that acquire American firms to transfer proprietary information,” the letter read.

“As the People’s Republic of China attempts to blur the lines between civil and military sectors,” Hoffman continued, “‘knowing your supplier’ is critical.” Hoffman added that the list should be a “useful tool” for organizations within the U.S. to “conduct due diligence with regard to partnership with these entities, particularly as the list grows.”

Newsweek reached out to the office of Senator Schumer and Huawei Technologies U.S.A. for comment. This story will be updated with any response.

According to a list compiled by the Department of Defense, 20 companies engaged in business practices within the U.S. have alleged ties to the Chinese government including telecommunications company Huawei.STR/AFP/GETTY

In February, Huawei was charged in a Brooklyn, New York federal court with conspiracy to steal trade secrets. According to the DOJ, Huawei and four of the company’s subsidiaries attempted to “misappropriate intellectual property.” Information about internet routers, robotics technology and cellular antennas were allegedly provided to Huawei, allowing the company to cut its “research and development costs and associated delays, giving the company a significant and unfair competitive advantage.”

Huawei also allegedly did business through its subsidiaries in Iran and North Korea despite the fact that the U.S. had levied sanctions against those countries, making such transactions illegal.

Hikvision was placed on a trade blacklist by the U.S. Department of Commerce in October, citing implications that the company was involved in “China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance.”

In an October press release, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said that the blacklisting, designed to make getting U.S. materials for manufacturing more difficult, would “ensure that our technologies, fostered in an environment of individual liberty and free enterprise, are not used to repress defenseless minority populations.”

Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and China have become strained since the coronavirus pandemic spread worldwide, causing the global economy to suffer losses. President Donald Trump has publicly referred to the virus as the “Wuhan Flu,” after the Chinese city where the coronavirus was first reported in December.

President Trump also signed the Uighur Human Rights Bill of 2020, allowing the U.S. government to levy sanctions against China in response to allegations of human rights abuses.

In response to the bill, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a June statement that the U.S. should not use the legislation to “harm China’s interests and interfere in China’s internal affairs. Otherwise, China will resolutely take countermeasures, and all the consequences arising therefrom must be fully borne by the United States.”

Updated 11:42 p.m. EST 06/24/2020: This story has been updated to include a statement from Assistant to the Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs Jonathan Rath Hoffman.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/pentagon-lists-companies-connected-chinese-military-including-huawei-1513239

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The Defense Department said Friday it will redirect $1.5 billion from other military projects to fund President Trump’s border wall. The Associated Press reported the funds would be diverted in part from the Afghan Security Forces Fund, from a project to destroy chemical munitions as part of the Chemical Weapons Convention, and from Air Force programs. The comes after the Pentagon already redirected $1 billion of military funds in March. Democrats blasted the news and accused the Pentagon of again circumventing Congress and prioritizing Trump’s campaign promises over more urgent needs, including disaster relief.

Source: https://www.democracynow.org/2019/5/13/headlines/pentagon_redirects_15_billion_to_fund_border_wall

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