NATO allies are concerned about dwindling ammo supplies

• One of the major shocks in the past 12 months was Putin gave the order for Russian forces to invade Ukraine.
• European countries have donated a huge variety of armaments.
• Last year, news outlets stated that defense officials were concerned about the US’s abilities.

One of the major shocks in the past 12 months, since President Vladimir Putin gave the order for Russian forces to invade Ukraine, has been the willingness of Western nations, particularly those in Europe, to donate increasingly advanced military hardware to Ukraine.

There have been heated discussions about delivering particular weaponry, most notably tanks, at times, which have resulted in high-level diplomatic disputes. The generosity of European leaders and their publics, who are sometimes seen as cynical and self-interested, has nevertheless surprised some observers considering the scope of the problem and how long it has dragged on.

It’s even more astonishing considering that, according to defense officials and experts, the donation of this military hardware, particularly ammunition, has left the stockpiles of European forces looking pretty barren.

Due of the sensitivity of the information, it is difficult to determine with precision how many weapons each nation currently has in its arsenal.

However, since the war began, European countries have donated a huge variety of armaments, from artillery rounds and tank shells to antitank missiles.

This is crucial to national and European security, according to retired British Army general Richard Shirreff, a former deputy supreme allied commander for Europe in NATO. You don’t want to expose your weaknesses to a potential attacker. However, people also need to realize how severe this situation is and how quickly something needs to be done.

According to numerous defense and security sources in Europe, there are grave concerns over how much of the continent’s ammunition has been expended on the front lines without being replaced.

We all know about it, but we don’t know what to do about it, according to a top government official of a significant European military power. Senior military officials have “repeatedly raised concerns with me about it,” according to a second Western defense source.

Even the world’s top military exporter and Ukraine’s largest armament supplier, the United States, is struggling to meet the demand. Late last year, news outlets stated that defense officials were concerned about the US’s ability to send Ukraine advanced weaponry and ammunition.

You’re not delivering the ordnance we need, Adm. Daryl Caudle, commander of US Fleet Forces Command, told the country’s military companies last month.

It’s absolutely necessary to succeed. Caudle stated that the US is “fighting against a rival here, and a possible foe, that is like nothing we’ve ever seen, and I can’t do it without the ordnance” during a symposium in Washington last month.

Prior to a meeting of alliance officials on Monday night, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters that “Ukraine’s current pace of ammunition consumption is several times higher than our present rate of production, putting our defense sectors under strain.”

“For instance, there are now 28 months’ worth of waiting time for large-caliber ammunition. Only 2.5 years would pass before orders placed today would be fulfilled. Therefore, we must increase production and make investments in our production capacity.

According to Stoltenberg, NATO had finished a review of its arsenal and intended to boost stockpile targets. He mentioned that there had been some movement among NATO partners, using the US and France negotiating new contracts with defense companies as an illustration. Additionally, Germany revealed on Tuesday that it had reached fresh agreements with ammunition producers for the air defense systems it has already sent to Ukraine.

But solving the problem might be more challenging than just giving orders to private corporations to make additional ammunition.

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