MUNITIONS RETURN TO A PLACE OF PROMINENCE IN NATIONAL SECURITY
VASABJIT BANERJEE AND BENJAMIN TKACHMARCH 16, 2023
Munitions are the currency of exchange in armed conflicts. The existing acquisition and procurement process exposes the defense industrial base to significant short- and long-term risks: hampering America’s capacity to surge production and impairing military effectiveness in a sustained peer or near-peer conflict. At present, the availability of ammunition is becoming a key determinant of which side has the advantage in the Russo-Ukrainian War. Wargames conducted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies call into question the ability of the United States and its partners to sustain high rates of fire because of significant equipment losses, limited munition inventories, and low munition production rates.
The U.S. government’s investment in munition manufacturing, storage, inspection, and maintenance ebb and flow has been based on conflict engagements, a cycle consistently leaving the defense industrial base unable to immediately meet production surges. The health of the U.S. defense industrial base was also undermined by decades of consolidation, inconsistent funding, capital diversification, supply chain fragility, labor limitations, and disruptions — raising concerns amongst analysts about its ability to rise to challenges.
Scholars have warned that pursuit of innovation under growing security demands may produce gaps in existing military capacities. Thus, limitations in U.S. and allied munition production — just to satisfy Ukraine’s ammunition demand — is a precursor of industrial limitations that may hamper U.S. military effectiveness if engaged with an adversary, such as China, that inflicts severe equipment and personnel losses. The acute inability to manufacture munitions is typified by the U.S. defense industrial base’s lack of manufacturing capacity to supply NATO rounds like 155 mm artillery ammunition, buying South Korean ones, and shipping U.S. stockpiles stored in Israel to Ukraine. Given its existing commitments and preparations for eventualities in Asia, the United States is also running low on stockpiled missiles from the Stinger to the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
https://warontherocks.com/2023/03/munitions-return-to-a-place-of-prominence-in-national-security/
