US' military aid to Ukraine left its own ammunition stockpiles 'uncomfortably low': Report

WASHINGTON: The Ukraine crisis has had a wide-ranging impact on many countries, but according to a recent report, the impact on the United States, given its military expenditures is one not many would've predicted.

Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reports that war has depleted "American stocks of some types of ammunition" which haven't been replenished on time, and that has sparked concerns among officials, who believe that this could jeopardize the US military's readiness in face of danger.

The United States has given Ukraine 16 Himars rocket launchers, thousands of rifles, drones, missiles, and other weapons over the last six months. The WSJ report citing defence sources says that a large portion of this, including the ammunition, has come directly from US inventory, depleting supplies intended for unforeseen threats.

Among the lethal weapons given to Ukraine are howitzers, which use 155mm combat rounds, the ammunition used to strike Iranian-backed terror groups in Syria last week. As of August 24, the US military has sent the war-torn nation 806,000 rounds of it, depleting its own stockpile to "uncomfortably low" levels, according to a defence official.

Since the United States is not involved in any significant military confrontation, the levels are not currently critical, the official continued, adding "It is not at the level we would like to go into combat."

The situation was "foreseeable", and was "easily fixable" says Mackenzie Eaglen, a senior fellow at the Washington-based American Enterprise Institute.

Reportedly, the military is currently conducting "an ammunitions industrial base deep dive in order to support Ukraine while safeguarding their "own supply needs."

The Army claimed it also requested $500 million in annual upgrades for its ammunition factories from Capitol Hill.