The USA has solely about 25% of the Patriot missile interceptors it wants to fulfill Pentagon army plans, a scarcity that led U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to pause a significant switch of weapons to Ukraine, the Guardian reported on July 8.
The choice to halt the supply, made on July 2, adopted an inner evaluation displaying low stockpiles of crucial air protection methods. The depletion was largely on account of current U.S. operations within the Center East, together with the interception of Iranian missiles after strikes on the American Al Udeid airbase in Qatar, in response to the Guardian.
In response to officers acquainted with the matter, the Pentagon's munitions tracker, used to measure the minimal provides wanted for U.S. battle plans, confirmed Patriot interceptor ranges had fallen beneath acceptable ranges. That prompted issues that sending extra to Ukraine may put U.S. protection readiness in danger, the Guardian wrote.
The freeze reportedly affected Ukraine's two key arms switch strategies: drawdowns from Pentagon stockpiles and the Ukraine Safety Help Initiative (USAI), by which the Protection Division orders new weapons from contractors.
As a result of U.S. orders take precedence, Ukrainian requests for brand spanking new weapons, together with Patriot missiles, face years-long delays.
The pause got here at a crucial time for Kyiv, as Russia intensifies large-scale aerial assaults on Ukrainian cities. With restricted choices to accumulate precision-guided and different key munitions, Ukrainian forces have more and more relied on Western-supplied air defenses to counter the rising menace.
For its newest assist package deal, the U.S. had deliberate to ship dozens of Patriot interceptors, together with Hellfire missiles, air-to-air Sparrows, GMLRS rockets, and anti-tank weapons, in response to the Guardian.
NBC Information reported on July 4 that U.S. Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth unilaterally halted a weapons cargo to Ukraine regardless of inner army assessments displaying the help wouldn’t compromise American army readiness.
The evaluation concluded that whereas some munitions stockpiles, together with precision weapons, have been low, they’d not fallen beneath crucial thresholds.
Amid the continued questions over Washington's weapons pause, Trump has apparently promised to ship 10 Patriot interceptors to Ukraine, Axios reported on July 8. Sources additionally instructed the Wall Avenue Journal (WSJ) that Trump claimed he wasn't behind the choice to halt arms to Kyiv in a current cellphone name with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
The Kyiv IndependentVladyslav Bandrovsky