U.S. And Europe Are Running Out Of Weapons To Send To Ukraine

FILE PHOTO: A Team Dover Airman loads weapons cargo bound for Ukraine onto a C-17 Globemaster III at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, September 14, 2022 © US Air Force / Staff Sgt. Marco A. Gomez  

CNBC: The U.S. and Europe are running out of weapons to send to Ukraine 

* NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg held a special meeting of the alliance’s arms directors to discuss ways to refill member nations’ weapons stockpiles. 

* But ramping up defense production is no quick or easy feat. 

* The U.S. has been by far the largest supplier of military aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia, providing $15.2 billion in weapons packages to date since Moscow invaded its neighbor in late February. 

In the U.S. weapons industry, the normal production level for artillery rounds for the 155 millimeter howitzer — a long-range heavy artillery weapon currently used on the battlefields of Ukraine — is about 30,000 rounds per year in peacetime. 

The Ukrainian soldiers fighting invading Russian forces go through that amount in roughly two weeks. 

That’s according to Dave Des Roches, an associate professor and senior military fellow at the U.S. National Defense University. And he’s worried. 

“I’m greatly concerned. Unless we have new production, which takes months to ramp up, we’re not going to have the ability to supply the Ukrainians,” Des Roches told CNBC.  

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WNU Editor: NATO is pushing (and I predict will succeed) for a massive arms build-up .... NATO pushes for military industry bonanza (RT).