• Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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    10 months ago

    Problem is the united states is running out of ammo to send. Thinking one small war could blow through our reserves so quickly is concerning.

    • TassieTosser
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      10 months ago

      Running out of old stockpiles to send. Western militaries have plenty to spare, but it’d be the ammo they actually use.

      • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        You have a cite for that. That goes against every news article and statement from the White House and pentagon.

          • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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            10 months ago

            Your cite says nothing about his claim. His claim is we have plenty of ammunition to send. We don’t.

            • Tinidril@midwest.social
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              10 months ago

              It’s a matter of what ammunition, not ammunition in general. Ukraine uses a quarter of a million artillery shells a month. The US doesn’t have facilities to build them that fast because we would never need to use that many. We would absolutely own the sky over both the battlefield and Russia itself, reducing the utility of artillery and increasing it’s effectiveness. The benefits of combined arms and force multiplication can’t be overstated.

              We could very quickly build out capacity to produce the shells Ukraine needs, but it’s a problem of economics. Those facilities are expensive, and wouldn’t be required long enough to provide suppliers a return on investment. We would have to pay a massive premium on those shells and, this far, there hasn’t been the will to do that.

      • Kalkaline @leminal.space
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        10 months ago

        Guns don’t win wars, they’re important, but we’re talking about artillery, missiles, drones, etc. Nobody is beating Russia with rifles.

      • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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        10 months ago

        It was shot. That is where it went. Where else do you think ammo would go? We hold a stockpile back for our defense but we sent the majority to ukraine. We have one factory that makes ammo and that’s it.

          • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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            10 months ago

            Personal stockpiles? Do you think the average American has 155mm round sitting in their home? Rifle rounds are not the issue.

            Ukraine needs heavy weapon rounds. We have one factory that makes 155mm rounds. I can’t remember which one stinger or javelin, they had to restart the line that had been shutdown.

            People complain about our military spending but that is what it cost to keep the capability to have a large war.

            Currently, our production is around 14K 155mm rounds a month. Ukraine was shooting that every few days. Biden is working hard to increase the capacity, but we are talking about a specialized production.

            I think the takeaway from this is that we have not seen a war like this in a very long time. The amount of ammo each side is shooting is insane.

            A quick google will find you many sources on this topic as it has become a huge issue. If we had another war, Taiwan for example, we would run out of ammo in days.

              • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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                10 months ago

                It was fascinating when the topic came up. I just always assumed we had idle capacity ready to go. That is why we spend so much to have that capacity.

                It turns out that we just spend a lot but don’t have extra capacity.

                Here is just one of the many articles on it.

                https://www.businessinsider.com/pentagon-increasing-production-of-155mm-artillery-shells-2023-1

                Currently, the US produces just over 14,000 rounds of 155mm ammunition every month. As The Washington Post reported last month, Ukrainian forces have previously fired that many rounds in the span of 48 hours.

            • The Snark Urge@lemmy.world
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              10 months ago

              This is what scares me - the idea that we could run out of conventional weapons during a hot war, and start having to think of all those nukes lying around “doing nothing”

              Some powers really are too much for humans. We’re not ready

              • FarceOfWill@infosec.pub
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                10 months ago

                Western military uses bombs and missiles from planes not artillery. There isn’t much artillery ammo because our military isn’t set up to use it.

                Ukraine doesn’t have the air superiority to risk doing the same thing so the way they fight doesn’t match the way Europe or the us does.

              • Neuromancer@lemm.ee
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                10 months ago

                That is my concern as well. That we will run low, start at o lose and then go nuclear