The Trump administration inherited a bad situation. The U.S. industrial base is degraded, and the Biden administration depleted our stockpiles by sending billions worth of weapons to Ukraine. The Pentagon now doesn’t have enough munitions to supply our partners around the world while also preserving its ability to fight and win wars. That is why President Trump made the difficult but necessary decision to prioritize the safety and readiness of U.S. troops by pausing shipments of hard-to-replace munitions to Ukraine, where there are limited U.S. interests at stake (“Trump Stiffs Ukraine on Arms,” Review & Outlook, July 3).
At current and projected levels of production, it will take years for the defense industry to replace what has been sent to Ukraine, including more than 3,000 Stinger missiles and millions of artillery rounds. After shutting down production for 20 years, the U.S. makes up to 60 Stingers a month. At that rate, replacing the equipment sent to Kyiv will take more than four years. Meanwhile, demand for Stingers is increasing, as they are integrated into more U.S. weapon systems and coveted by partners like Taiwan.
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