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Pentagon admits military aid to Ukraine strains US arms industry

Colin Kahl, US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, testifies during a House Armed Services Committee hearing on oversight of US military support to Ukraine, on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, on February 28, 2023. (Photo by Reuters)

The Pentagon’s policy chief has acknowledged that the United States' military aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia has placed the country’s arms industry under strain.

Speaking at the 2023 NATO Youth Summit on Monday, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said, “The effort to assist the Ukrainians has put stress” on the country’s arms industry.

He said the US needs to act both unilaterally and collectively with its European allies to address the issue.

“Unilaterally, we are making billions of dollars of additional investments in our [arms] industrial base and our supply chains to make them more resilient and responsive and to increase overall capacity,” Kahl said.

The Pentagon’s top policymaker added that they are working to secure congressional spending authorities that he described as “necessary to raise the overall level of production.”

According to Kahl, Washington has provided nearly $40 billion in military assistance to Kiev since the start of the war in 2022.

Biden unveiled his $375 million military aid package for Ukraine in Hiroshima, Japan.

The package will include artillery, ammunition and HIMARS rocket launchers, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The West has supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of various weaponry since the onset of the Russian military campaign in February 2022 as a security measure against persisting eastern advance of the US-led NATO military alliance and the protection of Russian-speaking population in eastern Ukraine from abusive treatment by Kiev forces.

Russia views the alliance’s efforts to make Ukraine a member and to deploy missiles close to its borders as a direct threat to Russian territory.

The West has supplied Ukraine with tens of billions of dollars worth of various weaponry since the onset of the Russian military campaign.

Russia has denounced the West’s incessant arming of Kiev as counterproductive measures that would only prolong the conflict.


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