Authored by Dave DeCamp via AntiWar.com,
The US is trying to train Ukrainians to change the way they fight so they use fewer artillery munitions as NATO says its stockpiles are dwindling. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin detailed the efforts after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact group in Brussels this week.
"We are working with the Ukrainian soldiers in various places throughout Europe to emphasize additional training on maneuver so that as they place more emphasis on maneuver and shaping the battlefield with fires and then maneuvering, there’s a good chance that they’ll require less artillery munitions, but that’s left to be seen," Austin told reporters.
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| Source: AP |
The defense secretary acknowledged that Ukraine has used "a lot of artillery ammunition" and said the US is doing everything it can to keep the ammo flowing. "We’re going to do everything we can, working with our international partners, to ensure that we get them as much ammunition as quickly as possible and that we’ll do everything we can to sustain our efforts there as well," he said.
The US has sent Ukraine an enormous amount of artillery ammunition, specifically 155mm shells. As a result, the Pentagon is planning to increase its production of artillery shells by 500% over the next two years to meet the Ukrainian demand and also maintain Pentagon stockpiles.
But
even with the steps to increase production, it’s not clear if the
policy of flooding Ukraine with weapons and ammo is sustainable. NATO
Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday that Ukraine is using way more munitions than the alliance can produce.
Mark Milley, the top US general still believes that the war will not be won by either side on the battlefield. Russia, he said to the FT, will not achieve its military means. And Ukr too. “It would require essentially the collapse of the Rus mil.”
— Vladislav Zubok (@VladislavZubok1) February 16, 2023
"The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of munitions, and depleting allied stockpiles," Stoltenberg said. "The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production, and this puts our defense industries under strain."
* * *
And then there were these interesting lines spoken from Brussels this week...
🇺🇸🇷🇺⚔️🇺🇦"Russia has lost strategically, operationally and tactically" - Mark "Kyiv could fall within 72 hours" Milley pic.twitter.com/z6anWEXTbf
— AZ 🛰🌏🌍🌎 (@AZgeopolitics) February 14, 2023