US facing shortage of Javelin anti-tank missiles post supplies to Ukraine: Report

As all-out Russian war entered day 50, US on Wednesday bolstered assistance to war-torn Ukraine with ditional military aid in artillery, helicopters, and more. Since inception of Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, US has alrey supplied Kyiv with thousands of anti-tank Javelin missiles. With about one-third of its Javelin inventory now sent to Ukraine, Washington is on edge of running out of "iconic weapon," thus requiring US to immediately reduce transfers to ensure sufficient stockpiles for its own purpose.

" United States has supplied Ukraine with thousands of Javelins, anti-tank missiles that have become iconic weapon of war, but U.S. inventory is dwindling," says a report published by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) on April 12.

Before knowing furr about US stockpiles of Javelin missiles, it is pertinent to understand why it is called an "iconic weapon" in war.

What is Javelin anti-tank missile?

Simply put, Javelin anti-tank missiles are long-range guided precision projectiles that can be carried by one person. It is considered among most sophisticated, capable, and expensive weapons out of wide range of anti-tank munitions that North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and or countries are providing to Ukraine, as per CSIS report. So far, US has reportedly supplied at least 7,000 such interception missiles to Ukraine.

Since Ukraine was mostly equipped with light infantry, supplies of heavy weapons have allowed Ukrainian forces to combat Russian mechanised artillery. Neverless, while Javelins are considered as most capable and best known of anti-tank weapon systems, it is hardly most numerous.

In dition, due to huge production time, it takes years to replenish stock of se "iconic" missiles. So is it possible that Ukraine may run out of US supplies before inflicting serious damage to its enemy on battlefield?

Why US could experience a shortage of Javelin missiles?

report compiled by Mark F. Cancian claimed that since US has not publicly revealed latest figures about its Javelin anti-tank missiles in its arsenal, numbers are likely to be "deduced" given its massive supply to Ukraine. Also, US has only produced 37,739 Javelin anti-tank missiles since 1994, according to US Army budget books. After using quite a number for training purposes, Washington is expected to hold near about 20,000 to 25,000 remaining and 7,000 of which represent one-third of its total inventory.

While a majority of two-thirds remain in stock, military planners are "nervous" fearing potential empty Javelin inventory. " United States maintains stocks for a variety of possible global conflicts that may occur against North Korea, Iran, or Russia itself. At some point, those stocks will get low enough that military planners will question wher war plans can be executed. United States is likely approaching that point," CSIS report explained.

How can US make up for imminent shortage?

easiest answer is by increasing production of Javelin anti-tank missiles systems. According to report, Washington only produces 1,000 Javelin missiles per year despite having a capacity of 6,480. delivery time for each artillery is at least 32 months. This means, if depleted, US will need about three-four years to rebuild its stock. In meantime, more supplies to Ukraine will expand gap between supply and demand.

According to CSIS report, US might have h over-supplied artillery in a bid to beef up its support to Ukraine against a Russian attack. For example, Washington has limited inventories and replenishment options for Stinger anti-aircraft missiles.

Now, US has alrey supplied 2,000 of se to Ukraine despite now having purchased for itself since 2003, when total production was 11,600. Given testing and training losses, which amount to a loss of 1% of Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, remaining stock could be around 8,000, which means US has alrey given a quarter of its stock to Ukraine.

(Image: AP)