The United States has shipped more than two million 155mm shells to Ukraine and now wrestles with the problem of restocking its arsenal of artillery munitions and building new production lines.
According to reports, the U.S. Department of Defense is neck-deep in its efforts to keep up with Ukraine's demands. Failure to sustain current production levels could jeopardize security on the home front, the reports warned.
Due to Ukraine's astonishing hunger for artillery ammunition, U.S. military contractors are expected to double the rate of standard NATO artillery round production recorded before Ukraine launched its counter-offensive last June.
America's bid to restock its arsenal is hampered by a shortage of raw materials, particularly the explosive TNT which it no longer produces. Much of the TNT is obtained from Poland.
The U.S. also lost a production partner when the region where the factory was located voted to become part of Russia in last year's referendum. Now, the U.S. is searching for new suppliers, including Japan.
To avoid future shortages, an unnamed Pentagon official suggested maintaining a "consistent high demand" for ammunition.
The Pentagon should "continue to procure at that level over a longer period of time so that we have not just healthy stocks, but a healthy production and industrial base that's able to meet them," the individual told the press.
The Pentagon hopes to increase output to one million shells per year by the fall of 2025.
"One of the lessons learned out of the Ukrainian experience is we need to go back and revisit those minimum standards [for ammunition stocks]. And we may have underestimated," Army Secretary Christine Wormuth told reporters last month.
Most Americans oppose additional aid for Ukraine
Just recently, President Joe Biden requested another $20.6 billion for Ukraine from Congress, a move that is now opposed by the majority of Americans. A new CNN poll conducted by SSRS showed that 55 percent of Americans think the Congress should not authorize additional funding to support Ukraine.
Fifty-one percent say that the U.S. has already done enough to help Ukraine as opposed to 49 percent who say that it should do more.
A survey conducted in the early days of the Russian invasion in late February 2002 found 62 percent felt the U.S. should have been doing more. (Related: Costly war: American aid to Ukraine about to hit $65 billion.)
Despite the abundance of support from the West, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky admitted the campaign to push Russian forces out of occupied territories has been slower than desired.
Since its launch last June, Ukraine has only retaken about 241 square kilometers of territory in the country's south and east, according to Hanna Maliar, the country’s deputy minister of defense.
Ukrainian armor has failed to breach the lines in the absence of air and overwhelming artillery support.
Tanks were vulnerable to Russian anti-tank missiles fired from the trenches and from gunships. Russian mines were placed every meter or every two meters, requiring the Ukrainians to stop, dismount and push soldiers forward to clear those minefields and create lanes.
According to the Guardian, Ukrainian casualties since the counter-offensive could have reached 131,000 soldiers, including 17,500 killed on the battlefield.
A Russian report claimed that Ukraine has lost 1,831 tanks and armored vehicles, 26 planes, nine helicopters and 747 field artillery.
On the Russian side, the New York Times reported that as of Aug. 18, U.S. officials estimate that Russia's military casualties are approaching 300,000. The same report said the total number of military casualties from both sides so far is almost half a million.
Visit WWIII.news for more news related to the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Watch this episode of "The Silent War" as host Dustin Nemos talks about America running out of ammo before a potential world war.
This video is from the SecureLife channel on Brighteon.com.
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