A Shrunken Arsenal: The Alarming Decline of U.S. Munitions

[DaisyDay]

The Biden Admin is destroying the nation from within and without.

Not really.

They are indeed out of touch with reality.

hm, someone surely is...

 

[Truth7t7]

Our munitions stockpiles and production capacity are not just inadequate; they are a glaring vulnerability in our national defense strategy. We must act with resolve and urgency to revitalize our defense industrial base and expand our reservoir of munition-production minerals. Nothing less than our national interests and global stability is at stake.

America First, close the border and stop all illegal immigration, including the criminals and drugs from entrance

 

[Truth7t7]

Not really.

hm, someone surely is...

Bidens approval rating just reached an all time low at 33%, hard to believe the DNC is allowing him to run

 

[Hans Blaster]

America First, close the border and stop all illegal immigration, including the criminals and drugs from entrance

Doesn't have anything to do with ammunition or military preparedness.

Bidens approval rating just reached an all time low at 33%, hard to believe the DNC is allowing him to run

Doesn't have anything to do with ammunition or military preparedness.

Find a different thread for this.

 

[7thKeeper]

America First, close the border and stop all illegal immigration, including the criminals and drugs from entrance

You always looking to detail threads from their intended topic?

 

[Pommer]

America First, close the border and stop all illegal immigration, including the criminals and drugs from entrance

We have this international trade agreement (USMCA) which means that we cannot “close the border”.

 

[SavedByGrace3]

One wonders if this diminishing arsenal will embolden our enemies to take action on multiple fronts. It would make sense, given the precarious situation in some of these nations. Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, and others are suffering from turmoil within and without and may find themselves painted into a corner. Desperation and a feeling of being trapped may push them to act at what they see as an opportune moment in history. Besides the diminishing arsenal, the US has other issues that might cause these nations to see her as vulnerable. Fewer young people are joining the military. Many young people openly state their hatred for their own country. Americans are disgruntled due to government corruption and tyrannical actions against citizens. Despite the administration's insistence that the economy is doing well, the people who live in this inflation and shortages know better. The national debt just passed 34 trillion. Moral corruption weakens a nation. There are serious trust issues and many divisions in our culture.

China may invade Taiwan.
Russia may expand its military action against other East European states.
North Korea may invade the south.
Iran and other arab/Islamic nations may move on Israel.
Enemies may take advantage of the open southern border to move thousands of terrorists into the US if they have not already done so.
These nations may fear that Trump will be elected for another term. They are counting on the weakness and termoil of the current administration to do their work. Let's watch closely in the next ten months before the election. If it becomes increasingly evident that Trump will win, look for action by these nations in the Summer and Fall.

 

[Truth7t7]

We have this international trade agreement (USMCA) which means that we cannot “close the border”.

Of course America under Donald Trump had a closed border stay in Mexico policy regarding "illegal "Immigration"

 

[The Barbarian]

The Biden Admin is destroying the nation from within and without. They are indeed out of touch with reality.

Hmmm... Under Biden NATO is putting more effort into military preparation, and we added Sweden and Finland to the alliance.
Inflation is abating,

US consumer prices rose 3.4% annually to close out 2023, capping a year of substantial progress on efforts to rein in painfully high inflation.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/11/economy/cpi-inflation-december/index.html

and over the past 10 months, real wages have risen faster than inflation.

This month:

US Fourth-Quarter GDP to Crown Vigorous Second Half​

• Fed’s preferred inflation gauge may show waning price growth

US Fourth-Quarter GDP to Crown Vigorous Second Half

A likely moderation of US economic growth in the fourth quarter ended an otherwise solid stretch of activity over the final six months of 2023, feeding expectations the expansion will remain intact.

www.bloomberg.com

I'll grant you that this is rotten news for Donald Trump and republicans, but it's very good news for America. This is the reality. Try to find a way to deal with it.

 

[The Barbarian]

Many young people openly state their hatred for their own country.

There aren't as many neo-Nazis as you think. Even many Trump supporters truly love America.

 

[Ragdoll]

A Shrunken Arsenal: The Alarming Decline of U.S. Munitions

As fighting rages in the Middle East and Europe and China looms as a threat, America's dwindling arsenal of high-end munitions emerges as an alarming crisis. The United States, once a fortress of mili

realclearwire.com

As fighting rages in the Middle East and Europe and China looms as a threat, America's dwindling arsenal of high-end munitions emerges as an alarming crisis. The United States, once a fortress of military might, now faces the prospect of a munitions deficit in an era brimming with uncertainties. This desperate situation demands the development of a national critical munitions stockpile.

European weapons makers are overwhelmed and struggling to meet Ukraine's consumption of more than 6,000 artillery rounds each day during peak counteroffensive fighting. Ukraine's ability to stave off defeat and defend itself against the Russian invasion largely depends on an uninterrupted supply of these rounds. Ukrainian forces are conserving their ammunition supply, which might lead to postponements in upcoming counterattacks. Over the coming months, this shortage of ammunition could compel Ukrainian military units to make difficult choices regarding the allocation of resources across various frontlines, focusing on areas where maintaining control is most crucial and potentially allowing minor territorial losses in less critical sectors.

To supplement Ukraine's massive ammunition requirements, DoD pulls munitions from its own war reserve stocks. Further compounding the matter: In an attempt to extract stricter immigration policies, House Republicans are blocking a congressional aid package for Ukraine.

Last year, to help meet the demand for Ukrainian munitions, the Pentagon tapped into a stockpile of American 155mm rounds in Israel, sending hundreds of thousands to Ukraine. These rounds, stored for decades in Israeli bunkers, are to provide an Israeli qualitative military edge, a pillar of American policy in the Middle East. Now Israel needs them back to target Hamas's command cells in its war in Gaza. The U.S. is supporting two countries, both of which use enormous amounts of 155-millimeter artillery and other ammunition in wars that may stretch on for many months. Running out of ideas, last month the Pentagon established a team to examine American inventories to identify ammunition for Israel. Earlier this month, Senator Deb Fischer, a senior Senate Armed Services Committee member, remarked that the U.S. must expand its munitions production capability.

Once a conflict begins it can lead to extraordinarily high munitions consumption. The fighting in Ukraine should serve as a warning regarding production of munitions the U.S. would need in a conflict with China over Taiwan. The U.S. must resolve the extensive issues within its munitions manufacturing processes ahead of a conflict with China.

American forces require an enormous volume of critical munitions to fight against a technologically advanced military force. This ammo is also necessary to equip partner forces in Asia, such as Australia, with the long-range anti-ship munitions needed to defeat the Chinese flotilla or prevent it from ever embarking. The stockpile also ensures that American industrial output is sustained in times of crisis and preserves the United States' global military edge.

The U.S. also provides Taiwan with munitions sufficient to blunt an initial Chinese blow. This strategy – codified by the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act – involves ensuring Taiwan has sufficient defense capabilities against a Chinese attack. The U.S. arms Taiwan only to a level that does not disrupt the diplomatic equilibrium between Washington and Beijing. But, there is growing concern in the Pentagon and the Indo-Pacific that Taiwan does not have enough of the high-tech munitions to hold off a PRC attack. Here again, the shrinking U.S. munitions reserve represents a risk.

In a U.S. fight with China, American forces will likely burn through munitions stocks within three weeks. Even with a surge of the U.S. industrial base, replenishing stocks will take more than six months. In the interim, the U.S. will be without sufficient bombs and bullets for its cutting-edge systems, such as fifth-generation fighter jets and High Mobility Rocket Launcher Systems, and anti-air missiles needed to protect our nuclear aircraft carriers and bases in the Pacific.

Right now, the warning indicators are blinking red. The massive need for ammunition in such conflicts highlights weaknesses in the American defense industry, which no longer produces munitions at the rate it did decades ago. The post-Cold War defense budget reductions led to a swift merger of the defense sector, which saw a drop from fifty-one major defense providers in the early 1990s to five by the end of that decade. This consolidation led to a tightened capacity.

To arm our allies and partners and our own forces to deter and, if necessary, fight a major theater war, the United States requires a critical munitions stockpile. This reserve will enable the Department of Defense to restore essential munitions stocks vital for maintaining air dominance, defending against air and missile threats, and targeting hard and deeply buried objectives.

The PROCURE Act, introduced by a bipartisan group of senators in the previous Congress, would go a long way toward building this stockpile. The legislation aims to establish a $500 million per year revolving fund in the Treasury Department for the Pentagon to procure critical munitions. This fund would allow the Defense Department to swiftly replenish high-demand munitions supplied to partner countries in future conflicts, using profits from the U.S. Foreign Military Sales program. The act is designed to support democratic nations and protect American interests overseas, allowing the Pentagon to continuously order critical munitions. The Senate Armed Services Committee should push to get the PROCURE act passed into law.

In addition, we must expand the National Defense Stockpile, a largely obscure reserve of raw material based in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with operations throughout the United States. The National Defense Stockpile holds an emergency supply of 50 critical minerals. Many of these minerals, such as aluminum, titanium, and magnesium, are used in the production of munitions. The value of materials in the U.S. National Defense Stockpile has drastically decreased from $42 billion in 1952 to less than $1 billion today. America's mineral reserves are significantly lower than China's, with the National Defense Stockpile maintaining only 300 metric tons of cobalt compared to China's 7,000 metric tons. Congress must expand the National Defense Stockpile to support a potential major theater war.

Our munitions stockpiles and production capacity are not just inadequate; they are a glaring vulnerability in our national defense strategy. We must act with resolve and urgency to revitalize our defense industrial base and expand our reservoir of munition-production minerals. Nothing less than our national interests and global stability is at stake.

Sadly this is true. Our military and ammo manufacturers need to step it up a whole lot! China has lots of weapons and so do all our other enemies. Democrats don't care as they are also anti-military and do not care if we run out of all munitions. And we have another year of this.

 

[The Barbarian]

"As we work with industry to accelerate production on both replenishment systems and direct procurements under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative or USAI, we're using a number of tools to get the funding moving, and the contracting happening quickly," Bill LaPlante, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said during a briefing today at the Pentagon.

Already, about $1.2 billion in contracts are underway to replenish U.S. military stocks for weapons sent to Ukraine, LaPlante said. That includes about $352 million in funding for replacement Javelin missiles, $624 million for replacement Stinger missiles, and $33 million for replacement HIMARS systems.

Department Moves Quick to Replenish Weapons Sent to Ukraine

The Defense Department has contracted with an array of manufacturers to give back to U.S. military units what was taken from them to support Ukraine.

www.defense.gov

Our military people are a lot smarter than you think they are...

 

[mindlight]

How many aircraft carriers do we have? How many does the rest of the world have combined?

How many are operating in each theatre of operation and how close are the nearest land air bases from each of these would be a more pertinent question. Global hegemony has more than military benefits and requires a global presence. Power projection is an essential feature of that.

 

[NxNW]

Democrats don't care as they are also anti-military and do not care if we run out of all munitions. And we have another year of this.

Another year of what? We can nuke the entire planet several times over. We have more munitions than we need for ten wars. We can cut the military budget by 75% and still have more than we need. You remind me of the feeble "missile gap" arguments from the 60s.

 

[Cosmic Charlie]

The Biden Admin is destroying the nation from within and without. They are indeed out of touch with reality.

Get a grip.

The administration any administration can't spend money it doesn't have.

Fact: the GQP took over the house 1 year+ ago.

Fact 2: The GQP controlled house has not passed a spending bill in the majority and is currently 10 days from a government shutdown and also in recess.

The problem here ain't Biden.

 

[The Barbarian]

Fact 2: The GQP controlled house has not passed a spending bill in the majority and is currently 10 days from a government shutdown and also in recess.

Worse, when Biden asked for more immigration courts to more quickly determine appeals for asylum and to beef up the border patrol (who were begging for help), the republicans refused to provide the funding.

The problem here ain't Biden.

No kidding. Granted, Donald Trump ordered them to stop funding for border security so he'd have a campaign issue, but no one forced them to turn their backs on Americans.

 

[Vambram]

The problems with the Senate and the House of Representatives failing to pass annual budgets stretches back for more than a few years.
If the House cannot pass a budget with the Senate that is veto proof, then compromises with the President are necessary. Because neither side is willing to actually compromise much with the other side, the Federal Government is far too often using Continuing Resolutions to fund the government.

 

[Vambram]

Worse, when Biden asked for more immigration courts to more quickly determine appeals for asylum and to beef up the border patrol (who were begging for help), the republicans refused to provide the funding.

No kidding. Granted, Donald Trump ordered them to stop funding for border security so he'd have a campaign issue, but no one forced them to turn their backs on Americans.

All President Joe Biden really needs to do to attempt to do something useful about the massive illegal immigration problem is to reverse his Executive Orders that he signed in week 1 of his administration concerning illegal immigration.

 

[The Barbarian]

All President Joe Biden really needs to do to attempt to do something useful about the massive illegal immigration problem is to reverse his Executive Orders that he signed in week 1 of his administration concerning illegal immigration.

February 2, 2021
Biden's executive orders;Here's what they will do:

• Create a task force that would reunify families: The task force will be chaired by the Department of Homeland Security secretary. The goal will be to find parents separated from their children under the former administration. The task force will also give regular reports to the President, including one containing recommendations.
• Address the root cause of migration: This executive order will focus on providing support to Central America to stem the flow of migrants to the US-Mexico border and provide other pathways to migrate to the US without journeying north. This includes things like providing aid to combat corruption and taking a series of actions to restore the asylum process.
• Review the legal immigration system: This order will work to promote immigrant integration and inclusion, according to the White House, and re-establish a Task Force on New Americans. It will also spur a review of the public charge rule which makes it more difficult for immigrants to obtain legal status if they use public benefits such as Medicaid, food stamps and housing vouchers.

How, exactly, would overturning those orders provide more border patrol agents? How would that increase the number of immigration courts to stop the ongoing backlog? The Border Patrol themselves have asked for more people, but the republicans would rather let more and more people in, clogging the backlogged courts.

Their political ambitions come before the good of America. And that's the GOP in the era of Trump.

 

[The Barbarian]

The problems with the Senate and the House of Representatives failing to pass annual budgets stretches back for more than a few years.
If the House cannot pass a budget with the Senate that is veto proof, then compromises with the President are necessary. Because neither side is willing to actually compromise much with the other side, the Federal Government is far too often using Continuing Resolutions to fund the government.

The republicans and democrats in the Senate negotiated a compromise. Neither side got everything they wanted, but they got something workable. Trump ordered republicans in the House to derail the compromise. Needed a campaign issue, you know.