The Pentagon Has a Supply-Chain Problem Bloomberg

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, no weapon has been more effective against Russian forces than the Javelin anti-tank missile. Drawing on a supply of roughly 7,000 US-made Javelins, Ukraine’s fighters have destroyed at least 400 Russian tanks and hundreds more armored vehicles. The weapon’s potency has helped foil President Vladimir Putin’s plans to overrun the country. There’s just one problem: The US stockpile is now running out.

Another Javelin commercial! They might as well include a link to where you can buy your own at this point. It's the US version of the Turkish drones needing to appear effective so more will be sold even though there's no indication that they're at all good weapons.

The war has already consumed as much as one-third of the US military’s inventory of Javelins. Within months, the Pentagon will be unable to deliver new ones without emptying out its own supply. The war has also consumed one-quarter of the US inventory of Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles; Raytheon, which makes the Stinger, says it could take up to a year to restart production. (The Army has issued a $625 million contract to Raytheon to do so.) At the current usage rate, supplies could be nearly exhausted by next year.

A $40 billion spending package passed by Congress last month aims to replenish these stockpiles. But the problem goes deeper than short-term supply disruptions. Military planners and defense contractors have long prioritized spending on big-ticket “platforms,” such as aircraft carriers and fighter jets, over making weapons themselves. Pandemic-related disruptions in the supply chain for microchips have made the problem worse. And the erosion of the military’s industrial base has made it harder for the Pentagon to accelerate production. Defense-industry concentration, cumbersome contracting rules, and a shortage of skilled workers have slashed the number of companies in the business. A 2020 Pentagon report found that in an alarming number of cases, the military relies on a single, “often fragile” supplier to make critical components.

The weakness of the Pentagon’s supply chain threatens not only aid to Ukraine but also America’s ability to respond to future crises — including a potential conflict over Taiwan, whose military depends on US-made hardware. To address the current strain, President Joe Biden should consider invoking the Defense Production Act, which requires manufacturers to prioritize delivering goods for defense-related needs over orders from other industries. Although sometimes misused for political purposes, the authority could in this case help to ease production bottlenecks for military vehicles and heavy weaponry.

Man, we're having to invoke that act a lot recently.