Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, although Western countries led by the United States have stated that they will not directly intervene in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, they have continued to send weapons to Ukraine. On the 13th and 14th, NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg successively stated that NATO needs to speed up the production of ammunition to ensure that more weapons are provided to Ukraine.
Stoltenberg told the media on the 13th that Ukraine’s current ammunition consumption rate is several times that of NATO’s production rate, and that it is constantly depleting the stocks of NATO member states. NATO needs to speed up production to provide weapons to Ukraine.
According to data from the US State Department, in the past year, the US has provided Ukraine with 1,600 Stinger individual anti-aircraft missiles and 8,500 Javelin individual anti-tank missiles. The chairman of the US arms dealer Raytheon Technologies said in December last year that this is equivalent to 13 years of Stinger production and 5 years of Javelin production.
Before the escalation of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the ammunition stocks of many NATO member states did not reach the lower limit required by NATO. “If Europe went to war with Russia now, some countries would run out of ammunition in a few days,” said a European diplomat.
As the conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues, the demand for ammunition for the Ukrainian army increases, and NATO’s ammunition inventory drops sharply. On the 14th, Stoltenberg said that more support will be provided to Ukraine to ensure that Ukraine obtains the weapons it needs. The specific support that will be provided is still under discussion among member states. Stoltenberg has previously said that NATO has completed a survey of member states’ ammunition stocks; if NATO is to ensure sustainable support for Ukraine, it must increase ammunition supplies.
A researcher at the International Defense and Security Research Center, an Estonian think tank, said that within NATO, Poland, Romania and the Baltic countries may speed up the production of ammunition adapted to Soviet-made equipment that Ukraine is still using.