December 19, 2022
The ‘Arsenal of Democracy’ Is in Peril
The U.S. was once known as “the arsenal of democracy,” for its ability to build enough weapons not only for itself but also for its allies. In recent decades, that moniker hasn’t been as fitting. The American defense industrial base has consolidated since the end of the Cold War—especially for munitions and missiles—leaving it unable to meet U.S. military requirements, let alone those of its allies and partners. But as William LaPlante, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said in October, “production is deterrence.” If the U.S. is to compete with China and Russia, its production capacity needs to change quickly.
As Ukraine’s valiant fight has shown, wars against great powers are rarely won quickly and the price of freedom is high.
The war in Ukraine has underscored the extent of U.S. foreign commitments and the present limits of industry. Washington has sent more than $19 billion in security assistance to Kyiv since February, including thousands of long-range rockets and missiles and millions of shells from the Pentagon’s own supplies. These drawdowns have helped the Ukrainians fend off the Russians, but they’ve also depleted U.S. stocks and impaired our military’s preparedness for war.
It will take years, for example, for the U.S. to replace the 1,600 Stinger antiaircraft missiles it’s given to Ukraine, because Stinger production stopped in 2003. Raytheon, the sole producer of these weapons, began to revive the dormant Stinger line this spring in response to the war. But material is limited and large numbers of the shoulder-fired missiles won’t be available until late 2023 or 2024.
Read the full story and more from the Wall Street Journal.
More from CNAS
-
Trump’s Caribbean Surge Nears $3 Billion Price Tag So Far
Commentary
This article was originally published in Bloomberg. When US forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, early in the new year, the Trump a...
By Becca Wasser
-
CNAS Insights | America Isn’t Ready for a Drone War
Commentary
This week, U.S. personnel near El Paso, Texas, tested a high-energy laser as part of their mission to shoot down cartel drones along the southern border. The resulting confusi...
By Stacie Pettyjohn & Molly Campbell
-
Commentary
Defense / Indo-Pacific Security
Trump’s NATO DilemmaThis article was originally published in Foreign Affairs. Last November, Matthew Whitaker, the U.S. ambassador to NATO, startled a gathering of European officials at the Berl...
By Sara Moller
-
What to Expect From U.S., Iran Talks Friday in Oman?
Video
Bloomberg's Becca Wasser & Wayne Sanders state they are not optimistic when discussing what they expect from the US and Iran when both countries speak Friday in Oman. They sug...
By Becca Wasser
