The Pentagon is “confident” it can continue meeting both Ukraine’s and Israel’s requests for 155mm artillery ammunition while ensuring necessary stockpile levels to maintain U.S. military readiness, a department spokesperson said Tuesday.
“We are confident that we have what we need to be able to support [Ukraine and Israel] and at the same time ensure that our military readiness stays at the threshold that it needs to. We will not sacrifice our own military readiness when it comes to defending the nation,” Air Force Brig. Gen Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary, told reporters during a briefing.
The U.S. has been supplying 155mm artillery rounds to Ukraine to assist in its fight against Russia’s ongoing invasion and has also provided Israel with the ammunition in military aid donations following Hamas’ incursion on October 7 and as the country prepares for a potential ground invasion of Gaza.
A senior defense official on Monday confirmed to reporters that some 155mm artillery ammunition had been withdrawn from the reserve stockpile in Israel to replenish U.S. stocks in Europe prior to the Hamas attack on October 7, with much of those rounds having now been provided to the Israeli Defense Forces for their use.
“What we are doing is assessing U.S. stocks globally and what can be made readily available to the needs of Israel as well as Ukraine. So what I said is accurate, that we withdrew 155[mm ammunition] from the stockpile in Israel for our forces in EUCOM and now we are sending that back to Israel for their use,” the senior defense official said. “Also the United States can walk and chew gum at the same time. So we’re going to continue to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs to defend its territory. And at the same time we’re ensuring that Israel has what it needs. Two very different operational environments with different levels of need and consultation. And we’re continuing to prioritize both.”
Along with the 155mm ammunition, Ryder said in a separate briefing last week that the U.S.’s ongoing shipments of military aid to Israel have included Joint Direct Attack Munitions, small diameter bombs and Iron Dome interceptors.
Ryder noted that the White House’s new $106 billion emergency spending package unveiled last week with weapons aid for Israel and continued security assistance for Ukraine would be helpful in ensuring continued work to boost production capacity for 155mm artillery ammunition.
“Those resources would be very welcome in terms of going forward to ensure that we’re able to continue to provide the level of support that we need to [for] both Ukraine and Israel,” Ryder said.
The Biden administration noted the new supplemental spending request has $50 billion in defense industrial base investments, with the total package including $61.4 billion for Ukraine support, $14.3 billion in assistance for Israel as the country prepares for a potential ground invasion of Gaza, $7.2 billion in Foreign Military Financing (FMF) grants, $4 billion to support partners in the Indo-Pacific region, and $3.4 billion to bolster submarine industrial base efforts (Defense Daily, Oct. 20).
Ryder added that DoD continues efforts to ramp up 155mm ammunition production with the domestic industrial base and international partners’ defense industrial bases, to include Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Bill LaPlante leading the latest National Armaments Directors meeting last week in Brussels to discuss ongoing plans.
LaPlante confirmed last month the Army is on track to build 100,000 155mm artillery rounds per month by 2025, a nearly fourfold increase from current capacity as the service works to replenish its own stockpiles and continue supporting international partners’ requirements (Defense Daily, Sept. 15).