Javelin anti-tank missiles helped stop Russia from reaching Kyiv during the first weeks of the war this spring. Ukrainian soldiers used the portable rockets to stop Russian tanks. The result was that a several mile long column of Russian vehicles was stopped. After a few weeks, the Russians had to retreat and give up the attempt to take the capital. Will take years to replace In the first weeks of the war, the US flew in several aircraft loads of Javelin missiles. “Ukraine has received around 7,000 Javelin missiles from the USA: that’s around a third of the Pentagon’s own stockpile,” says lieutenant colonel Joakim Paasikivi, who teaches at the Swedish Defense College to SR. According to the Stimson Center think tank, the figure is even higher. They write that Ukraine has received 8,500 Javelin missiles. The Javelin is manufactured by Raytheon and Lockheed Martin, which states that it will take between three and four years to replace them. – They can produce around 2,000 Javelin per year. They can double production, but even then it will take years to fill up the stocks again, says Paasikivi. An airload of Javelin missiles from the United States is being loaded onto Ukrainian trucks. Photo: SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP Kept secret The Javelin missiles are just one example of the weapons stockpiles in the West starting to run out. Tom Rødseth is head teacher in intelligence at the Norwegian Defense College. He says that the war has led to more weapons being consumed than are made. – In some countries, up to 50 per cent of certain weapons systems are missing because they have been given to the Ukrainians, says Rødseth. In most countries, it is classified as secret how much has been given and how big the gaps in the weapons stockpiles are. Rødseth says that the arms industry is struggling to fill up what is sent to Ukraine. – This is an increasing vulnerability and a dilemma, he says. The Javelin missiles have become popular in Ukraine. In Kyiv, a woman walks past street art depicting a Ukrainian soldier firing a Javelin. Photo: SERGEI SUPINSKY / AFP Difficult choice – The problem of pressure on weapons stockpiles is there all the time, especially among the small NATO countries, says Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur to AP. Many European countries face a difficult choice: Should they send weapons to Ukraine and increase their vulnerability if they were to be attacked by Russia? Or should they withhold weapons in order to preserve themselves, thereby increasing the danger of Russia winning the war in Ukraine? The answer is not simple, says Rødseth: – It is a security assessment; if you support Ukraine now, as you have chosen to do, it increases vulnerability in the long term. At the same time, if you don’t support Ukraine now, it can lead to greater risks later, he says.
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Warns that Western weapons stockpiles are being emptied by the war in Ukraine – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
