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The US is worried about the reduction of military stocks due to the increase in the supply of weapons to other countries of the world. The Pentagon is reluctant to send additional ATACMS ballistic missiles to Ukraine, writes The Wall Street Journal.
A high-ranking American official told journalists that the US is considering the option of buying weapons from other countries for their transfer to Ukraine. The issue is particularly acute with ATACMS missiles, which are in very high demand.
According to the official, the Pentagon claims that the Russian Federation has moved aircraft and other valuable targets beyond the reach of ATACMS. This is how Washington justifies limiting the supply of missiles to Kyiv. He noted that the Biden administration did not allow Ukraine to use these weapons to strike the territory of Russia.
Two other U.S. officials and an adviser to the Ukrainian government shared with reporters that U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin rejected a recent request by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi to give our country priority in supplying ATACMS. The Pentagon chief said breaking longstanding agreements with other buyers would be too much to ask.
A new version of the weapon, called the Precision Strike Missile, is in production but will take years to produce in large enough numbers to replace the ATACMS, another US official said.
A new version of the ballistic missile, called the Precision Strike Missile, is already in production but will take years to produce in large enough numbers to replace the ATACMS, another US official said.
In addition, the United States has a limited supply of air-based ammunition that can be used on Ukrainian F-16 fighter jets, said a former employee of the Department of Defense in Washington.
ATACMS missiles - what is known
We will remind that ATACMS is a tactical ballistic missile of the ground-to-ground class. Ukraine is one of the main operators of these weapons.
Previously, a military expert, Colonel Petro Chernyk, named the goals for which the Armed Forces of Ukraine will fight with ATACMS. He noted that a large number of airfields with military aviation have been concentrated in the middle strip of the Russian Federation since the time of the USSR.
Additionally, Pentagon Deputy Spokesperson Sabrina Singh stated that the US has a shortage of ATACMS. She noted that this is one of the reasons why Ukraine received a ban on long-range strikes.
