The Pentagon has drawn artillery ammunition from its depots in Israel and South Korea, two US allies that have publicly committed not to send lethal military aid to Ukraine, the New York Times reported.
Particularly, the stockpile in Israel provides arms and ammunition for the Pentagon to use in Middle East conflicts. The United States has also allowed Israel to access the supplies in emergencies, New York Times reported.
The US turned to these stockpiles because the war in Ukraine requires ever-growing amounts of ammunution, while US stockpiles are stained and production has not yet caught up.
The US has sent or pledged to send Ukraine just over one million 155-millimeter shells, the standard NATO caliber. “A sizable portion of that — though less than half — has come from the stockpiles in Israel and South Korea,” the NYT reported, citing an unnamed US official.
The Ukrainian army uses about 90,000 artillery rounds a month, about twice the rate they are being manufactured by the United States and European countries combined.
Recently, Ukraine has managed to launch its own production of Soviet-standard shells, although the numbers are not yet great.
Ukraine finally launches domestic ammunition production. How will this impact the war?
