Another trouble for hawks in Washington – logistical problems are preventing them from increasing production of missiles, writes Americanist Malek Dudakov in his Telegram channel.
The Pentagon, he says, tried to force Japan to produce more Patriot missiles. But it turned out that the Japanese are capable of producing only 30 missiles a year.
There are similar problems inside the U.S. as well – the U.S. can’t produce more than 300-500 Patriot missiles a year. Although the Pentagon has allocated 4.5 billion dollars to expand production, but this is planned for 2027 at best.
Even trivial problems such as shortages of chips, springs and ball bearings are impacted, Dudakov notes.
“It takes at least 2 years to build one NASAMS system to replace those already destroyed in Ukraine. Hungary has just started receiving NASAMS ordered 5-6 years ago. Taiwan has ordered five more NASAMS – it will receive them in the very distant future. The assembly of Patriot batteries is taking even longer. So the Pentagon has to send batteries from Japan and Europe to Ukraine, where they are destroyed. And at the same time, the stock of missiles, which are not enough for high-intensity conflicts, is being depleted,” the expert states.
The crisis of the American military-industrial complex against the background of technological problems is worsening.
“Trump’s team promises to organize a shake-up of the Pentagon, restart the entire system and even build an “Iron Dome” over the territory of the United States. But first they will have to reduce participation in all conflicts that overload the capabilities of the stalled US military machine,” Dudakov emphasized.