Pentagon Working To Replenish Missile Needs Of Ukraine Against Russian Invasion

The Pentagon is reportedly accelerating production of Stinger anti-aircraft and Javelin anti-tank missiles to refill its depleted stocks as it continues to send these systems to Ukraine against the Russian invasion per defense officials.

The U.S. is delivering daily 500 of each vital system, all detailed in a document that Ukraine needs as obtained by CNN.

As of March 7, the U.S. and other NATO members had sent about 17,000 anti-tank missiles and 2,000 anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. Since then, that number has certainly increased but an update has not been made public.

It was on March 16 when the White House announced an $800 million assistance package that included 800 additional Stinger anti-aircraft systems and 2,000 Javelin anti-tank missiles systems.

Production for Stinger missiles was initially shut down but was restarted to fulfill a foreign sales order. Now, several options to increase production capacity and decrease production timelines are being considered in consultation with prime contractor Raytheon, according to Jessica Maxwell, a Pentagon spokeswoman.

But for this to progress, the need to add workers to production lines, manufacture new components to replace obsolete parts and purchase additional tooling or test equipment for the production line are options according to Maxwell.

It takes about 18 to 24 months to manufacture a production lot of Stinger missiles, depending on its size.

As far as the Javelin anti-tank system, it is in full production mode according to the Pentagon. However, the Pentagon is looking at trying to ramp up production.

Lockheed Martin, the Javelin manufacturer, can meet increased demand for the foreseeable future according to a company spokeswoman. Javelin anti-tank systems can be produced at a rate of more than 6,000 a year as of 2022.

Stinger anti-aircraft missiles are produced by Raytheon in Tucson.