US Explains Patriot Missile Supply Halt to Ukraine Due to Own 25% Stockpile
The United States has only about 25% of the Patriot interceptor missiles needed for all of the Pentagon's military plans after stocks in the Middle East were depleted in recent months.
The Gaze reports on this with reference to The Guardian.
According to four sources interviewed by the publication, Patriot missile stocks have dwindled to such an extent that the Pentagon is concerned that this could jeopardise potential US military operations, and Deputy Secretary of Defence Stephen Feinberg has authorised a suspension of deliveries while they check where the weapons are going.
It should be noted that US President Donald Trump said that he would ‘send more weapons’ to Ukraine, although he did not specify whether the Patriot system would be among them, and also told Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a telephone conversation that he was not responsible for stopping arms deliveries and that he had ordered a review of US arms stocks, but apparently did not order them to be frozen.
However, the decision to halt deliveries, taken last month, was largely based on data from the Pentagon's global ammunition tracking system, which is used to determine the minimum level of ammunition needed to carry out the operational plans of the US Armed Forces, according to the interlocutors.
According to the system's data, stocks of a number of critical munitions had been below this minimum level for several years, since the former US President Joe Biden's administration began providing military aid to Ukraine.
According to the interlocutors, the Trump administration began reviewing depleted stocks of Patriot missiles and other munitions in February. Discussions accelerated after the US deployed more interceptors in the Middle East to support the campaign against the Houthis and in Israel.
The situation also escalated after Trump's decision to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities last month, when the US fired about 30 Patriot missiles to intercept Iranian ballistic missiles.
The recent depletion of Patriot missile stocks and other ammunition formed the basis of a ‘recommendation note’ from Deputy Secretary of Defence for Policy Elbridge Colby, which outlined several options for preserving the weapons and was sent to Feinberg's office.
According to interlocutors, Feinberg made the decision, which was then approved by Defence Secretary Pete Hagett.
Representatives of the White House and the Pentagon confirmed that some deliveries would be resumed on Trump's orders, but did not specify whether the weapons sent to Ukraine would include ammunition whose stocks were ‘critically low.’
The United States supplies weapons to Ukraine through two main channels: by reducing the Department of Defence's stockpiles and through the Ukraine Security Initiative (USAI), under which the Department of Defence pays contractors to manufacture weapons for Ukraine.
According to the interlocutors, both mechanisms for transferring weapons were to suffer from the freeze, as the Pentagon prioritises replenishing its stocks with the help of the same contractors who produce weapons for Ukraine under the USAI programme.
As The Gaze reported earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the United States will send additional weapons to Ukraine, primarily defensive in nature, to help the country defend itself against renewed Russian military advances.