US sends artillery shells stockpiled in Israel to Ukraine
Brady Knox
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The United States is sending artillery shells stockpiled in Israel to Ukraine in an effort to refill the embattled country’s dwindling ammunition supplies.
The massive War Reserve Stocks for Allies-Israel contains a plethora of advanced U.S. weaponry. Perhaps the most important of the stock are hundreds of thousands of lesser advanced 155 mm artillery shells.
As Ukraine burns through artillery rounds faster than the combined industrial base of the West can produce them, the U.S. is looking to tap into the vast reserve to hold over Ukrainian artillery, the New York Times reported.
UKRAINE BURNING THROUGH CRITICAL AMMUNITION FAR FASTER THAN THE US CAN REPLENISH ITS INVENTORY
The stockpile has been eyed as a source of shells for Ukraine for some time, but that idea was hampered by Israel’s reluctance to supply arms to Ukraine for fear that Russia would retaliate by supplying its regional enemies, such as Hezbollah, with advanced weaponry.
Israeli officials finally acceded to the U.S.’s demands with the justification that it was only allowing the U.S. to move its own property — the stockpile is technically under U.S. control.
“Based on a U.S. request, certain equipment was transferred to the U.S. [Department of Defense] from its stockpiles” in Israel, a spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces told the New York Times in a statement.
The stockpile has its origins in the 1973 Yom Kippur War. It was a time when the Israeli military came dangerously close to collapse. Rather than continue the massive airlifts of munitions and weapons the U.S. had to conduct, the decision was made to establish permanent stockpiles in the country so Israel could use them if it found itself in crisis again.
A Congressional Research Service report disclosed to the public in February 2022 revealed that Israel had tapped into the stockpile during its 2006 invasion of Lebanon and the 2014 Gaza War.
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Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder revealed last week that the U.S. was in talks to replenish Ukrainian artillery shells with shells from South Korea.
A recent analysis from the Center for Strategic and International Studies found that the Ukrainian military has used so many of the U.S.’s 155 mm artillery shells that the prewar inventory will likely never be fully restored.
