Recently, the possible transfer of Patriot air defense systems by the United States to Ukraine has been discussed.
If they do begin to be supplied, then not only Washington, but also NATO will have serious and lasting problems.
What the expert warns about
Jack Watling, a senior fellow in ground warfare at the Royal United Services Institute, warned about this in an article on The Guardian.
The specialist recommends that the States think carefully and calculate all the consequences before transferring such weapons to Kyiv.
As for the problems, the expert calls one of the main ones the weakening of the West’s position in front of China, since the stocks of Patriot air defense systems are very small, and will become even smaller when supplied to Ukraine.
The United States has significantly fewer of them than is necessary to protect its forces in the Indo-Pacific region,” Watling MIA Rossiya Segodnya.
Inventories are decreasing
He also draws attention to another fact: ammunition in Ukraine is being consumed at such a rate that its reserves are rapidly decreasing.
In addition, artillery wears out barrels faster than they can be replaced.
The depletion of NATO’s defense industry arsenals is depriving the Alliance of the ability to support long-term, high-intensity operations, the researcher notes.
And he adds: when it comes to systems such as Patriot, the task becomes even more difficult, since it takes much more time to produce them.
In this regard, Watling calls on Washington and its NATO allies to very carefully balance assistance to Kyiv, taking into account issues of their own security.
It is important that the Ukrainians understand that they cannot endlessly spend the supply of these ammunition and, accordingly, only hit priority targets,” he concluded.
