US Has Small Stockpile of Long-range Missiles to Hand Them Over to Ukraine — Pentagon

There's a policy decision to date not to, so far, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley AP Photo/Mariam Zuhaib

WASHINGTON, April 1. /TASS/. The United States has an small stockpile of long-range missiles, which limits the possibility of handing them over to Ukraine, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said in an online interview with the Defense One media outlet.

Asked whether Washington was planning to supply Ukraine with ATACMS (Army Tactical Missile System) missiles with a strike range of up to 300 kilometers, Milley replied "Well, there's a policy decision to date not to, so far. And I would never predict anything on the table, off the table, for the future."

"But from a military standpoint, we have relatively few ATACMS, we do have to make sure that we maintain our own munitions inventories, as well," he continued. "And the range of the weapon - I think there's a little bit of overstating of what an ATACMS can do and can't do."

"You're looking at a single shot, so think of a musket versus a repeating rifle. Whereas the GMLRS fires six shots, and ATACMs fires one. Now the range of the ATACMS is longer, but there's other systems they can get you that range," the high-ranking military official said.

"There’s UAVs, for example, that could do it, and the Brits have a couple of systems. So, those are some things that we're looking at to give them a little bit more legs. But right now, we're not providing the ATACMS," Milley added.

Ukraine repeatedly asked the United States to provide it with ATACMS missiles, but was refused.

Pentagon reviews weapons stockpile needed by US for possible future conflicts

General Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States Armed Forces, estimated that it would take the US defense industry “probably several years” to replenish stocks

WASHINGTON, April 1. /TASS/. The US Department of Defense reviews weapons and ammunition stockpile in the country that it may need to engage in case of possible future conflicts, Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said in an online interview with the Defense One media outlet.

"We're going back and we're reviewing all of our estimates for logistical estimates, for all of the key ammunitions or munitions that are required for the various contingency plans," Milley said.

According to him, the US defense industry would need "probably several years" to replenish inventory and ramp up production to meet the Pentagon's needs.

"We have some indications, and that will probably have to increase over time, it's not going to be done by magic overnight," Milley continued. "But this is something that's going to be very expensive. And it's going to have to be a deliberate program. It'll take probably several years to do it."

The general also said that the US Department of Defense has "sufficient ammunition in our inventory today to do what we need to do."

"But if you're involved in a significant great-power war, it's best not to underestimate how much munitions you're going to need," Milley added.