Is the U.S. running out of ammunition?

Why war with Ukraine may leave America underprepared for a China conflict

Cargo of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine waiting on a tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware
(Image credit: Demetrius Freeman/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Ukraine is using a lot of ammunition in its fight against Russia — up to 6,000 artillery shells every day. The result? Munitions stocks among the country's Western suppliers are starting to run low. That might be about to change. Polish and European Union officials met Monday to discuss a new $2.2 billion program that would "supply Ukraine in its war against invading Russian forces and to replenish Europe's dwindling stocks," The Associated Press reports.

But Europe isn't the only place where ammunition and other critical military supplies are in short supply. "What the U.S. has been able to do is use a range of its stockpiles of weapons," to supply Ukraine, Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) tells PBS NewsHour. Now, though, the "number of those stockpiles are now decreasing."

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Joel Mathis, The Week US

Joel Mathis is a freelance writer who has spent nine years as a syndicated columnist, co-writing the RedBlueAmerica column as the liberal half of a point-counterpoint duo. His work also regularly appears in National Geographic, The Kansas City Star and Heatmap News. His awards include best online commentary at the Online News Association and (twice) at the City and Regional Magazine Association.