The Pentagon did not prepare plans to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine maintain the military equipment provided to them. This is especially true for equipment that requires specialized care – M1 Abrams tanks and Patriot air defence systems are good examples of such weapons. They require a very high level of maintenance, especially when the machinery is used as intensively as in Ukraine.
The Patriot air defence system is very good, but it requires a lot of maintenance to remain operational. Image credit: 2nd Lt. Emily Park via Wikimedia
Robert Storch, the Inspector General of the United States Department of Defense, as reported by Bloomberg, stated that the US provided armoured vehicles and air defence systems to Ukraine without a good plan for their long-term use. And while the Pentagon is developing such a plan at the moment, the recklessness in this matter must be corrected immediately.
Storch noted that the Pentagon provided Ukraine with basic training related to the operation and maintenance of Patriot air defence systems, as well as parts and other supplies, but Ukrainian specialists were not prepared for long-term maintenance of these systems. For example, they do not have the skills to anticipate problems and do not know what preventive measures would avoid them. And this is not surprising, because these are completely new weapons for Ukraine.
Knowledge comes with experience, but one cannot forget that the funding for more military aid is currently struggling in the United States. This will have serious consequences not only for the supply of new weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, but also for the maintenance of the equipment already operated by the defenders of Ukraine.
Without planned technical support, without a sufficient amount of spare parts and ammunition, which the US supplies in limited quantities, the Ukrainians will not be able to maintain the proper technical condition of their weapons and withstanding Russian aggression will be nearly impossible.
The development and production of new weapons, brand-new ammunition containers and exercises look very attractive in terms of optics in politics. But all the equipment that Ukraine receives requires very serious maintenance, spare parts and repairs. Ukrainian specialists are being trained to repair their equipment, but it seems that not enough money and resources are allocated for this issue.
Supplying new weapons probably sounds better than funding the maintenance of existing ones. If a country announced that it is giving money and/or parts to maintain 10 main battle tanks, it would not be met with the same excitement as news about the additional 5 tanks, even though the end result would be similar or worse, because unmaintained tanks don’t fight.
It is worth noting that in many cases more than 70% of the Pentagon’s spending goes to the maintenance of existing weapons. It is that important.
Written by Povilas M.
Source: Censor.net