The Senate Armed Services Committee met Tuesday to assess the "health" of the United States' industrial inventory, along with its capabilities for meeting the needs of the country's armed services.
The meeting revealed the U.S. could be facing a significant supply issue with its weapons base, in lieu of the country's ongoing support for Ukraine during its war with Russia.
"U.S. has given one-third of our Javelin missiles to Ukraine—with many more needed. At current pace—unacceptably—a year is necessary to produce 1,000. Proof that we need the Defense Production Act," tweeted Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn.
As a follow-up Tweet, Blumenthal wrote: "Thankfully, America is sending Ukraine weapons like Howitzers, M113 Armored Personnel Carriers, Javelins & Stingers from our own supplies. Our cupboards will be bare—endangering our security—without the DPA. Manufacturers need a clear demand signal."
Also, during the Armed Services meeting, Blumenthal estimated that "replenishing U.S. stocks or those weapons would require 32 months," according to Newsweek.
From Blumenthal's perspective, if the U.S. military keeps providing Ukraine with Javelin missiles under the current rate of domestic production, the country could experience a major weapons shortage in the coming months.
The Defense Production Act of 1950 (DPA) provides the U.S. president with emergency authority to require private businesses to accept and prioritize government contractions to produce goods deemed necessary to ensure the nation's security.
The DPA was last invoked at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The mission back then: As a full-scale measure, President Donald Trump ordered manufacturers to quickly produce Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) — which was in short supply at the time — as a guard against national product hoarding and/or price gouging.
"Unless the president invokes the Defense Production Act to prioritize deliveries of components to the manufacturer to give that demand signal, we will run out of these key arms," said Blumenthal during Tuesday's meeting.
Former Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Ellen Lord, who also served under the Trump administration, told the Armed Services committee the DPA would help replenish America's Javelin stock.
"I think, DPA Title III, which allows the department to move money to industry to actually make the capital investments or train the workforce or develop the supply chain ... is where you can really move the needle on this issue," Lord said.
Citing the Newsweek report, Lord also stated that under Title I of the DPA, defense items can be given a "DO" rating, placing its production ahead of other commercial items.
According to Lord, most critical goods are given "DX" ratings, which are produced with even greater priority.
The downside to that: Lord says the DX rating has been overused, and often the supply doesn't meet the speed of a country's request.
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