- A White House official says Ukraine needs a consistent flow of capabilities, not one decisive weapon, to defeat Russia.
- Russia is believed to be producing artillery shells three times faster than Ukraine's NATO partners.
Deputy National Security Advisor Jonathan Finer said there isn't a specific single weapon Ukraine needs to defeat Russia. Instead, Ukraine needs a consistent flow of certain capabilities.
There is this idea out there that "they are one system away from some massive breakthrough where they will get the system and run roughshod over the Russian army," Finer said during a Center for New American Security conference Thursday. "This is not that kind of war," he added.
Finer said that he wishes the US could provide Ukraine with an endless supply of artillery and air defense weaponry, which Ukraine needs most. "If there are two things that we could provide an infinite number of to the Ukrainians to try and turn the tide of this war, it would be artillery munitions and air defense interceptors," he explained.
"We just don't make enough of them," he said, adding that "we're making more, and by early next year, we think we'll be in a much stronger position."
In May, the consulting firm Bain & Company found that Russia is producing artillery shells three times faster than Ukraine's NATO partners for less, and it is expected to refurbish or produce as many as 4.5 million artillery shells this year.
That said, the US, like some of its allies and partners in Europe, has been working to dramatically increase artillery shell production, particularly the highly sought-after 155 mm shells. Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the US was making about 14,000 a month, but the goal is to bring that number up to 100,000 by 2025.
In addition to making more shells, Finer added that the US is launching co-production with Kyiv to boost its defense industry and compete with Russia's manufacturing capabilities.
Ukrainian soldiers expressed the dire need for artillery and air defense on the battlefield in an interview with CNN last week, with some saying that US-supplied M1 Abrams tanks have not been enough. US veterans who have fought in Ukraine have also said the same thing in the past, especially as Ukraine grappled with debilitating ammo shortages.
"This conflict between two very similar armies, in some ways, is much more about the basic blocking and tackling that, frankly, I think many of us did not fully appreciate would remain a key facet of modern warfare: production of not super high-tech but critically important munitions, which we have let lapse," Finer said.
"We are now taking significant action to get our act together on those things," he said.