Citing the forecast of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a Wall Street Journal report on Monday said that the war in Ukraine has exposed vulnerabilities in the US defense industry, highlighting the inability to face China in a possible war.

According to WSJ, reserves of M777 howitzers, 155-millimeter caliber shells, Javelin anti-tank missiles, and Stinger air defense systems have been depleted as the majority of them have been supplied to Ukraine in light of the war. 

Washington, as part of the CSIS "On Future War" war games based on scenarios of hostilities between the US and China in the Taiwan Strait, reportedly exhausted all JASSM missiles and precision-guided anti-ship missiles during the first week of the pretend conflict - exhibiting signs in wartime conditions that the US defense system is not prepared. 

In total, over $17.6 billion in military assistance to Ukraine has been supplied by the US since the start of the war in February with the most recent $725 million military aid package to Kiev announced on October 14 which includes more ammunition for High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and additional 155mm artillery rounds.

Biden authorizes $725mln worth of weapons for Ukraine

There are over 1,400 Stinger anti-aircraft systems, over 8,500 Javelin anti-tank weapons, 32,000 other anti-armor platforms, at least 700 Switchblade suicide drones, and an unspecified number of Claymore anti-personnel mines on the list. For the 23rd time since August 2021, Biden has used his Presidential Drawdown Authority to authorize the transfer of "surplus" weapons from the Pentagon's stocks. 

The span of one weapon supply after the other often doesn't exceed weeks, such as a shipment on September 8 for $675 million in defense supplies and ammunition, then $600 million on September 16, followed by one on September 28 for $1.1 billion. 

In addition to burdening the US with requests for aid, Ukraine is selling weapons it acquired from its allies on the black market due to the Kiev forces' limited ability to use them because of their lack of training, logistical challenges, and the diminishing size of the Ukrainian armed force, according to former senior Pentagon adviser Karen Kwiatkowski.

Just last month, the Pentagon announced a $311 million contract to Lockheed Martin and Raytheon to replenish stocks of depleted Western-supplied Javelin anti-tank missiles. While Washington's resentment over the EU's delayed economic aid to Ukraine grows, Brussels seems to disagree with the idea that Europe has been sluggish in providing funds to Kiev, recalling a recent statement of European Commission Spokesperson Nuyts Veerle, who said that Europe's cumulative aid to Ukraine amounted to around 19 billion euros ($18.5 billion).

Germany, the biggest European contributor to Kiev's military, pledged an additional $199.02 million though this time it's for aid programs for internally displaced refugees, claimed German Development Minister Svenja Schulze last month. 

Despite pledging more assistance, senior EU officials admit that there will most likely be a "crunch point" in the fall or early winter when EU countries begin to feel acute domestic economic pain as a result of the crisis.