NATO signals $700 million Stinger missile guarantee

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine is opening a small office in Washington, D.C., to strengthen its ties with the U.S. defense industry, Ukrainian officials said Tuesday at the opening of the NATO region in Washington as it and several ECU countries expand their Promoting relationships. Its own guns are being manufactured as a defense for the presidential elections to be held in November.

Regardless of whether President Joe Biden or former President Donald Trump wins, NATO and Ukraine are increasingly racing to be better positioned to meet their own defense needs.

The announcement of the formation of the office was one of a fundamental pledge between NATO and EU members for Ukraine to acquire many virgin weapons and become more powerful on defense.

Ukraine’s Minister of Strategic Industries Oleksandr Kamyshin works on his farm, ahead of Russia’s 2022 invasion. Kamyshin noted, “I was a happy Ukrainian man concerned with agriculture and knew nothing about military things.” Ukraine produced 0 rounds of ammunition in 2021, he said, and began the fight with stocks existing on the shelves.

This is subtly changing as Ukraine develops a complex drone business, produces more guns locally and works to more deeply tie itself to defense corporations in the US and Europe.

“We are reestablishing ourselves from an agricultural country into the arsenal of a different world,” Kamyshin said.

Last Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced another priority air defense package for Ukraine and outgoing Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that NATO had signed a guarantee of nearly $700 million for member states to build additional Stinger missiles.

“There is no way to provide a strong defense without a strong defense industry,” Stoltenberg said, citing the Stinger Guarantee.

The Stinger is a portable surface-to-air defense machine that can be carried and fired by troops or strapped to automobiles and worn as short-range protection against airplanes.

The Raytheon-made machine was one of the significant first guns sent by the US to Ukraine following Russia’s 2022 invasion. Nations have now pulled from their stockpiles, in a variety of ways, millions of rounds of ammunition, artillery and missiles to aid Ukraine. However the rapid pressure on the event over two years revealed that defense companies in both the US and Europe were not eager to assemble at the levels required for a major standard war.

NATO climax may take place against a background of confusion. The US political class has been holding off on getting the guns to Ukraine in time for months and after the presidential election there is growing concern that US support with guns and troops will not always ensure in case of blackmail towards member states.

Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, is boasting during campaign speeches He would push Russia to do as he wanted with NATO individuals who do not meet their commitment to spend 2% of their GDP on security.

Kamyshin, who spoke at a midnight tournament on Tuesday in EU conservation business supported by the Hudson Institute, said growing his conservation business would put him in a more powerful position, without reference to who wins the US election.

“The defense industry must be strong regardless of the choice of parties,” Kamyshin said. “But I hear Republicans are standing up for the defense industry, too.”

It’s not just Ukraine anymore. In both the US and across Europe, some defense manufacturing lines have remained steady on pace for the 2022 attack and manufacturing numbers are now rising. Accumulation has been dependent on untouched, long-term assurances signed to support additional capital investment within the desired infrastructure.

“This is not about change or disruption. It’s building new factories,” said Morten Brantzeg, an executive at Nammo, a Norway-based ammunition company.

The war also prompted NATO members to increase the amount they spent on security.

Of the 32 NATO members, 23 are expected to meet the 2% stability this past year, up from only six before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This is a different matter because there is still not enough quantity, as Russia has taken advantage of the sheer size of its workforce to quickly replace guns lost in the war.

“If you want to fight a long-term war, you have to have an industry behind you that has the capacity to last for a long time,” Brandzeug said.

Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur told the Chamber of Trade that Russia is now spending an estimated 7% to 9% of its GDP on security. Pevkur said Estonia is spending more than 3% of its GDP on defense but needs to do more to replenish its reserves.

Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosyniak-Kamysz, who also serves as deputy prime minister, said his country will now devote at least 4% of its GDP to defense.

The conflict in Ukraine “highlighted the major vulnerabilities of Poland, the region and the world as a whole,” Kosiniak-Kamysz said.

Since the invasion, the US has provided Ukraine with more than $53.6 billion in arms and security assistance. This aid, coupled with the pace at which the US is also sending guns to Israel and Taiwan, has put a strain on US stockpiles. Other NATO members and other global partners have supplied a total of about $50 billion in arms and security assistance, according to the Kiel Institute for the Global Economic System, a separate research group based in Germany.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan said at Tuesday’s meeting that in a first-ever move, NATO countries will give every word of honor to planning to strengthen their commercial security capability. He said it would enable the alliance to “prioritize the production of the most critical defense equipment required in the event of a conflict.”

The 32 individuals have broadly different security business sizes and characteristics, so each country’s plan can vary widely, ranging from partnering with the business itself to partnering with alternative countries.

,

The cooking of dinner was reported from Brussels.