The West is struggling to forge a new arsenal of democracy
Production of weapons is set to increase, but it may be too slow for future conflicts as well as for Ukraine
Editor’s note: This is one of a series of daily articles we will be publishing in the run-up to the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. See the rest of our coverage
“IAM A bomb technician,” reads the t-shirt draped over a chair at Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in Pennsylvania. “If you see me running try to keep up.” In fact, it is the bomb technicians who are scrambling to keep up, as America transfers huge quantities of munitions to Ukraine, for use in the war with Russia. The factory in Scranton makes the steel casing of M795 155mm howitzer shells, of which America has given Ukraine more than 1m over the past year. But even such prodigious quantities of ammunition are not enough: Ukraine is firing roughly as many shells in a month as America can produce in a year.
This article appeared in the Briefing section of the print edition under the headline "Keeping the guns blazing"
From the February 25th 2023 edition
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