12/18/2023 / By Lance D Johnson
As the Russian military pillages through Ukraine, claiming territory and draining resources along the way, many European countries now face the stark reality that they could be next. Not only has mass immigration strained their resources, but their military manufacturing bases are also no longer able to replenish critical defense weapons and ammunition supplies.
In trying to maintain the Ukrainian state, the European Union (EU) has already used up what little resources they did have. The EU has provided over $29 billion in military assistance to Ukraine, ranging from ammunition to air defense systems, Leopard tanks and fighter jets. The EU has already pledged one million rounds of artillery ammunition by early 2024 and have trained 40,000 Ukrainian military personnel to de-mine territories that are now occupied by Russian armed forces. But all of these efforts are coming up short.
The United States is draining resources fast, too. With over $75 billion now invested in Ukraine, the U.S. plans to print the dollar into oblivion, destroying the world reserve currency and depleting its military resources along the way.
As Europe and the West continue to falter in Ukraine, a new report finds that most European countries have depleted militaries, with ammunition supplies so low they wouldn’t be able to last more than two days in an all-out confrontation with Russia.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the British Army only has bout 150 tanks ready for deployment and about one dozen long range artillery pieces that are operable. When the British military was conscripted to assist Ukraine last year, they considered sourcing rocket launchers from their own museums.
In France, there are less than 90 pieces of heavy artillery ready to go. Great Britain and France are Europe’s largest and second largest defense spenders, yet they wouldn’t hold up in a real confrontation with Russia.
In comparison, Russia’s manufacturing bases are building so much heavy artillery; they are able to lose 90 pieces of heavy artillery in a month in Ukraine, and still push forward and maintain territory. What Russia loses in one month in Ukraine, is all that France has to offer to protect its fragile borders.
As if this isn’t bad enough, the German army only has enough ammunition to last TWO days in battle. Denmark has such limited military spending; they don’t even have any heavy artillery anymore – no submarines and no air defense systems.
Russia has the power it needs to push back against NATO, the 31 member-state intergovernmental military alliance that is mostly funded by the United States. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is currently propped up by devalued U.S. dollars, and European countries have come to rely on the U.S. for their defense over the past two decades. The U.S. currently provides 70 percent of NATO’s budget.
Anthony King, a professor of war studies at the University of Warwick, said Europe’s reliance on the U.S. has led Europe to “systematically demilitarize itself because it didn’t need to spend the money.”
“They have basically gone to sleep,” he warned.
Former NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns that Europe is no longer keeping up with Russia when it comes to weapons and ammunition manufacturing.
“Although NATO countries’ combined economic and industrial might dwarfs that of Russia and its allies, we are allowing ourselves to be outproduced,” he said. “Ukraine is now in a war of attrition, if we do not get serious on ammunition production the threat of war will likely come closer to us.”
Sources include:
Tagged Under:
ammo supplies, border security, borders, currency devaluation, defense spending, EU, heavy artillery, mass immigration, military tech, national defense, national security, NATO, preparedness, Russia, Ukraine, War, weapons tech, WWIII
This article may contain statements that reflect the opinion of the author
COPYRIGHT © 2017 WWIII NEWS