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Javelin1 missiles are in short supply and restocking them won't be easy
Ukrainian fighters have destroyed Russian fighting vehicles with U.S. supplied Javelins3. But replacing the thousands of missiles could take years, largely because of a crimp in the supply chain.
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
One of the best weapons Ukraine has in its war with Russia is Javelin missiles. But supplies are low, and restocking them will not be easy. Frank Morris of our member station KCUR explains why.
FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE4: Every conflict has its iconic weapons - tanks in World War II, helicopters in the Vietnam War. And Mark Cancian with the Center for Strategic and International Studies says the war in Ukraine has distinguished5 an American-made, shoulder-fired, precision-guided anti-tank missile - the Javelin.
MARK CANCIAN: We've seen pictures of Saint Javelin. We've heard Javelin songs.
MORRIS: That's right. T-shirts, murals, even songs, venerating6 a missile.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
UNIDENTIFIED SINGER: (Singing) Javelin, Javelin - (singing in non-English language).
MORRIS: This video shows familiar images of Ukrainian soldiers firing Javelins, Russian tanks exploding and burned-out wrecks7 smoldering8. But Cancian says the U.S. has stopped shipping9 the celebrated10 missile.
CANCIAN: What you've seen is that in recent aid packages, there aren't any Javelins, and I think that's because the stockpile is getting low.
MORRIS: Cancian figures the U.S. has sent up to 7,000 Javelins to Ukraine, about a third of its stockpile.
CANCIAN: The production problem for Javelins is that we've sent a lot of them, and we are producing them at a very high rate. We've been producing them at about 800 a year, more or less.
MORRIS: Javelins are assembled in a plant in Troy, Ala., out of parts and materials sourced from around the country. Production is picking up, but it's going to be expensive, as President Joe Biden conceded when he visited the plant earlier this month.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: And to make sure the United States and our allies can replenish11 our own stocks of weapons to replace what we've sent to Ukraine - as I said from the beginning, this fight is not going to be cheap.
MORRIS: Last week, Biden signed a new $40 billion aid package for Ukraine. The Pentagon has ordered another $309 million worth of replacement12 Javelins. But Mark Cancian says filling that order is going to be challenging because the assembly plant in Alabama can't speed up until all its suppliers - plants that produce the chemicals, 200 computer chips and other highly specialized13 parts required in every Javelin - speed up first.
CANCIAN: Each element of the missile has challenges in its supply chain. The warheads, for example, come from one plant that makes all of the U.S. warheads.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The Iowa Army Ammunition14 Plant has been making large caliber15 ammunition for the Defense16 Department since World War II.
MORRIS: As shown on this video, the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant is vast. The complex sprawls17 out over nearly 30 square miles, producing tank shells and other ordnance18, including the explosive part of every single Javelin missile. Notre Dame19 professor Charles Gholz says it's one of almost two dozen Army-run plants across the country that make and refurbish military hardware.
CHARLES GHOLZ: These, by and large, are very old facilities. Many of them were originally built for World War II and have had limited investment since.
MORRIS: But Gholz, who led a defense supply chain initiative for the Pentagon, says the old, mothballed machinery20 sitting in these plants still works, and he says that excess capacity is there to be used.
GHOLZ: There are going to be hitches21 and glitches22 that you have to work on. There's going to be fixing and improvising23 and replacing. That's what these facilities are for. That's what they do.
MORRIS: What these plants don't have is a bunch of people sitting around, ready to start working. It will take time to hire and to train. Other stages of the Javelin supply chain, they're going to be strained as well.
GHOLZ: There are lots of possible points of friction24. It could be chemical suppliers. It could be casting guys. It could be chipmakers. I don't know which one it'll be. Something will be the slowest to ramp25 up. People will say, that's the friction point. And they will go put resources to fix it.
MORRIS: The government can basically steamroll most of its supply chain problems with money and its authority to requisition scarce parts. So U.S. factories will soon be producing a lot more weapons, including Javelin missiles, the iconic weapon of the war in Ukraine.
For NPR News, I'm Frank Morris.
1 javelin | |
n.标枪,投枪 | |
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2 transcript | |
n.抄本,誊本,副本,肄业证书 | |
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3 javelins | |
n.标枪( javelin的名词复数 ) | |
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4 byline | |
n.署名;v.署名 | |
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5 distinguished | |
adj.卓越的,杰出的,著名的 | |
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6 venerating | |
敬重(某人或某事物),崇敬( venerate的现在分词 ) | |
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7 wrecks | |
n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 );(事故中)遭严重毁坏的汽车(或飞机等);(身体或精神上)受到严重损伤的人;状况非常糟糕的车辆(或建筑物等)v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 );使(船舶)失事,使遇难,使下沉 | |
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8 smoldering | |
v.用文火焖烧,熏烧,慢燃( smolder的现在分词 ) | |
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9 shipping | |
n.船运(发货,运输,乘船) | |
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10 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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11 replenish | |
vt.补充;(把…)装满;(再)填满 | |
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12 replacement | |
n.取代,替换,交换;替代品,代用品 | |
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13 specialized | |
adj.专门的,专业化的 | |
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14 ammunition | |
n.军火,弹药 | |
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15 caliber | |
n.能力;水准 | |
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16 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
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17 sprawls | |
n.(城市)杂乱无序拓展的地区( sprawl的名词复数 );随意扩展;蔓延物v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的第三人称单数 );蔓延;杂乱无序地拓展;四肢伸展坐着(或躺着) | |
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18 ordnance | |
n.大炮,军械 | |
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19 dame | |
n.女士 | |
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20 machinery | |
n.(总称)机械,机器;机构 | |
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21 hitches | |
暂时的困难或问题( hitch的名词复数 ); 意外障碍; 急拉; 绳套 | |
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22 glitches | |
n.小过失,差错( glitch的名词复数 ) | |
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23 improvising | |
即兴创作(improvise的现在分词形式) | |
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24 friction | |
n.摩擦,摩擦力 | |
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25 ramp | |
n.暴怒,斜坡,坡道;vi.作恐吓姿势,暴怒,加速;vt.加速 | |
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