Ukraine: Washington ordered 1,300 Stinger anti-air missiles to aid Ukraine, but the chief executive of the defense company Raytheon, which manufactures them, said in May: "It's going to take us some time."
Meanwhile, Paris has sent 18 Caesar howitzers to Kyiv, a quarter of the total stock of high-tech artillery, and it will take the French company Nexter about 18 months to make them new.
The conflict in Ukraine has revealed just how low the West's defense reserves are. Particularly delays in the production of less glamorous but essential items such as artillery shells that can enhance the courage of soldiers on the battlefield. Could be the biggest reason for the loss.

Defense officials and analysts claim the shortfall highlights the West's inaction about potential threats since the end of the Cold War, now manifested by a willingness to provide military aid to Ukraine. They say the obsession with building state-of-the-art weapons and self-power has obscured the importance of keeping a stockpile of basic equipment.

According to former NATO director of policy planning Jamie Shea, who is now an associate fellow at UK think tank Chatham House, wars are still often won using artillery, ground forces and traditional tactics of occupation. "We need to shift back the military balance, which has shifted from the old to the new."

 According to Alex Vershinin, an American procurement specialist, It is possible that these shortfalls are now affecting the West's ability to manage Kyiv's war effort. for example the total annual US production of 155 mm artillery shells, would last less than two weeks in Ukraine. Vershinin claims that the conflict represents "the return of industrial warfare".

According to Britain's Defense Secretary Ben Wallace, Western countries will find it difficult to fight a long war, such as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, because their supply of ammunition is "inadequate for the threats we face." Britain's ammunition ran out after eight days in a mock war game last year.

According to officials, No one thinks that supplying Ukraine would exhaust the West's basic arsenal. Most of the equipment delivered to Ukraine is still available or can be replaced with similar systems. Even combined with China's spending of $293 billion, Russia's defense budget of $66 billion last year is less than the total budget of $1.1 trillion for NATO members.

However, a large portion of that NATO spending has gone toward cutting-edge equipment, such as fighter jets, that the West has not used in this conflict. Much of Western defense over the past 20 years has been focused on fighting rebels in the Middle East, rather than preparing for massive tank and artillery battles like in Ukraine.

Officials and analysts said supply problems are a problem in Russia as well. According to reports, the defense manufacturer, Uralvagonzavod, is refurbishing old tanks in a three-shift operation. Part of the ammunition stockpile is being replenished at a large storage facility in Belarus.

However, the army now has "institutional firepower in Moscow ... Former Deputy Minister of Defense Gen. Gennady Zhidko was recently appointed as the overall commander of the Russian army in Ukraine.

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