The Biden administration is looking to boost munitions production as stocks dwindle due to vast amounts being funneled to Ukraine.
"We're working very closely with the defense industry to try to ramp up production, particularly for artillery shells," revealed John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the National Security Council in the White House.
Referencing the recent decision by Washington to provide the Ukraine authorities with cluster bombs, he added:
"You saw that we gave some cluster munitions to Ukraine as a bridging solution here while we ramp up production. We're having very, very strong conversations with the defense industry and we believe that we'll be able to get there."
Kirby conceded that the process was a multifaceted one and would involve “hiring more workers, retooling… adding capacity in factories… and manufacturing capabilities.”
“We're serious about doing that for some period of time," Kirby said.
'Low on Ammo'
The remarks came in the wake of backlash triggered by President Joe Biden's remarks in an interview for US media. The 80-year-old Democratic POTUS was skewered on the internet after he let slip that the United States is “running low on ammo.”
Before heading off to attend the NATO summit in Lithuania, the Democratic POTUS doubled down on the importance of transferring lethal cluster munitions to Ukraine, saying:
"This is a war relating to munitions. And they’re running out of that ammunition, and we’re low on it."
Many at the time commented on social media that the president had said the “quiet part out loud."
As for the cluster munitions glibly referred to by Kirby as a "bridging solution" before production is ramped up, the Pentagon’s Joint Staff Director for Operations Lt. Gen. Douglas Sims II told a briefing recently that Ukraine had already received the weapons from the United States, as well as other countries.
The 46th president added that he had consulted with Washington's allies and partners about his decision on cluster bombs, and that they understood the reason for the move. The announcement followed reports that the US defense industrial base was struggling to replenish tens of billions of dollars in weapons sent to the Kiev regime in its proxy war against Russia.
The United States does not plan to restore its own stockpile of cluster munitions to replace those handed over to Ukraine, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said on Sunday.
"Our current plan is not to replenish that stockpile, it is rather to build up the capacity to produce the unitary round, the 155, the non-cluster munition round of the ammunition. We began that process months ago, because we anticipated the need for continuing supply to Ukraine, but it takes time," stated Sullivan.
According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the US decided to supply cluster munitions to Ukraine because the Western-fueled proxy war against Russia is running low on ammo.
"They [the United States] are doing this not because of 'the good life', but because they are running low on ammunition in general," the head of state said, answering a question from a Russian journalist.
The Russian leader recalled that Washington previously referred to the use of cluster bombs as a "crime." Moscow reserves the right to respond accordingly in case of cluster munitions use against the country, Putin emphasized.