Why US Fails to Plan Sustainment for Arms in Ukraine

The US Department of Defense (DoD) provided Ukraine with Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M1 Abrams tanks, and Patriot air defense interceptors last year without a long-term sustainment plan, according to the Pentagon’s Inspector General Robert Storch.

He warned that even though the DoD is currently working on developing such a plan, "the lack of foresight in this matter is concerning, and should be rectified promptly."

As an example, he referred to the recently liberated town of Avdeyevka, where the Bradley armored vehicles were earlier “simply drowned in the mud”, failing to move forward.

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"As for the Abrams tanks, you can see them [Ukrainian command] fearing to let the tanks appear on the battlefield because they are afraid that we will intercept them, and that they will be unable to move through the mud. The result is clear. They [Ukrainian forces] suffered huge losses in men and materiel, while the Russian advance on various areas," Matviychuk said, in an apparent nod to Kiev's botched counteroffensive.

He explained that the Bradleys’ performance in Avdeyevka – as well as the no-show of the Abrams – are only natural because "plenty of efforts are needed to maintain these computerized military hardware pieces and prepare them for firing."

When it comes to the shortage of spare parts and trained personnel for Ukraine’s Western-supplied military equipment, one should also bear in mind that these weapons are clearly not designed for long-term use, according to the Russian expert.

"I believe that the Americans, for example, provided the Kiev regime with the military hardware that they don’t need themselves. They rubbed their hands, saying that that they had delivered it to Ukraine, where it would be utilized and they would not have to pay a recycling fee," per Matviychuk.

He recalled that as for high-end tanks, such as the Abrams, their entire engine life support system needs to be purged every 12 hours of operation because the engine can break down. "And if the engine breaks down, the full-fledged replacement is needed, work that Ukrainians won’t be able to do on their own," the expert added.

When asked how it happened that Washington sent expensive weapons to Kiev without mapping out a maintenance plan, Matviychuk explained that the Pentagon "initially planned to deploy the so-called service system in Poland, a scenario that was finally scrapped after the Poles quarreled with [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky" over the grain supplies.

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The Washington-Warsaw ties were tarnished last year due to the influx of Ukrainian grain into the EU. Poland, along with Slovakia and Hungary, unilaterally extended a ban on duty-free imports of Ukrainian grain after EU-imposed restrictions expired in September 2023.

After Ukraine responded by filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization, the country's Deputy Economy Minister Taras Kachka warned that Kiev would withdraw its WTO complaint against the three EU countries if they provided guarantees that they would not restrict grain exports in the future.