US Withholding Air Defense Missiles    07/03 06:18

   

   WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Trump administration will hold back delivering to 
Ukraine some air defense missiles, precision-guided artillery and other weapons 
as part of its announced pause to some arms shipments amid U.S. concerns that 
its own stockpiles have declined too much, officials said.

   The details on the weapons in some of the paused deliveries were confirmed 
by a U.S. official and former national security official familiar with the 
matter. They both requested anonymity to discuss what is are being held up as 
the Pentagon has yet to provide details.

   The pause includes some shipments of Patriot missiles, precision-guided 
GMLRS, Hellfire missiles and Howitzer rounds.

   It is a setback for Ukraine, which has faced increasing, and more complex, 
air barrages from Russia during the more than three-year-long war and as 
President Donald Trump remains determined to quickly conclude a conflict that 
he had promised as candidate to end of Day One of his second term.

   Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell declined during a briefing Wednesday to 
detail which weapons were being held back but said a pause to consider the 
health of the U.S. stockpile was necessary.

   "I think that for a long time, four years under the Biden administration, we 
were giving away weapons and munitions without really thinking about how many 
we have," Parnell said. He added, "And I think that this president was elected 
on putting this country first and defending the homeland."

   The decision was met with some pushback from Republican and Democratic 
boosters on Capitol Hill.

   In a letter to Trump on Wednesday, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., requested 
a briefing from the White House and the Pentagon to explain the pause. 
Fitzpatrick is a co-chair of the Congressional Ukraine Caucus.

   "We must build up our own defense industrial base here in the U.S. while 
simultaneously providing the needed assistance to our allies who are defending 
their freedom from a brutal invading dictator," the Pennsylvania representative 
said in a post on X. "To not do both is unacceptable."

   Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur, another co-chair of the Ukraine Caucus, blasted the 
move that came just days after Russians forces launched one of the biggest air 
assaults on Ukraine since it launched the war more than three years ago.

   "U.S. made air defense systems, including the Patriot platform, are the 
centerpiece of Ukraine's defenses against Russian strikes. They work. They save 
lives every day," the Ohio Democrat said. "But there are no parallel defensive 
alternatives for Ukraine if the U.S. stops supplying these vital munitions."

   The move was a bit surprising after Trump last week at the NATO summit 
suggested that he remained open to sending more Patriot missiles to Ukraine, 
though he acknowledged it would be difficult.

   "They do want to have the antimissile missiles, OK, as they call them, the 
Patriots," Trump said. "And we're going to see if we can make some available. 
We need them, too. We're supplying them to Israel, and they're very effective, 
100% effective. Hard to believe how effective. They do want that more than any 
other thing."

   Over the course of the war, the U.S. has routinely pressed for allies to 
provide air defense systems to Ukraine. But many are reluctant to give up the 
high-tech systems, particularly countries in Eastern Europe that also feel 
threatened by Russia.

   One of the officials said other weaponry being held up includes the AIM-7 
Sparrow -- a medium-range radar homing air-to-air missile -- as well as 
shorter-range Stinger missiles and AT-4 grenade launchers.

   The Pentagon review that determined that stocks were too low on some weapons 
previously pledged comes just over a week after Trump helped forge a ceasefire 
between Israel and Iran to end their 12-day conflict. The U.S. has provided 
provided air defense support to Israel, Qatar and other Mideast neighbors.

   The demands in several places are butting up against the reality that the 
U.S. military does not have enough munitions on hand to sustain a high rate of 
deliveries, while providing troops with equipment to train on and build up a 
stockpile for a potential future conflict.

   The U.S. deployed air defenses systems as it knocked down an Iranian 
ballistic missile assault last month launched on the Al-Udeid Air Base in 
Qatar. The retaliatory strike from Tehran against the U.S. military 
installation came days after Trump ordered a barrage of strikes on three key 
Iranian nuclear sites.

   While Patriot missile stocks have long been a concern, holding up some of 
the other weaponry was puzzling, said retired Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, 
an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies in Washington.

   "This is going to hurt Ukrainian civilians," Montgomery said. "There is 
still an opportunity here for the president to rein in the Pentagon before real 
damage is done."