Symbolic imagePentagon gives arms makers 21 days as Patriot stocks run low
The Pentagon has given US arms makers 21 days to plan faster deliveries. Patriot stocks are reported below 1,700 after the war against Iran.
Deputy Defense Secretary Stephen Feinberg set the deadline in an internal document reported by the Washington Post and relayed on Sunday, 9 August, by Serbia's Politika, saying production cycles lasting years were no longer acceptable. He named NGI interceptors, NASAMS air-defence systems, mobile air-defence radars and a space-based missile tracking system as critical. NBC had reported an emergency Pentagon meeting on ammunition shortages, called after Trump telephoned Feinberg to criticise him.
Arsenals after the Iran war
The New York Times, citing two people briefed on it, said more than 1,500 interceptors were fired against Iran and replenishment could take over two years. The Pentagon is pulling ships, aircraft and air-defence units from Asia and Europe to the Middle East.
Kyiv's licence problem
Zelensky said on Saturday, 8 August, that Kyiv had agreed monthly interceptor deliveries with Washington but that they would not be enough. A day later he put domestic Patriot production at 12 months to several years and dependent on licences; Trump called a transfer possible in June and denied any deal in late July.
Other opinions
TASS frames the shortage through a Bloomberg columnist's scenario in which delays force Kyiv to accept Russia's demand to leave Donbass; Bloomberg ran only a short item.