The US is Raiding its Global Bomb Stockpiles to Fight ISIS

We can always build more bombs.

chuckiechan said:

You remind me of another internet bully at another forum I belonged to that argued over a minor point to hijack the tread and make it about me.

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"Minor point"? Well, that might be believeable if that was not the entire point of your post.

But munitions do need to be constantly manufacturered. And because of drops in DoD budget they have been purchasing fewer then in decades, and using up stockpiles at an alarming rate. Most do not really understand how the DoD budget works, but here is a rough description when it comes to fighting conflicts.

When the US enters into any kind of military action, that funding comes from a special fund. Generally an amount is set aside for each conflict, and it pays for things like personnel, equipment, and logistical support. However, it almost never inclides special specifications for the replacement of munitions used during the time of the conflict (since the length of the conflict is unknown). So the munitions are generally pulled from existing stockpiles.

Now those stockpiles are maintained by the general DoD budget. So unless a conflict goes on long enough to warrant a special rider to be given to replace them, the DoD can only replace them at roughly the peacetime rate. In other words, replacements are only bought for those expected to be used during training or from expiration. And with this current administration's love of "short term conflicts" with "end dates", that means that the bombs are pulled out and expended, but no new ones are ordered. After all, who thinks to replace a thousand or so munitions expended in a 2-3 week operation?

But the problem now in 2016 is that we have had 7 years of those "2-3 week operations", without the large expenditure needed to replace all those munions that were used. And it is also more obvious in some areas than in others.

For many munitions, we are still fine. PATRIOT PAC-3 and GEM series missiles are fine, since we have not expended any of those. Also other items like MLRS rockets, A-10 30mm rounds, and even TOMAHAWK missiles are still in pretty decent supply. One thing about the last 7 years, President Obama has relied little upon the TOMAHAWK (a favorite weapon of President Clinton) and instead used drones and PGMs from conventional fighters.

One of the specific shortages is in the AGM-114 HELLFIRE missile. The Air Force (which operates the PREDATOR) has been burning through them so fast that they had to take huge numbers of them from the Army. The AF rarely uses this munition, but the Army uses it extensively for their APACHE helicopters. So the DoD is literally supporting one branch of the military with another. But needless to say, there are no special budget bills being passed to allow the Army to replace what the Air Force is using.

Is that enough on-topic discussion? I do know that in the last several decades, we have closed several munition depots in the US. Hawthorn, Seneca, Concord, Seal Beach, Pueblo, VAAP, TCAP, both our ability to manufacture munitions as well as our storage capability for munitions has shrunk greatly in the last 20 years.

Of course, I also do not blame the current administration alone for this problem. A lot of this dates back tothe BRAC of 1995, which closed a large number of our ammo depots. Since we greatly shrank our holding capability, we also had to destroy a lot of munitions, which is starting to hurt us now.

War is our business, and business is very good.

Boeing JDAM contract nearly doubled due to 'warfighter demand'

June 1, 2016

WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- Boeing Defense Space and Security has been awarded a not-to-exceed $3.2 billion fixed-price, incentive-firm, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract modification for Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits. The modification alters a $1.7 billion contract awarded in October 2014, increasing the amount by $1.4 billion "due to warfighter demand and to replenish depleted inventories," the Pentagon said Tuesday.

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Simpleχity;1065923771 said:

WASHINGTON, June 1 (UPI) -- Boeing Defense Space and Security has been awarded a not-to-exceed $3.2 billion fixed-price, incentive-firm, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract modification for Joint Direct Attack Munition tail kits. The modification alters a $1.7 billion contract awarded in October 2014, increasing the amount by $1.4 billion "due to warfighter demand and to replenish depleted inventories," the Pentagon said Tuesday.

Boeing JDAM contract nearly doubled due to 'warfighter demand'

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Of course, that is only for the tail kit, not the actual bomb that it goes on.