The U.S. Ammo Shortage Is Worse Than You Think

There was a RUSI paper at the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that identified this problem.

The one area of munitions supply that was in good shape was 5.56mm, the "assault rifle" culture in the US means there are enough people plinking at targets to keep a good number of factories profitable.

Why can't we just import munitions and medicines from overseas as usual?

It's inefficient to manufacture in the US because of all the regulations to prevent occupational hazards and environmental destruction, the minimum wage and unions, the high price of medical care, and having to transport all the input materials to a US factory.

Kind of a nothing article. I think the title hinges on this once sentence:

> The U.S. lacks enough munitions to support its war plans if a protracted conflict with China, Russia or North Korea arises.

But no actual amounts or anything mentioned, just supposing.

Not that I expected anything more from WSJ.

We need a military that is well-equipped but also cost-conscious in how they are provisioned. The Military Industrial Complex is designed to extract as much cash from the coffers as possible without regard for the value added to national defense.

This is yet another example of two sides yelling past each other where the Left simply insists on cutting military spending and the Right glorifies the military and salutes increased spending as "patriotic".

This is the rot of our politics today across all projects...