A senior American general in Congress said on Thursday that Russia could lose weapons, tanks and ammunition at an amazing pace in Ukraine, but its defensive production will easily replace.
American General Christopher Cavuli, commander of the NATO Supreme Allied Alliance, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that Washington expects Russia to produce 250,000 monthly artillery shells.
“Which puts it on the right track to build three times larger than the United States and Europe combined,” he read a Cavuli statement of the committee.
The four -star general focused on his appearance in Capitol Hill to urge legislators to strengthen defensive relations with the allies across the blessing, saying that they must work closely to increase hostile Russia increasingly.
Among the main concerns of Kafouli is his evaluation that Russia is renewing its losses in Ukraine quickly – and has become stronger before the war.
“Although the wide battlefield losses in Ukraine, the Russian army is reshaping and growing at a faster rate than most analysts expected,” Kavoli wrote.
He said that Moscow is replacing its forces quickly on all fronts, including ammunition, armored vehicles and forces.
The United States is now making about 40,000 artillery shells 155 mm per month and hopes to reach a monthly production capacity of 90,000 rounds in 2026.
Meanwhile, the European Union has pledged a manufacturing strike of two million rounds annually, or about 167,000 rounds per month. However, its leaders are estimated that it will only reach this level by the end of 2025.
Many of these tours are sent to Ukraine, although NATO countries are also concerned about maintaining their own stocks.
If Ukraine gets 2 million shells annually, it can shoot less than 5500 a day. Meanwhile, Cavoli said at a defensive conference in February 2023 that Russia is spending 20,000 shells per day on average.
In his statement to Congress on Thursday, Cavoli also warned that Russia is expected to produce more than 10 times the number of tanks made by the United States.
He said that Russia is likely to make 1500 tanks every year, while the United States is making 135 tanks annually.
“The Russian ground forces in Ukraine lost an estimated 3,000 tanks, 9,000 armored vehicles, 13,000 artillery systems, and more than 400 air defense systems last year – but on his way to replace them all,” he wrote.
As the leader of NATO in Europe, Cavuli is working closely with Ukraine. A wide -ranging piece of the New York Times recently reported that Cavuli regularly met with the generals and Ukrainian leaders at a secret base in Germany.
Cavuli’s testimony comes at a time when the Trump administration is considering the great disposal of the Pentagon in NATO, including giving up the presence of an American official as a supreme leader in Europe.
Historically, it was occupied by an American military official.
Speaking to the Armed Services Committee, Cavoli urged caution of this decision, saying that it may be difficulties in controlling the United States over its nuclear forces in Europe.
“This will put us in a position where, in the case of 5, we can have, for the first time since the First World War, a large number of American forces under non -American command,” he added.
