Pentagon seeks Soviet-style weapons for Ukraine from Eastern European factories

Europe, News, US April 27, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

Pentagon has paced its efforts to arm Ukrainian forces against the ongoing Russian invasion. Pentagon recently issued an open call for weapons manufacturers to provide weapons and defense systems that can be sent to Ukraine.

The federal contacts management website of the U.S. government, sam.gov, was contacted by the Department of Defense to post a broad Request for Information (RFI) to the industries, contractors, and manufacturers.

As the procurement of weapons becomes scarce and logistics becomes more complicated for the U.S., Pentagon is relying on its contractors to give them a lead into the Eastern European weapons manufacturers in order to gather handheld assault weapons and munitions.

The Pentagon sources suggest that although the Department of Defense is sending its own American-made weapons to Kyiv, but relying heavily upon private firms and contractors to provide nonstandard munition weapons. The contractors often source these weapons from the Eastern European weapons factories.

When it comes to anti-tank and antiaircraft weaponry, the U.S. Department of Defense prefers to send such weapons from its own locally produced stockpile such as Javelin anti-tank and Stringer antiaircraft missiles. However, for assault weapons, the DoD prefers much simpler Soviet-style weapons such as modern Kalashnikovs.

There are two main reasons why the U.S. prefers to provide the Ukrainian army with Soviet-style weaponry. The Ukrainian army and fighters have been trained to use the common Russian weapons for a long time, therefore, it is easier for the personnel to adapt and use such weapons in a short time. The second reason is the ease of logistics and supply. It is far easier for the U.S. to facilitate weapons supply directly from Eastern Europe into Ukraine. This is also one of the main reasons why the Pentagon prefers its contractors to source weapons from Eastern European factories.

*^{Ukrainian armed forces. (Image Credit: Defense Intelligence of Ukraine)}*

The Soviet-style weapons are usually referred to as ‘nonstandard ammunition’ by Pentagon, given that American-made or European-made munition is not compatible with such weapons.

Since the 9/11 attacks, Pentagon has been buying a large amount of handheld weaponry that is being imported from all over the world through a variety of private defense contractors and American defense companies. Several of these contractors had been tasked to handle the logistics of supplying weapons to Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and many other destinations all around the world. Pentagon is directly in contact with a large number of such defense contractors and companies that can source and supply Soviet-style weaponry to Ukraine.

Ultra Defense Corp. is one such company. Located in Tampa, Florida, the company consists of 60 employees and it has built a bustling network with weapons factories in Romania, the Czech Republic, Bosnia, Serbia Bulgaria, and Slovakia. These weapons manufacturers specialize in developing Soviet-style nonstandard munition weaponry. Ultra Defense Corp. is one of the leading defense contractors that is expected to respond to the Pentagon’s current RFI.

While speaking about the recent RFI, Department of Defense Spokesperson Jessica Maxwell stated, “The department routinely requests input from industry and commercial partners to conduct market research, learn more about their capabilities, and to shape future requirements,” She further added that, “The Department issued similar requests to industry in the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The department is interested in learning about and discussing novel solutions, including from non-traditional weapons makers.”