By derimot*no- Larry C. Johnson - July 10, 2025

Trump's schizophrenia cannot hide America's lack of strategic depth

Patriot missile launcher

Within the next decade, I think the publisher of Roget's Thesaurus will include "Trump" as a new synonym for erratic. Trump pulled off another of his characteristic political U-turns during a meeting with his cabinet. According to The Economist :

AMERICA ALERTED Ukraine and its European allies when it suddenly halted arms deliveries to Ukraine earlier this month (July 3). Just as abruptly, President Donald Trump contradicted the order on July 7:
“We’re going to send more weapons. We have to. They have to be able to defend themselves. They’re being attacked very hard right now.”
A few hours later, the Pentagon confirmed that it would send “additional defensive weapons.”

Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev didn't miss the opportunity to hit out at Trump with the following post:

The Russians do not seem to be impressed by Trump's wavering and will likely continue to crush Ukrainian forces. Although Trump's decision to send more weapons to Ukraine was interpreted as something that would happen immediately, Defense Secretary Hegseth's spokesman Sean Parnell stated:

"The process of evaluating arms deliveries globally remains in place and is an integral part of our 'America First' defense priorities."
This suggests that some weapons may still be withheld from Ukraine.

What Trump does not understand is that the United States' ability to deliver various weapons systems – offensive and defensive – is limited by a lack of supplies and a weak industrial capacity to increase production.

Weapon systems and production capacity

PATRIOT MISSILES

• Russia has fired more than 1,300 missiles and drones at Ukraine in the last three days.
• Approximately 500 PAC-3 MSE missiles are being produced per year , with a target of 550 by mid-2025 and 650 by 2027.
• Total production (PAC-2 + PAC-3): approximately 740 in 2025 , target of 1100 in 2027 .
• Price:
  • PAC-2 GEM-T: approximately $4 million
  • PAC-3 MSE: approximately $7 million

To shoot down 1,300 incoming projectiles, Ukraine would have had to spend over three years of production.

M1 ABRAMS TANKS

• The United States produced 30 Abrams tanks by 2024 , primarily upgrades of older models.
• Manufactured by General Dynamics in Lima, Ohio.
• Russia simultaneously produced 280–300 T-90M tanks – about ten times as many.

THAAD MISSILES

• The United States produces 60–80 THAAD missiles a year .
• Israel used over 90 THAADs in the war against Iran , at a cost of $1.2 billion .
• Price per rocket: approximately $13 million

HIMARS MISSILES

• The United States produced approximately 14,000 GMLRS missiles in 2024 .
• Monthly production: approximately 1,167 missiles (40% increase since 2022).
• Export price per missile: approximately $220,000

BRADLEY INFANTRY VEHICLE

• The United States ordered over 200 new Bradley A4 vehicles in 2024.
• These are mainly modernized older models.
• Price per vehicle: approximately $4.35 million
• Russia has destroyed or captured at least 140 of these in Ukraine, equivalent to $609 million lost.

STINGER MISSILES

• Production per month in 2024: 40
• Expected increase to 60 per month by 2025
• Annual production then: approximately 720 missiles

155 MM ARTILLERY GRANDINATES

• Production in 2024: 400,000–480,000 grenades
• Price per grenade:
  • Standard: approximately $3,600–$4,400
  • XM1113: approximately $13,656
  • Precision-guided M982 Excalibur: over $110,000

155 MM HOWITS

• The United States produced 200–250 new howitzers in 2024 (M777 and M109A7).
• According to ZALA drones, Russia has destroyed nearly 200 American M777s in Ukraine.
• Replacement barrel (M776):
  • Produced under 30 per month
  • Cost per race: approximately $690,000

Conclusion

The US weapons production capacity is weak and expensive . The demand is not only for Ukraine – Israel, Taiwan and the US own forces also need these systems. The US has become like old mother Hubbard – the cupboard is empty.

https://sonar21.com/trumps-schizophrenia-cannot-hide-the-us-lack-of-strategic-depth/

The text is AI-translated and edited.

Larry C. Johnson