Ukraine will gain time, while West will upgrade defense industry: why Western countries should give up their stockpiles to Ukraine

Oleksiy Kopytko, a military and political analyst, writes that when statements say that "resources have been depleted," they are talking about weapons that countries can share without compromising their own defense capabilities.

However, as warfare practices are changing rapidly and new armaments are being introduced, Western stockpiles may appear outdated.

"What has been accumulated in arsenals and warehouses is rapidly becoming obsolete. In fact, for a significant share of existing weapons and equipment, our war is the last chance to perform decently.

Currently, these weapons are stored for "just in case something happens" reasons. The trouble is that if something happens, it will be too late: the enemy will have knowledge that will radically reduce the effectiveness of what is being saved for a rainy day," Kopytko writes.

Both the Ukrainian and the Russian armies have accumulated experience that no one else has. And the Russians are already sharing knowledge with “their accomplices in the axis of evil.” 

“Hamas is already using drones in ways that it could only learn from the Russians. Iran has already modernized drones in such a way that its new experience will be in great demand for distances of about 1000 km (less than 200 km to Taiwan and just about 1000 km to Tokyo from North Korea). It is a matter of time before conditional "Nigerian-Yemeni-Philippine" pirates use a maritime drone to strike a merchant ship,” the analyst emphasizes.

Therefore, in his opinion, it is necessary to deploy the military-industrial complex to meet new threats: either to invest in modernization or to produce new equipment. The latter option, although long-term and more expensive, is more promising. 

Even if the frontline in Ukraine calms down, it won't solve the problem, because the equipment is already obsolete.

In addition, Russia, with its knowledge and army skilled in the new conditions, will take advantage of the pause as effectively as possible. Therefore, the best option now is to give the accumulated weapons to Ukraine.

"We (Ukraine - ed.) will get a chance to defend ourselves, gain time and prevent Russia and its allies from accumulating resources for an attack. During this time, our partners will be able to restore defense production. In fact, Germany is already quietly doing so. The first to boost its military-industrial complex will skim the cream," Kopytko concludes.