A government report this week revealed that the Pentagon lacks standardized guidance for tracking and reporting arms shipments to Ukraine, and that it has no way of knowing how much munitions actually went to Eastern Europe. It is impossible to know exactly.
Congress opposes continued military aid to Ukraine, citing liability for the $42 billion in weapons sent by the United States as one of its key concerns, but a General Accounting Office (GAO) report released Wednesday has made it clear that much of the uncertainty is not Kiev’s fault, but Ukraine’s. Department of Defense.
The military uses a system of records known as DSCA 1000, provided by the little-known Defense Security Cooperation Agency, to track weapons deliveries to Ukraine.
However, the report notes that the Department of Defense’s own guidance “does not clearly define at what point in the delivery process a defense article should be recorded as delivered to DSCA 1000, and DSCA officials do not “We do not have a process in place to ensure the accuracy of the information.”
cause confusion
In the absence of a standard Pentagon-wide policy, each military branch independently chooses when to mark items as “delivered,” leading to confusion about the status of aid, the report said.
For example, the Army declares that items are delivered “as soon as they begin moving from the Army’s point of departure” in the United States, and it can take “several weeks” to be delivered to the Ukrainian military.
Meanwhile, the Navy records that the items were delivered “on arrival at a port of disembarkation outside the United States.”
Meanwhile, the Air Force temporarily stopped recording weapons deliveries to DSCA 1000 completely last June, citing a lack of policy guidance, until GAO investigators consulted with senior leadership. According to the report.
“As of June 2023, the Air Force had not determined a standardized delivery confirmation process for defense articles provided to Ukraine,” the report said. “… [An] The official also said that DSCA 1000 data on deliveries of Air Force defense articles approved for delivery to Ukraine is inaccurate and that the Air Force has not updated DSCA 1000 delivery data in recent months.
In doing so, the Air Force violated a requirement that all services record deliveries in an online records system “at least monthly,” according to the report.
Meanwhile, DSCA officials told investigators that weapons would be considered “surrendered” only if they were physically transferred to Ukraine.
“Clear guidance on when to record defense articles delivered in DSCA 1000 would help ensure consistency in delivery data entry and accuracy during the PDA process,” the report states. .
The Marines came closest to the DSCA’s intent, marking an item as delivered “if we receive email confirmation from a border logistics or operational unit that the defense item was delivered to Ukrainian officials.”
Not only does the Department of Defense lack guidance on when to record items as delivered, but it also has “clear instructions on how service departments verify that defense articles have been delivered to end users.” was not provided either.
“Without clarifying data entry guidance or taking steps to address potentially inaccurate data within the DCSA 1000, the Department of Defense will continue to reduce defense articles it has provided and physically delivered to Ukraine.” “There may continue to be a lack of awareness about the types and quantities of
The lack of guidance also leaves a real possibility of violating federal law. Federal law requires that old equipment in the U.S. stockpile be physically stored by recipients before the Pentagon spends Congress-authorized funds on new weapons.
The service sector is also required to keep delivery data for weapons sent through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), which provides funds for the purchase of new weapons sent directly to Kiev.
However, auditors found that there were no records of the delivery status of nearly half of all USAI orders destined for Ukraine.
As of July, only 8% of all USAI orders were reported as completed, but the report states that this number would be lower if 56 out of 118 of all USAI orders were unrecorded. It is impossible to know the accuracy of
Although USAI assistance is inherently long-term because the weapons must be manufactured in the United States, GAO also requires the Department of Defense to maintain up-to-date records of all USAI orders it oversees. asked to do so.
There’s one problem with that. According to the report, the Pentagon has not even been able to determine why records of so many USAI orders do not exist.
tracking problem
The Pentagon also lacks an adequate system to track the status of all weapons sent to Ukraine, making it even more difficult to independently ensure that weapons sent to Ukraine stay there. There is.
“Existing end-use monitoring systems have proven ineffective in maintaining accurate data on whether delivered items have been used, destroyed, or lost,” the report states. ing. “It is unclear whether the Department of Defense has tracked all claims of end-use violations related to defense articles provided to the nation.”
Without adequate and up-to-date data, Pentagon officials deciding what to send to Ukraine will be left without concrete, reliable data to guide them.
Additionally, inaccurate or missing tracking data makes it difficult to accurately assess whether or how many U.S. deliveries end up on the black market.
As of August, only one report had documented the alleged illegal transfer of U.S.-shipped weapons from Ukraine to Russia since the start of the war, but the Pentagon said it was likely not true. I decided that. When GAO investigators asked how that determination was made, they were told that the claims were “consistent with Russian disinformation.”
But due to a lack of data, there is no way to know whether the Pentagon has tracked all of these allegations.
The department is required to report “suspected” cases of illegal arms transfers, but it does not have a standard process for how to determine the credibility of suspicions that weapons are in the wrong hands.
The report called on the Department of Defense to immediately improve the situation by issuing a formal policy on recording tracking data to enhance effectiveness and prevent misuse.
“Without clear guidance on tracking deliveries of defense supplies, Department of Defense data on the status of security assistance to Ukraine is not always accurate,” GAO said. “By taking steps to ensure the accuracy of delivery data, the Department of Defense will be in a better position to track the status of defense articles critical to Ukraine’s self-defense efforts.”
