@The Dog that is a fascinating thread. While it makes sense that we found some production issues/inadequacies that we are addressing (or boosting capacity) these really jumped out at me, because it looks like the US Army (and possibly Marine Corps) are making some changes in their own units and tactics, based on Ukrainian battlefield performance. Notably, artillery - while it could be we are going to send a lot more HIMARS to Ukraine, it’s more likely that we will also be converting some of our M777 units to HIMARS. Which makes a lot of sense - the Ukrainians have tested them on a modern battlefield against what used to be a near-peer and the kinds of hardware we would be facing in the future, far more thoroughly than anything we could replicate in training or in Afghanistan/Iraq.
I follow artillery stuff more than infantry on FB and Reddit, and there’s been talk about reducing the amount of barrel artillery in favor of MLRS/HIMARS, because with the range and accuracy, and the kinds of targets that Ukraine has successfully hit, as well as the mobility factor, it makes sense to start considering what we use, now that we have actual battlefield experience in hand to justify the changes/ costs. Also, moving to boost the acquisition/use of the more accurate munitions (Excaliberm etc,) used in the M777s makes sense. These things could also lower our logistics requirements in the long run (improved accuracy/range = fewer munitions expended to hit a target )
And something else - those numbers and that hardware that he mentioned below, some of that is going to be buying us the newest generations of hardware, as we are sending the previous stuff to Ukraine, Those 100 HIMARS could be replacing previous-gen HIMARS.
The bit about Marines buying Stingers for the first time in 17 years - either they had a large stock they hadn’t worked through, or possibly it’s an acknowledgement that they need to boost their anti- drone/UAV capabilities.
There’s the saying about we always prepare/train to fight our last war, but looking like we are looking to the future.