newtypepilot
Member
yeah, a lot of people don't realize many of the equipment sent to ukraine are stuff that has been sitting in storage for years. It costs a lot of money to store and maintain military equipment and munitions, so they are saving money in the long run by sending them to ukraine.*Worth to mention, 100+ billion dollars worth of equipment - it is all not solid cash, roughly 1/3 has been allocated as "cash". It's mainly stuff allready manufactured and from storage. Also worth to mention, so far, only 30% has actually reached Ukraine.
I hope this is allowed to be posted, to explain how it works:
A large share of the money in the aid bills is spent in the United States, paying for American factories and workers to produce the various weapons that are either shipped to Ukraine or that replenish the U.S. weapons stocks the Pentagon has drawn on during the war. One analysis, by the American Enterprise Institute, found that Ukraine aid is funding defense manufacturing in more than seventy U.S. cities. The U.S. is not handing money over fist to Ukraine, mainly it is old stuff from storage, that then is replaced by new stuff. The valuation of said materials is also valued by various institutes, so, there is no real way of knowing the exact worth of the equipment. One example are Humvees, sold through government auctions can range from $4,000 to $20,000 or more, on the donation cost pages, they are listed as being worth $35,000.
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Helping out in one situation doesn't prevent from helping out in another.
It's basically like those food programs where near expired food items are given away or sold at major discount prices, because it's better than throwing them away.