Top US military chief visits munitions plants with lawmakers to press the need to arm Ukraine
WASHINGTON — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General CQ Brown will visit US weapons factories in Oklahoma and Arkansas on Thursday, as the Pentagon views the $95 billion aid package hanging on the balance sheet on Capitol Hill as not only vital to the survival of Ukraine, but also crucial for the American economy.
Brown visits the Lockheed Martin weapons facility in Camden, Arkansas and the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Oklahoma, with the lawmakers who represent these plant workers to ease concerns about billions of dollars being sent abroad while there are so many needs at home . Some of these lawmakers have already voted against the aid or have indicated they will oppose it.
The general will travel with Republican Sen. John Boozman of Arkansas, Republican Sen. Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma and Brad Westerman of Arkansas and then meet with Republican Sen. Josh Breechen of Oklahoma while in McAlester.
Brown said he will use the trip to demonstrate how the funding is needed to replenish U.S. military supplies sent to Ukraine during the fight against the Russian invasion and how that increased production will support local economies. This is a point the Pentagon has increasingly pressed in recent months as Ukraine’s current funding ran out – and Ukraine’s frontlines began rationing ammunition against a much more robustly supplied Russian military.
“As I have done with other members, and I will do with these members, I will talk to them about the importance of the additional proposal and not just how it helps Ukraine, but how it helps all of us. What I mean by that is that a large portion of the money, about 80% of the money from the additional money, will go back into our defense industrial base,” Brown said in a call with reporters ahead of the trip.
Lockheed Martin’s Camden plant produces both the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, a coveted long-range firing system that Ukraine has used effectively against Russian front lines, and the Army Tactical Missile Systems, or ATACMS, long-range missiles that are fast and which, according to the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky have proven effective against Russian forces. The McAlester plant produces Navy and Air Force bombs, but is also a major warehouse for much-needed 155mm ammunition. In support of Ukraine, the McAlester plant also accelerated the repair of Stinger and Hawk missiles and refurbished 155mm rounds supplied by South Korea with new markings and fuses.
“I think it’s really valuable to see this firsthand and have time with them on the plane to talk about why this is important and why it’s important to go to these two locations,” Brown said.
Republican Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, a ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. John Lankford of Oklahoma, who negotiated the failed border bill that has now become a sticking point for the Ukraine aid bill in the House of Representatives, were scheduled to to travel with Brown, but will no longer be traveling.
Lawmakers have taken different approaches to their support for Ukraine as the war has dragged on.
In May 2022, Arkansas senators split over the $40 billion Ukraine aid package, with Cotton joining Lankford in favor of the aid and Boozman opposing it.
Mullin, who was a member of the House of Representatives before being elected to the Senate, voted in favor of the 2022 aid package, just like Westerman.
But more recently, when the Senate passed the $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel and Indo-Pacific allies last month, Cotton, Lankford and Mullin voted against it, while Boozman was in favor.
That bill is now stalled in the House of Representatives, opposed by hardline Republicans, including Rep. Josh Brecheen, who joined Congress in 2023. He said on social media that “the disastrous legislation must be stopped.”