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President Joe Biden on Tuesday praised the "gigantic difference" employees at a Lockheed Martin facility are making in Ukraine's fight against the Russian invasion.
"We built the weapons and equipment and help defend freedom and sovereignty in Europe years ago. That's true again today," he said in remarks in Troy, Alabama.
"Every worker in this facility and every American taxpayer directly contributed to the case for freedom [for Ukraine]," he said.
The president's trip to the Deep South comes as analysts say the US is nearing a point where it may have to start reducing the number of Javelin anti-tank missiles it sends to Ukraine so it can maintain its own supply.
The Javelin, which is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is a portable anti-tank weapon that can be shoulder-fired by a single soldier. The weapon has proved to be a remarkably effective tool for Ukraine in its fight against the much larger Russian military.
The mobility of the weapon and its use of infrared technology — which allows soldiers to “fire and forget” and retreat to cover before the missile hits its target — make it an extremely important component of the Ukrainian military’s arsenal.
“It has what's called a top-attack capability, which is, it can either fly directly at the target, or it can go up in the air and hit the target from above,” said Mark Cancian, a retired US marine colonel who is a senior adviser at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.
“That's useful for armoured vehicles because the armour on top is typically much thinner.”
The White House has delivered more than 5,500 Javelins to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February — but that number may not increase by much.
The Lockheed Martin facility can produce more than 2,100 missiles per year, the White House said, however the US Army reports the country has built fewer than 38,000 since production first started in the early 1990s.
Analysts such as Mr Cancian say the US may be approaching an uncomfortable point when it comes to sending Javelins to the Ukrainian battlefield.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shake hands as they meet in Kyiv. AP -
Floodwater edges towards homes in the small Ukrainian town of Demydiv. AFP -
Lila stands inside her apartment after a missile strike damaged a residential building in Dobropillia, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Residents board-up windows of a damaged apartment building with plywood after Russian shelling in Dobropillya, Donetsk region. AP -
A police officer distributes humanitarian aid to people in Lyman, Donetsk. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers near Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier receives medical treatment as he and others rest after fighting on the front line for two months near Kramatorsk. AFP -
Exhausted Ukrainian soldiers arrive at an abandoned building to rest and for medical treatment after fighting on the front line near Kramatorsk. AFP -
Ukrainians attend a solemn religious service to commemorate the fallen in the Russian occupation in Zdvyzhivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Hanna Selivon, 77, surveys what remains of her house, which she says was destroyed by Russian shelling on the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
Women cry as they take part in a rally demanding international leaders organise a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of Mariupol, the besieged Ukrainian city where thousands are trapped. Reuters -
Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with kids in Lviv, Ukraine. AP -
Firefighters try to put out a blaze after an explosion in Kyiv as Russia mounts attacks across Ukraine. AP -
A car parked under a tree in the partially abandoned town of Chernobyl. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres leave a news conference in Kyiv. AP -
Military aid bound for Ukraine at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to agree to $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia. AP -
Members of the pro-Russia Donetsk People's Republic militia stand guard as civilians go to receive aid in Mariupol. AP -
A destroyed building in the south-eastern city of Mariupol. AP -
A Ukrainian girl with other civilians on a bus as they flee the violence in Slovyansk, in the Donetsk region. Reuters -
A block of flats reduced to rubble in Mariupol. Reuters -
Explosions in a village near the eastern city of Izium. Reuters -
A car and piled sleepers in flames after shelling near Lyman station in Lyman, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Residents and members of the Ukrainian emergency services clear debris after a recent Russian rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. EPA -
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, where spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently said that Ukraine had either carried out the executions of civilians in Bucha itself or positioned the bodies so as to incriminate Russian forces. AFP -
An aerial view of in a neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia on the 65th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP -
Clean-up crews at the site of an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine. Russia struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv shortly after a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint news conference in Kyiv as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Russia struck Kyiv shortly after the meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP Photo -
Volodymyr Tykhonov, 76, opens the door of his garage, which is riddled with bullet holes, in Zahaltsi, Ukraine. Getty Images -
President Zelenskyy welcomes UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres before their meeting. Reuters -
Iulia Shevchuk rests in a reception centre for displaced people in Dnipro, Ukraine. AP Photo -
American 155 mm howitzers due to be being loaded on to a US Air Force plane to Ukraine. AFP -
Smoke rises after an explosion at sunset in Kyiv. Getty Images -
Ukrainian rescuers pull out a part of a rocket that remained after shelling in the eastern city of Kharkiv. EPA -
Lyubov, 85, stands in front of a 19th century wooden church, damaged by rocket attack, in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian servicemen on patrol in Luhanske village. EPA
“We are dipping into the stocks that had been reserved for war plans and therefore introduce some risk,” Mr Cancian told The National.
The US has so far been able to transfer equipment to Ukraine without affecting military readiness, the White House said.
Still, the president urged Congress to quickly pass the $33 billion in supplemental funding he requested last week as well as a bill to ensure access to semiconductors, of which each Javelin requires 200.
"We either back the Ukrainian peoples that defend their country or we stand by as Russia continues its atrocities and aggression," Mr Biden said.
The Pentagon says the Javelin “line” to Ukraine remains “open” and that it is keen to keep it that way.
“We’re working with the contractor to see what has to be done to continue to keep that line going and open because it has proven to be an important piece of Ukraine's self-defence,” a senior defence official said.
Mr Cancian pointed out that even if Ukraine does not receive any more Javelins, there are other effective anti-tank missile options that the US and its allies are already supplying.
He believes, however, that the conflict will grind to a stalemate before Ukraine “runs out of Javelins".
