U.S. M1A1 Abrams tanks are unloaded May 12, 2023, in Grafenwoehr, Germany, for use in the training of Ukrainian troops. A Government Accountability Office report issued Wednesday highlights the Pentagon's challenges in tracking the delivery and end use of weapons sent to Ukraine. (Adrian Greenwood/U.S. Army)
STUTTGART, Germany — The Pentagon doesn’t have a full grasp of when U.S. military equipment sent to Ukraine makes it there or what happens once the items arrive, a government watchdog agency found in a new report.
A better system is needed for the Defense Department to monitor the movement of the more than $42 billion in American weaponry that Ukraine has received since the full-scale Russian invasion of February 2022, the Government Accountability Office said Wednesday.
“For instance, DOD has been unable to directly observe some sensitive defense articles and has allowed Ukrainian officials to self-report the status of such articles,” the report said.
Sometimes items get marked delivered when in fact they are still in transit, the report said. Because the conflict is still ongoing, DOD also had to alter some traditional end-use monitoring procedures.
However, the Pentagon has not assessed the effectiveness of its modified approach, according to the GAO.
“By conducting such an assessment, DOD will better understand whether its adjusted monitoring approach ensures that defense articles are used for the purposes for which they were provided,” the report said.
The Pentagon generally agreed with most of the findings, which included recommendations for development of various procedures to improve the accuracy of the delivery data.
One finding the Pentagon disagreed with dealt with the need to better document when allegations emerge that weapons weren’t being used by Ukrainians in the way they were intended.
The GAO, however, said clearer guidance on such matters was needed when it comes to tracking possible “end-use violations” by Ukraine.
“While DOD officials said there had been no credible evidence of diversion of U.S.-provided advanced conventional weapons from Ukraine, it is unclear whether all allegations are being tracked,” GAO said.
