(WASHINGTON) — With Russia making its first moves in an expected spring offensive, the U.S. and allies are scrambling to get enough ammunition to Ukraine to fight off what could prove to be a decisive assault — and to launch an offensive of its own.

As much of the war has shifted to major artillery battles in the eastern part of the country and Ukraine burns through rounds at a high rate, the U.S. and allies have had to significantly boost production of critical ammunition.

But a key question is whether enough can be produced and delivered in time.

A short-term and long-term problem

Last month, NATO Secretary General Jens Stolenberg said, “The war in Ukraine is consuming an enormous amount of ammunition and depleting allied stockpiles. The current rate of Ukraine’s ammunition expenditure is many times higher than our current rate of production. This puts our defense industries under strain. For example, the waiting time for large caliber ammunition has increased from 12 to 28 months.”

Last week, Ukraine’s defense minister, Oleksii Reznikov, told his E.U. counterparts, in a letter obtained by the Financial Times, that Kyiv needed 250,000 artillery shells a month. He also said that his forces were firing only about a fifth of the rounds he said they would ordinarily use.

Rob Lee, a senior fellow in the Foreign Policy Research Institute’s Eurasia Program, tweeted, “The single most important thing the EU can do to support Ukraine is to produce more artillery rounds. More artillery rounds will give Ukraine a better chance at achieving a breakthrough in its future offensives and to reduce Russia’s advantages in an attritional fight.”

A top Pentagon official says it’s both a short-term and long-term problem.

“What the Ukraine conflict showed is that, frankly, our defense industrial base was not at the level that we needed it to be to generate munitions,” Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, told American lawmakers last week.

“Those are going to matter a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, because even if the conflict in Ukraine dies down, and nobody can predict whether that will happen, Ukraine is going to need a military that can defend the territory it has clawed back,” he said.

US companies ramping up production

U.S. Army officials and manufacturing companies in the U.S say they are confident they can meet Ukraine’s needs, despite it blowing through U.S supplies much faster than expected.

Asked on Wednesday whether the U.S. was caught off guard by how much ammunition aid Ukraine needed and whether it was playing catch-up, Assistant Secretary of the Army for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, Doug Bush, said, “I believe we are keeping up with the demand. No other country has done what the United States has done here, in terms of having the stocks in advance, having them in the right condition to provide for our ally, moving them there, and sustaining them.”

Bush noted that while it is “appropriate for Americans to always ask questions about what we could have done better,” he said he was personally “astounded” at what the Army has been able to accomplish.

Currently, a munitions plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania, has increased its production of artillery shells from 15,000 to 70,000 shells a month.

And Lockheed Martin, which makes the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) the U.S. has sent to Ukraine, is doubling its production of the launchers from 48 to 96 per year, executives say.

Officials at the company’s Camden, Arkansas, factory say they are confident they can keep up with the increased pace.

“We’re in a place now where we can meet the capacity demand,” Jay Price, vice president of precision fire at Lockheed Martin, told ABC News during a recent visit. “We won’t have to work around the clock. We ebb and flow. We want to make all of our deliveries on time. So, if we have to work weekends or if we have to go [to] a second shift, we’ll do that.”

HIMARS have been credited as having an important role in Ukraine’s defense against Russia. The truck-like mobile rocket launchers are able to set up, fire and relocate in a matter of minutes after launching as many as six rockets toward a target.

The launchers have been particularly effective in fighting Russia’s offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine by allowing Ukrainian forces to strategically attack specific Russian supply and ammunition depots as far as fifty miles from the front lines, slowing their ability to make advances. The system was also crucial in forcing Russia to withdraw from Kherson.

A Ukrainian official who spoke with ABC News in February confirmed that Ukraine’s ability to strike targets with high precision has been thanks to support provided by the U.S., which has so far sent 20 of its own HIMARS systems to Ukraine as part of some $29.3 billion in total security aid to date.

A $2 billion military package for Ukraine announced by the Pentagon on Feb. 24 also includes more Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLR) rockets that are fired from the HIMARS launcher.

The United States has also contracted to provide Ukraine with 20 additional newly built HIMARS that will be part of the ramped-up production at the factory in Camden.

Giving Ukraine the ‘best chance of being successful’

On Friday, the administration announced another $400 million aid package that included additional ammunition for HIMARS, additional 155mm artillery rounds and more 105mm artillery rounds.

In Tallinn, Estonia, two weeks ago, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke of the importance of the continuing security assistance to Ukraine as it prepares for Russia’s “upcoming offensive” in the spring.

“We’re going to provide them all the support that we can possibly provide them so that they can have the best chance of being successful in the upcoming offensive,” he said then.

Back at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Camden, Dennis Truelove, a product manager retiring this week after nearly 42 years, said he deeply believes in the capability of HIMARS and what he described as its fundamental purpose.

“In Camden, Arkansas, our production workers produce a weapons system that is second to none anywhere in the world,” Truelove told ABC News. “Somebody’s son, somebody’s daughter, somebody’s grandson, nephew, niece — lives depend on the decisions that our production workers make on a daily basis at our facilities.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Norfolk Southern CEO Alan Shaw was evasive at times Thursday when asked direct questions from senators, despite his assurances that he and his company were committed to helping the residents of East Palestine, Ohio, affected by a toxic train derailment last month.

He appeared to dodge in responding to a number of “yes” or “no” questions during a Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works committee hearing on the incident, which has sparked a number of health and environmental threats and triggered a political fallout.

Shaw declined to say if Norfolk Southern would compensate people in East Palestine and other affected communities for any long-term medical costs, including medical testing, or economic damages. He also declined to commit to supporting the proposed bipartisan Railway Safety Act.

Instead, he repeatedly answered lawmakers’ specific questions on those points by saying the company is “committed to doing what’s right.”

As the three-hour hearing ended, committee chairman Tom Carper, D-Del., said some of Shaw’s answers didn’t adequately address his and his colleague’s questions.

“One of the things I’m concerned about, I’m not a big fan, as I said Mr. Shaw, of yes-no answers. That’s not usually my style. But I didn’t think we heard as many unequivocal answers — ‘yeses’ — as I might like to have, and we might want to revisit that at another time,” Carper said.

He began the panel’s probing of Shaw by asking him if Norfolk Southern would compensate the people of Ohio and Pennsylvania for possible long-term medical costs and economic damages resulting from this disaster, to which Shaw responded by saying his team would do “more than less” to clean up the area.

“Senator, we’re committed to doing what’s right for the folks of East Palestine and the community. That’s been my personal commitment since the day after this happened. I pulled my team together. And I told my team we are going to do more than less with the environmental cleanup, and we’re going to do more than less with the citizens of East Palestine,” Shaw said.

A follow-up question touched on Norfolk Southern’s commitment to paying for long-term medical testing for people with known or suspected exposure to the leak of dangerous chemicals.

“I’m committed to doing what’s right. You know, we’re gonna be there today, tomorrow, a year from now, five years from now, 10 years from now,” Shaw said.

At one point, Carper pointedly asked Shaw, “Yes or no: Will you commit that Norfolk Southern will be there for as long as it takes to make East Palestine, Ohio, Darlington Township in Pennsylvania, and the surrounding communities whole from this disaster?”

Shaw declined to answer with a “yes” or “no.”

“I’m terribly sorry for the impact this derailment has had on the folks of that community. And yes, it’s my personal commitment that’s Norfolk Southern that we’re going to be there for as long as it takes to help East Palestine thrive and recover,” he said. “That’s my personal commitment.”

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who is currently hospitalized to receive treatment for clinical depression, submitted a question for Shaw, inquiring if the CEO would support the recently-proposed bipartisan Railway Safety Act.

Shaw indicated that he’d support parts of the legislation, saying he’d commit to “the legislative intent to make rail safer,” without saying, “yes.”

He said during the hearing that Norfolk Southern had invested in several new initiatives to enhance safety which included more hotbox detectors and installing its first new wayside detector on Wednesday.

Shaw declined to say whether Norfolk Southern would commit to providing families compensation for decreased property values as a result of the crash when questioned by Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., instead rearticulating that the company was “committed to do what’s right.”

“Well, what’s right is a family that had a home worth $100,000 that is now worth $50,000 will probably never be able to sell that home for 100,000 again. Will you compensate that family for that loss?” Markey aske.

“I’m committed to what’s right, if –,” Shaw said again, as Markey interrupted, saying, “That is the right thing to do. These are the people who are innocent victims, Mr. Shaw. These people were just there at home and all of a sudden, their small businesses, their homes are forever going to have been diminished in value. Norfolk Southern owes these people. It’s an accident that is basically under the responsibility of Norfolk Southern, not these families.”

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., pushed Shaw on whether he would commit to giving his employees guaranteed paid sick leave, and was not satisfied with the CEO’s response.

Shaw also said that “everything is on the table” when Sanders asked about Norfolk Southern’s responsibility in covering health care needs for East Palestine residents.

“Senator, I share your focus on our employees, I will commit to continuing to discuss with them important quality of life issues, with our local craft colleagues,’ Shaw said.

“With all due respect, you sound like a politician, Mr. Shaw,” Sanders replied.

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