The head of the Northrop Grumman Corporation Kathy Warden has called on Western governments to provide a “clear demand signal” for arms to Ukraine.

The arms industry wants to understand the needs to prepare for a protracted war in Ukraine.

According to Warden in an interview with the Financial Times, existing weapon stockpiles were not intended to service a lengthy war.

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that I’ve heard we’re running out, but if you do project forward that we’re going to want to sustain these levels of commitments for another couple of years — that’s certainly not what anyone had built stockpiles to accommodate,” Warden said.

Due to global supply chain constraints, lead times in some cases have doubled or tripled.

Warden says Northrop Grumman was prepared to make investments in expanding production before winning new contracts, but the industry needs to get an indication that the weapons will be in demand.

Another defense company has already begun to buy the necessary components anticipating contracts, but there is a risk that the manufactured weapons will not be used.

Like many manufacturers, US-based Northrop Grumman is wrestling with supply chain challenges, in particular shortages of electronic parts such as cables, connectors, and power supplies.

In certain cases, companies are now trying to guess the quantity of parts they could need — both for potential use in Ukraine and elsewhere in the world.

The biggest US contractors meet several times a week with Pentagon representatives to discuss the nomenclature and volumes of weapons supplied to Ukraine.

Northrop Grumman is an American defense technology company. The company manufactures Bushmaster guns and medium-caliber ammunition supplied to the Armed Forces of Ukraine from US government stockpiles. The RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft created by the company performs regular reconnaissance flights along the border of Ukraine on behalf of the Pentagon and NATO.