USA Fines Two Companies for Delays in Delivering Ammunition to Ukraine

The US Army has begun the process of imposing fines on Northrop Grumman and Global Military Products for delays in delivering artillery ammunition to Ukraine.

The Army Contracting Command is acting on the recommendations of the Pentagon’s Inspector General, who found serious violations in the timing of order fulfillment, according to Bloomberg.

The inspector’s report notes that the amount of penalties could be $1.1 million. Some shipments of large-caliber shells were delivered 18 months late. The military is still assessing the exact amount of the penalty for each company.

The contracts for ammunition and weapons systems were signed in January 2022 as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). In total, the Inspector General reviewed seven contracts with Northrop Grumman and Global Military Products for a total of $1.9 billion.

The audit found that in five of them, purchases were not effective and delivery deadlines were systematically violated.

The inspectors also suggest that the Army may have overpaid for ammunition without ensuring proper control over the fulfillment of obligations. In addition to delays, orders worth $907 million were found that had not yet been fulfilled. The report noted that these funds could have been used more effectively if the orders had been canceled in a timely manner due to the contractors’ inability to fulfill them.

In response to the criticism, the Army reported that some of the ammunition under these contracts had already been delivered. The rest of the orders are planned to be reviewed: some of the undelivered shells will be canceled, while others are still expected to be received in the near future. Northrop Grumman forwarded requests for comment to the military, and the representatives of Global Military Products have not yet provided official responses.