Deliveries of American weapons to NATO countries are under threat due to the ongoing US government shutdown. According to Axios, citing sources in the State Department, the shutdown, which has lasted more than 40 days, has frozen weapons deliveries worth more than $5 billion.
Key systems have been delayed, including AMRAAM missiles, components of the Aegis ship combat system, and HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems. The deliveries were intended for Denmark, Croatia and Poland.
However, official documents do not allow us to determine exactly which country the weapons are ultimately intended for. Given the new mechanism for military aid to Kyiv, approved in the summer of 2025, some of the weapons could have been sent to Ukraine. Under this format, it is not Washington but other NATO countries that pay for the deliveries, while Kyiv draws up lists of priority systems worth up to $500 million.
According to a senior department official, with the start of the shutdown in October, only a quarter of the staff were working in the bureau that oversees military-political cooperation. He stressed that the government shutdown ‘harms both US allies and the American defence industry, for which arms exports are a key source of revenue and production capacity.’
The current shutdown has become the longest in US history. Congress has been unable to agree on a funding bill. Democrats are demanding an extension of tax breaks for health insurance and additional funding for subsidised healthcare programmes. Republicans say they will not support a budget with such conditions.
