President Joe Biden on Tuesday credited Lockheed Martin technicians who build the Javelin anti-tank missiles used to great effect by Ukrainian defence forces with helping Ukraine defend itself without the need to put American lives at risk and compared workers at the Troy, Alabama manufacturing facility to the American women who helped the US become the “arsenal of democracy” during the Second World War.
“We built the weapons and equipment that helped defend freedom and sovereignty in Europe years ago — that's true again today,” said Mr Biden, who recalled how a veteran of the July 1944 Normandy landing who he’d met during the 50th anniversary of D-Day credited his wife — who worked at the plant that built the landing craft used by allied forces — with “literally saving civilisation”.
The president said the Lockheed Martin workers were “making a gigantic difference” for “those poor sons of guns” — Ukrainian soldiers — who are operating “under enormous pressure”.
“We know that the United States is leading our allies and partners around the world to make sure the courageous Ukrainians — who are fighting for the future of their nation — have the weapons and the capacity and ammunition and equipment to defend themselves against Putin's brutal war,” he said. “You make it possible … for them to have a shot.”
Mr Biden told the assembled factory workers their product, a shoulder-fired anti-tank missile he called one of the “best, most effective weapons” in the US arsenal, has become so important to Ukraine’s defence efforts that Ukrainian parents are reportedly naming their children “Javelin” or “Javelina”.
He said the “brave people of Ukraine” deserve “every ounce of credit” for their success at repelling the invasion force dispatched by Russian president Vladimir Putin, and cast their efforts as part of an “ongoing battle in the world between autocracy and democracy”.
Recalling how Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said democracies “cannot be sustained” because they move too slowly to keep up with rapid developments in the 21st century, Mr Biden told the workers their efforts would help determine whether Mr Xi is proven right.
He also credited them for saving American lives by “making it possible for the Ukrainian people to defend themselves, without us having to risk getting into a third world war by sending American soldiers”.
“You're allowing the Ukrainians to defend themselves. And quite frankly, they're making fools of the Russian military in many instances,” he said.
“A big part of the reason they've been able to keep up fighting and make this war strategic failure for Russia is because the United States … has committed more than 5,500 javelins to Ukraine,” he continued, adding that the $3bn the US has sent to Ukraine for defence thus far is a “direct investment in defending freedom and democracy itself”.
“Because if you don't stand up to dictators, history has shown us they keep coming … their appetite for power continues to grow,” he said. “And every worker in this facility and every American taxpayer is directly contributing to the case for freedom. That's something we can all be incredibly proud of in my view.”
