LONDON, June 22. /TASS/. The UK will not be able to promptly replenish its stockpile of weapons and combat vehicles, shipped to Ukraine, UK Chief of the Defense Staff Admiral Tony Radakin said Wednesday.

"We are then talking in years, because you cannot whistle up with modern weapons a quick production line. Yes, you can churn out shells and artillery, but even at the not super-sophisticated end, even at the modest end of an NLAW weapon, then that’s going to take several years to get back to our original stocks," the Admiral said, speaking in the House of Lords committee on international affairs and defense Wednesday.

Radakin noted that the British government stays in close contact with defense enterprises, and that Prime Minister Boris Johnson will meet with representatives of 12 lead defense companies at Downing Street soon. He noted that UK authorities plan to invest more money in development of new weapons and combat vehicles.

Previously, the Prime Minister’s office said that the UK has already provided Ј1.3 billion worth of aid to Ukraine, including over 5,000 NLAW anti-tank rocket launchers, 200 Javelin anti-tank missile launchers, M270 multiple launch rocket systems, 155-mm shells, 120 armored vehicles, air defense systems, including Starstreak missile air defense systems, Brimstone missiles, 4.5 tonnes of plastic explosives, over 400,000 small arms rounds, and over 200,000 units of non-lethal aid, including helmets, protective gear and medical equipment.

On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a special military operation in Ukraine in response to the aid request from Donbass republics. After that, the US, the EU, the UK and a number of other states imposed large-scale sanctions against Russia and ramped up their weapon shipments to Ukrainian authorities.