Artillery ammunition production in Europe should be doubled in the near future to help Ukraine.
The European Union is ready to double the production of artillery ammunition. EU industry is experiencing initial difficulties in increasing production in an attempt to help Ukraine. This was said in an interview with Bloomberg by Estonian Defense Minister Hanno Pevkur.
“We see that the European industrial capacity has grown, so this is a positive trend. Apparently, by the end of the year – or until the beginning of next year – we will be able to produce almost twice what we did in Europe a last year,” he said.
The EU is trying to rapidly increase production of 155mm artillery shells, both to help Ukraine and replace its stockpiles. But years of tight spending have left Europe’s defense industry unprepared for the rapid ramp-up in production following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Pevkur did not specify the volumes the industry is expected to reach, but an Estonian policy paper sent to member states this year says the block has the capacity to produce around 300,000 rounds a year.
Doubling this number will mean production of up to 600,000 shells by the end of this year, with production volumes increasing. It is expected that next year the capacity will reach one million shells.
Recall that the European Defense Agency signed the first contracts for the joint purchase of 155 mm artillery shells for Ukraine.
EU countries have already transferred about 224 thousand shells of various types to Ukraine as part of a plan to provide 1 million rounds of ammunition throughout the year.
Source: korrespondent
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