Russia produces artillery shells three times faster than Ukraine’s allies, and they are four times cheaper.
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As Sky News reports, citing an analysis by the consulting company Bain&Company, this is a serious problem for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which rely on supplies of ammunition from the United States and Europe to fight against Russia.
Despite the fact that the US, UK and other European allies have tried to increase the production of artillery shells at their factories after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, their production rate still lags behind Russia.
As a result, according to the Ukrainian military on the front line, for every shot at Russian positions, the invading forces can fire about five retaliatory shells, the publication notes.
According to a Bain & Company study based on publicly available information, Russian factories produced or remanufactured about 4.5 million artillery shells in 2024, while European countries and the United States produced only about 1.3 million.
The average cost of production of a 155-mm projectile produced by NATO countries was about 4 thousand dollars. per unit, although it differs slightly depending on the country.
The production of one 152-mm projectile costs Russia about 1 thousand dollars, that is, four times cheaper.
At the same time, for example, at one of the large defense plants of the Thales company, located in Belfast in Northern Ireland, the working week lasts only four days, and the working day is from 7.00 to 16.00.
And although the work schedule was planned to be increased, this has not yet happened. For example, N-LAW and LMM missiles used by Ukraine are produced here.
Shells from the USA
After the adoption of the aid package to Ukraine, the US Army predicts a tripling of the production of 155-mm artillery ammunition. We are talking about the production of 100 thousand 155-mm ammunition per month or 1.2 million per year.
This was stated by Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Army, Lieutenant General James Mingus, Defense One reports.
That’s more than triple the 30,000 rounds U.S. factories expect to produce this month, Mingus said, and would be a sixfold increase in production since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Last year, US Army procurement chief Doug Bush noted that the country was expanding production facilities and plans to open new ones in Arkansas, Kansas and Texas. Artillery shells are one of the few munitions whose production is controlled by the US government rather than purchased from private contractors.
On March 19, Prime Minister Denis Szmigal announced that Ukraine, starting in April 2024, expects the transfer of a sufficient amount of artillery ammunition from its allies.
Earlier, Czech President Petr Pavel informed that Prague had found 800 thousand artillery shells that could be delivered to Ukraine. The politician clarified that ammunition can be delivered within a few weeks, but this requires funding.
What is known about the supply of ammunition to Ukraine
On February 15, the US government entered into a defense contract worth more than $500 million to produce artillery ammunition for the Ukrainian army.
In addition, the state concern Ukroboronprom presented the first jointly produced product from one of the NATO countries – 120-mm mortar mines. They have already arrived at the front for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
On March 1, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced that Germany would increase ammunition production to support Ukraine.
On March 20, the EU ministers of defense and foreign affairs agreed on an ammunition procurement plan that included supplying Ukraine with a million shells.
Three days later, EU leaders approved a joint purchase of ammunition for Ukraine, and also agreed on the supply of missiles if required.
In the fall of 2023, Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba suggested that the European Union would probably not be able to fulfill its plan to supply Ukraine with a million shells due to the “pathetic state of the defense industry.”
In January 2024, European Commissioner for Internal Market and Services Thierry Breton said that the EU could still achieve its target of producing 1 million artillery ammunition by spring 2024, which would then be sent to Ukraine.
The head of the EC, Ursula von der Leyen, announced on February 1 that by March the European Union would deliver 520 thousand shells to Ukraine.
European Commission Speaker on Foreign Policy Peter Stano announced that by the end of March the amount of ammunition supplied to Ukraine from the EU will be about 500 thousand.
Source: Racurs
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.