No. of Recommendations: 2
Here's the Eurp side of it:
<snip>Efforts in Europe to step up production have, admittedly, been notable this month, from Norwegian-Finnish ammunition maker Nammo switching to 24-hour production and Germany’s Rheinmetall announcing a new German plant which will produce 200,000 shells a year, plus a factory in Ukraine itself with a local partner to produce “a six-digit number of 155mm caliber bullets per year in the future.”
The U.K., which has supplied 300,000 rounds of various calibers to Ukraine so far, has committed to an eight-fold increase in 155mm production capability, with new BAE Systems’ production lines expected to be operational by 2025.
What that means in terms of output, however, is unclear.
“We do not disclose production capacity or stockpile numbers for operational security reasons,” an Ministry of Defence spokesperson told Defense News.
A clue did come in 2020 when the MoD said it was building up to large-caliber shell production levels of approximately 100,000 rounds a year.
Back on the continent, the EU’s Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton is expected to launch a new strategy for securing extra defense investment on Feb. 27, while on March 15 Brussels will name up to 30 ammunition firms picked to benefit from €500 million in funding to beef up production.
But despite all the efforts, RUSI analyst Nick Reynolds was nonplussed. “We are two years into the war and the West is still looking at its industrial capacity, its lead times. It’s not optimal,” he said.
One option backed by the Czech Republic this month is for Europe to go beyond its boundaries to buy munitions - a solution backed by the ASD industry lobbying group.
“It could serve as a bridge until the European industry has reached the production capacity required to meet the demand,” the organization’s spokesman said.
In the short term, however, Reynolds said whatever solutions were put into play now, Ukraine would not be able to match Russia on the front line this year.
“Russia will have its four million shells this year, which is more than Ukraine can hope to have. It is more than Europe, NATO and the U.S. can supply before taking their own restocking into account. Russia will have artillery advantage in 2024,” he said.
That does not mean, though, that Ukraine will lose the war, but it will give Russia time to rearm, he added.
“Russia’s armed forces have lost a great deal of combat power. Its ability to carry large scale maneuvers is reduced by losses, but it can still do damage with attrition, especially if Ukraine is short of munitions,” he said.
“We may not see Russian advances in the short term, but it now has time to rebuild its combat power. Seeing little change on the map now should not lull us into a false sense of security.”<snip>
https://www.defensenews.com/global/europe/2024/02/... 