The European arms industry cannot meet Ukraine’s need for artillery ammunition.
To supply Ukraine with sufficient artillery ammunition, the European military-industrial complex will need seven to fourteen years. This opinion was presented by the Ukrainian website Defense Express, specialized in weapons.
Troubling conclusions
Journalists analyzed a report from the Norwegian company Nammo, one of Europe’s largest ammunition producers, on the situation in the European defense industry. The Norwegians estimate that all of Europe can now produce about 500,000 artillery ammunition per year. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s demand is about 600,000 ammunition per month.
This means that at current production rates, Europe will need approximately 14 years to meet the annual ammunition needs of the armed forces at a rate of fire of 20,000 shells per day. If the rate of fire is reduced to 10,000 ammunition per day (300,000 per month), Europe will be able to meet the annual needs of the Ukrainian armed forces within seven years.
“This results from the calculation that Europe already has a production rate of artillery ammunition of 500,000 pieces per year, although in reality the numerical situation today may be slightly worse – for example, it is known that in February 2023 in Europe the production rate was 300,000 artillery shells per year, so this number is unlikely to increase quickly to 500,000 today,” Defense Express notes.
Problems of the West
The West doubts whether it will be able to supply weapons to Ukraine and Israel at the same time. NATO member states’ defense industries do not have sufficient reserves to respond to crises such as the current one.
The European Union is facing serious problems with its plans to deliver a million artillery shells to Ukraine by March next year. According to Bloomberg’s sources, more than half the time has passed, but the plan is only 30% complete. and given the number of contracts signed so far, there is a risk that the intended goal will not be achieved.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
