Defense companies increase production of shells, but not enough - FT

This is stated in an article published in the Financial Times, Ukrinform reports.

As noted, the ammunition plant in the Australian state of Queensland, owned by the German company Rheinmetall and local contractor NIOA, produces tens of thousands of artillery shells for Ukraine. Rheinmetall plans to increase production next year by 25%, to about 55,000 shells a year. At the same time, NIOA says it can produce more than 100,000 shells a year with increased capital investment.

In general, defense companies around the world have increased production of products ranging from ammunition to rocket engines and missiles to replenish the stockpiles of their countries that have provided weapons to Ukraine.

Tom Waldwin, a research fellow on defense procurement at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, noted that European companies have sometimes increased their production of artillery ammunition “10 times what they were producing before the war.”

In particular, Rheinmetall, which as of February 2022 had an annual production capacity of approximately 100,000 NATO-standard 155mm shells, plans to increase production to 1.1 million shells per year starting in 2027.

Sweden's Saab said that its ammunition production capacity has doubled in recent years to 200,000 units per year, and the company plans to increase it to 400,000 in the near future.

British Thales UK plans to double its capacity over the next two years and again by 2028.

However, according to experts, this is not enough. According to a recent report by the Kiel Institute for World Economics, Russia can spend about 10,000 rounds per day without fear of depleting its stockpile, while Germany, for example, would use up its entire annual ammunition supply in 70 days at this rate.

“If the goal is to provide adequate support to Ukraine to counter Russian aggression and build sufficient military capabilities to deter Russia, we need to buy and produce much more and much faster in Europe,” said Jan Pie, Secretary General of the industry trade organization ASD.

Some arms manufacturers face significant challenges. The first is raw materials, in particular cotton lint, which is needed to produce nitrocellulose used in artillery shells and other explosives. Another problem is the long production cycle, as it can often take two to three years from the decision to invest to the increase in capacity.

Defense company executives say that longer-term agreements are needed to produce weapons on a large scale and for a long time. Saab CEO Mikael Johansson believes that the industry “needs long-term commitments from the state, as it takes the risk of increasing capacity without guaranteed long-term contracts.”

As Ukrinform previously reported, the European Union is investing in support of Ukraine's defense industry to compensate for its need for weapons amid Russian aggression.