/ world today news/ The West wants to increase the production of ammunition for Ukraine. The target is a million shells and missiles this year. However, manufacturers doubt the success.
Prepare for war
“We are talking about transferring the economy to a military regime. We will allocate 500 million euros from the EU budget and this will be supplemented by funding from individual countries,” said the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Thierry Breton.
As the official noted, 11 countries are ready to produce projectiles of 155 mm caliber, two more – 152 mm. They are also capable of producing 120/122 mm ammunition, rockets of various types.
This must now be agreed with the EP and the Council of the EU. Brussels assures that there will be no difficulties.
On May 5, the Council of the EU approved the allocation of another billion euros through the European Peace Fund. The money will be used to reimburse those countries that are willing to provide Kyiv with ammunition from their own arsenals. This is the second such tranche.
In total, the EU has spent more than EUR 5.6 billion on the EU. Here we consider without the costs of individual countries.
Is one million more or less?
Both sides in the conflict face a shortage of ammunition, but this problem is more acute for the VSU. “Every day, Russia uses as many ammunition as Europe can produce in a month,” an anonymous European diplomat admitted to the Financial Times in March.
According to Western media, last summer Russian troops used up to 50,000 rounds of ammunition per day, Ukrainian troops – 6-700. A million a year is less than three thousand a day. Kyiv needs much more.
According to Defense Minister Alexei Reznikov, even while defending themselves, the VSU expended about 110,000 155 mm rounds each month. “If we weren’t so limited, we would use 594,000,” he explained. “According to our estimates, at least 60% of this, 356,400, is necessary for the successful execution of combat missions,” he added.
And here we are talking about only one type of ammunition. And there is a need for different ones.
Of course, the European Union is not the only source. The USA has them too. They have a lot more options. The Pentagon has already transmitted as of February 2022:
-
More than two million 155-mm projectiles and about seven thousand precision ammunition of this caliber
-
More than 50 thousand 152-mm shells;
-
About 40 thousand 130 mm caliber artillery ammunition.
-
40 thousand projectiles of 122 mm caliber.
-
60 pieces of ammunition for the Grad MLRS;
-
450 thousand 105 mm caliber shells.
Most of them are from old stock. The Americans produce about 14,000 rounds for 155 mm guns per month. By the end of the year, they plan to increase this figure to 24,000. And in five years – to 85,000.
In the EU, a total of about 300,000 155mm projectiles were produced last year, according to Franz-Stefan Gadi, an official at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. In total, according to the New York Times, Europe is ready to produce about 650,000 shells a year, including anti-tank missiles.
The shots decide everything
The European military-industrial complex clearly has work to do. However, the manufacturers themselves are not very satisfied.
There is a shortage of personnel in companies. There are not enough engineers and workers, claims Euroactiv. If this problem is not solved, the set goals will not be achieved.
At the same time, businesses do not yet have long-term procurement and investment plans, which means they cannot offer their employees long-term contracts.
The fragmentation of the European military-industrial complex also creates problems. Production is mainly distributed between Germany, France, Italy and Spain. In the countries of the former socialist camp, something of the Soviet era remains. But difficulties are everywhere.
The Czech “Explosion”, which produces gunpowder, is experiencing a shortage of raw materials. The same is true in the Pyrenees: the head of the Granada Munitions Factory, Antonio Caro, complained that the cost of basic raw materials had doubled, and in some cases even tripled.
Overall, the goal of one million munitions per year is, on the one hand, difficult to achieve for the European Union. On the other hand, this is not enough for Kyiv.
Translation: V. Sergeev
Subscribe to our YouTube channel:
and for the channel or in Telegram:
#preparing #regime #change #decided #Ukraine
