Arms and ammunition to Ukraine, all about production in the US and Europe
Ukraine is running out of ammunition. The United States and other allies in Europe are faced with the challenge of increasing production of weapons and shells. The war exposed the inability to rapidly increase industrial production. Facts, numbers and insights
There is a willingness to support Ukraine with the supply of weapons and ammunition on the part of the United States and Europe as well as the challenge of increasing production for the industry.
On March 20, eighteen EU member states initialed the European Defense Agency's (EDA) project agreement for the procurement of ammunition to be sent to Ukraine and to replenish member states' national stockpiles.
Ukrainian officials have said they need at least 1 million 155mm shells to supply and maintain their defenses, a figure that far exceeds Europe's annual production capacity, Politico reports.
Yesterday the European commissioner for the internal market and services, Thierry Breton stopped in Poland where he visited the factory of Zaklady Meralowe Dezamet, which develops and produces munitions for the army and the security forces of Poland. Since mid-March, Breton has embarked on a "defence tour" through member states to assess the state of industry capabilities, with the aim of visiting 15 companies in 11 member states that would be able to scale up their domestic production of armaments according to current and future needs, EurActiv reported.
But the nodes to industrial production do not concern only the Old Continent. In the race to arm Ukraine, the United States also faces challenges in manufacturing output, the Washington Post reports. The conflict has exposed deep-seated problems that the United States must overcome in order to effectively manufacture the weapons needed not only to aid its allies but also for American self-defense in the event of a conflict with Russia, China, or another major power. .
All the details.
THE BRETON DEFENSE TOUR
Yesterday Commissioner Breton met with the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, in Nowa Deba. Morawiecki said ammunition was what Ukraine's military needed most urgently with Kiev expected to receive one million shells by the end of the year. Officials said Europe urgently needed to ramp up its munitions production and urged EU member states to relocate their existing stockpiles to Ukraine.
On March 16, the EU commissioner had visited the city of Sopot, site of the largest Bulgarian state arms and ammunition factory, VMZ, and held meetings with representatives of the country's war industry.
Breton said that with his visits he intends "to understand how to increase the capacities in the plans, evaluate their credibility and then make sure that we will be able to provide financial support and also logistical support to increase the EU's capacity to produce what is needed for Europe".
THE EU AMMUNITION PLAN FOR UKRAINE
The plan involves the use of 2 billion euros from a joint fund, the European Peace Facility (EPF), and comes in response to requests from Kiev for 155mm shells and other artillery supplies required by Ukraine to defend against Russian offensive.
Therefore, according to the plan agreed in Brussels, 1 billion euros will be used for the immediate delivery of ammunition from existing stocks or already approved orders. Another one billion euros will be used to underwrite joint purchases of new ammunition for Ukraine until the end of September.
“The EU urgently needs to increase the production of ammunition for its own security. I visit countries with defense industries ready to increase their capabilities,” Breton stressed.
But production problems, including the shortage of materials, risk frustrating the European intent. Scarce supplies of gunpowder and TNT will delay the shift to "large-scale war production," according to defense industry officials cited by the Financial Times . ( Here Startmag 's insight into why EU states have a big ammunition problem ).
WEAPONS PROCUREMENT AND PRODUCTION ON THE BIDEN AGENDA
But even on the other side of the Atlantic, concerns have risen publicly in recent months that the United States alone may not be able to maintain its steady supply to Ukraine.
The procurement and production of weapons is a key agenda item for the Biden administration, especially in recent months, as it has become increasingly clear that US ammunition stockpiles are running low, Nbcnews reports.
Domestic American production of conventional weapons – such as howitzers, tanks and the munitions needed for them – fell out of style in the US industrial base after the end of the Cold War. Those production lines, which went unused in the decades that followed, were slow to get back to full operation.
Despite boasting the world's largest military budget – more than $800 billion a year – and its most sophisticated defense industry, the United States has long struggled to efficiently develop and produce the weapons that have allowed Americans to technologically surpass their peers highlights the Wp .
The Pentagon, the White House, Congress and military contractors are all taking steps to address these problems. But these changes are likely to take some time to take effect, leaving the military to watch stockpiles of some key weapons dwindle, The New York Times reported yesterday.
EVEN IN THE USA THE MILITARY TOP LIGHTS HIGHLIGHT THE PRODUCTION NODE
Again the NYT recalls the appeal by Admiral Daryl Caudle, head of the United States Fleet Forces Command, launched to defense contractors during an industry meeting in January.
The top Navy has called the defense industry into question for the delays in the supply of weapons. “I don't condone the fact that they don't deliver the ordnance we need,” he said of the readiness of the US military to deal with shipments of billions of dollars of military assistance to Ukraine. “All this stuff about Covid, about spare parts, about the supply chain, I don't care,” he said. “We all have difficult jobs.”
His open frustration reflects a problem that has become apparent in Washington. As the Pentagon sends its stockpiles of weapons to help Ukraine and the White House watches China's moves on Taiwan, the United States lacks the capacity to produce the weapons the nation and its allies need at a time of crisis. heightened tensions between the superpowers, concludes the New York Times .
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/armi-e-munizioni-ucraina-ma-ce-il-problema-della-produzione-in-usa-e-europa/ on Sat, 01 Apr 2023 14:03:11 +0000.