The European arms industry is not equipped to meet Ukraine’s needs for artillery ammunition, according to a report by Norwegian ammunition manufacturer Nammo.
The leading defense company claimed that Europe’s military-industrial sector would need over a decade at its current production rate to cater to Kyiv’s needs for artillery shells.
Journalists at the Ukrainian portal Defense Express analyzed the report, which estimated that currently all of Europe is capable of producing about 500,000 artillery rounds annually. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s demand is about 600,000 rounds per month.
This means that to meet the annual demand of the Ukrainian armed forces for ammunition at a rate of 20,000 rounds per day, Europe would need about 14 years at the current production rate.
If the rate of consumption is reduced to 10,000 rounds per day (300,000 per month), Europe could meet the annual demand of the Ukrainian armed forces within seven years.
The calculation is based on the current European production rate of artillery ammunition at 500,000 units per year, although the actual situation today might be slightly worse. It is known, for example, that in February 2023, the production rate in Europe was 300,000 artillery rounds annually, making it unlikely that the figure has dramatically increased to 500,000 today, Defense Express noted.
The West is uncertain whether it will be able to simultaneously provide weapons to Ukraine and Israel, and the defense industry of NATO member states does not have sufficient reserves to respond to crises like the current one.
The European Union is facing serious challenges with its plans to deliver 1 million artillery shells to Ukraine by next March.
According to Bloomberg sources, more than half the time has already passed, but the plan is only 30 percent realized. Considering the number of contracts signed to date, there is a risk that the intended goal will not be met.
