Ramp-up of ammunition production in NATO countries is progressing

NATO’s efforts to massively ramp-up the production capacity of artillery ammunition are progressing, an official has said.

According to the NATO headquarters in Brussels, the 32 countries in the alliance are on track to produce 2 million 155 millimetre rounds this year.

This is significantly more than in the past and is the result of a rather impressive industrial turnaround, said a NATO official ahead of a meeting of defence ministers this Thursday and Friday.

At the same time, the official conceded that the production levels are still too low and that munitions are still too expensive.

For example, according to Western intelligence, Russia can produce around 3 million artillery shells per year, which gives the country an advantage in its war against Ukraine.

The defence industry in NATO countries has not been geared to meet such high demand, which complicates providing military aid to Ukraine.

In order to increase efficiency and reduce costs, standardization is now also to be improved.

To this end, the NATO member states want to task new NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with presenting proposals for the modernization and standardization of the production of defence materiel at a meeting of defence ministers set to take place in February.

This should include, for example, how industry can be integrated even more closely and how it can be ensured that standards that have already been agreed upon are actually implemented.