A stack of 155mm artillery rounds sit behind the line of AS90 self propelled guns and their Ukrainian operators (UK MoD)
DSEI 2023 — The UK and BAE Systems have struck a new £130 million ($162 million) contract for 155mm artillery shells, 30mm medium caliber rounds and 5.56mm ammunition, aimed at increasing the British Army’s heavy munitions arsenal.
The new contract completes an order totaling £410 million ($512 million) and will also lead to an additional machining line established in Tyne and Wear in northern England, as well as a new explosive filling facility in Glascoed in South Wales, according to James Cartlidge, UK minister for defence procurement.
“As well as bolstering the British Army’s heavy munitions stockpile, [the munitions] will enhance the Army’s latest weapons systems and satisfy the increased demand for small arms ammunition,” he told an audience here at DSEI in London.
FULL COVERAGE: Breaking Defense at DSEI 2023 in London
The move fits in with London’s updated defense command paper pledge to investment £2.5 billion ($3.2 billion) in replenishing national stockpiles supplied to Ukraine. The paper, released in July, was produced by the Ministry of Defence in order to take stock of warfighting trends in Ukraine and make changes to national equipment plans and strategic thinking.
The latest munitions package is also in line with the British Army’s wider ambition to undertake an extensive modernization campaign based on a budget of £41 billion ($51 billion) over 10 years.
Having moved to quickly supply Ukraine with 155mm ammunition Europe has recently vowed to ramp up production of the shells, with the European Defense Agency (EDF) signing eight joint procurement framework contracts to that end last week.
Uncrewed Strategy Expected, New Export Office
In a flurry of other announcements made by Cartlidge, he said a new UK uncrewed systems strategy will be published “in the coming months,” which is intended to offer British armed forces additional “access to uncrewed systems and rapidly equip them with innovative technology across air, sea and land.”
Additional details about the content of the uncrewed systems document were not provided.
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The UK also plans to establish a new partnerships office for strategic defence exports, which will bring together political and industrial “expertise” in an effort to maximize export defense opportunities, though the minister again offered little insight to how the office will work in practice or at what scale.
“Our great companies are powering progress,” he said “But our strategic partnerships will supercharge them.”
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