AUSA 2024 – A leading European ammunition manufacturer suggested that competing with Russian artillery shell production output on a “one to one” basis is futile, but rather should beat quantity with quality.
“We are in a war of industrial capacity, but the end result of this is not to compete [against Russia] one-on-one on volume, it is to compete and increase the advantage for us with the help of technology; meaning longer range, precision, more manoeuvrability,” Morten Brandtzaeg, CEO of Norway’s Nammo, told Breaking Defense. Nammo is one of four major ammunition suppliers in Europe alongside France’s Nexter, BAE Systems of the UK and Germany’s Rheinmetall.
Russian annual ammunition output stands at around three million units a year, with Europe and the US jointly only able to produce 1.2 million on a comparative basis, according to a CNN report citing NATO and European intelligence sources.
Though Europe and the US may not be able to — and shouldn’t necessarily try to — match Russian output, Europe is moving swiftly to increase its production capability, Brandtzaeg said. Efforts have taken a “huge step forward” over the last year chiefly because “separate nations” have been supporting “local industry” through government subsidies.
Norway, Sweden, Finland and Germany — countries in which Nammo has a presence — have all followed this path, he noted.
“The message from industry that we have to share the risk of building war capacity between government and industry has been well heard, ” said Brandtzaeg.
He also stressed that the European Union’s Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) pledge of €500 million ($544 million) for the continent’s defense industry, has helped matters.
The funding was approved in March and has been offered to suppliers so they can hit a production target of two million shells by 2025.
Brandtzaeg repeated his call for production contracts to be awarded on a multi-year basis and argued that scaling production to meet demand remains a battle because “the whole acquisition system prioritised national buying” during an era of “deep peace.”
On other business, he said Nammo and the US Army are in “detailed talks” over a second 155mm ammunition base for the service – an addition to the existing plant in Mesa, Arizona.
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