NATO signs $1.2 billion ammunition contract to support Ukraine and replenish supplies | DW News

To Brussels now where NATO Secretary General Yen stoltenberg has signed a 1.1 billion Euro contract for artillery ammunition shells stoltenberg said the investment came as Russia’s war in Ukraine has become a battle for ammunition the supply of the 155 mm shells used in western guns has become critical the European Union had promised

To deliver a million shells by March of this year but European Parliament lawmakers say only 300,000 have been delivered so far Ukraine has long warned that its Army faces a very real and pressing ammunition shortage in its war against Russia let’s talk to DW’s Terry Schultz in Brussels who’s following that story

For us Terry tell us more about what we know about this investment is it all going to Ukraine well actually CLA we don’t know if any of it will go to Ukraine uh what people need to understand is that an order like this will take between a year

And a year and a half to be delivered so they sign it today but those 155 mm shells will not be on their way for a really long time who even knows what the situation will be at that point and although NATO is coordinating the deal it doesn’t have anything to say about

Where the shells will go with uh the countries who are who are purchasing them will make those those decisions so what the Secretary General said today is that is it is important for countries to refill their own stock piles because they have S so much to Ukraine but it

Will then be up to them whether they continue sending uh material that they that they have right now in stock to Ukraine knowing they’ll get these new shells or whether in fact they just use it uh to uh for their own home defense I see and tell us why we’re seeing a focus

Then specifically on the 155 MIM artillery ammunition well that has become the ammunition that most uh NATO allies use so it’s it’s commonly used used in the equipment that allies buy although each actually each country has its own standards which has been somewhat of a problem in making joint procurement like

That that’s why that that’s a success for NATO today because when you have countries buying it together that means they’ve agreed to use the exact same shells making these larger orders uh possible that would also be a big help to Ukraine because it would mean that any 155 millimeter shells sent to them

Could be used in whatever equipment they have that’s still years away for this level of standardization but it’s a good sign that they’re looking towards it and that they’re able to make more coste effective and also uh capacity effective decisions about ammunition procurement and Terry put this into perspective for

Us if you will How concerned is NATO of potential threats to the alliance itself well as especially the Frontline States will always say if Ukraine loses Russia has its eyes on them next and they very much believe that and that’s what Secretary General stoltenberg said

Today as well he said said we need to continue supplying Ukraine at the same time as we we refill our own stocks because if Putin wins that means that NATO territory is in danger next at the same time we don’t know how long countries will continue to supply

Ukraine even with what what many NATO allies feel is an existential threat right there at their borders Terry Schultz in Brussels for us thank you so much for your reporting there

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday announced that it has signed a $1.2 billion (€1.1 billion) contract with companies from Germany and France for producing over 200,000 155 millimeter shells to NATO members, part of which will be supplied to Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that increasing weapons production is important in order to continue supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

The 155 millimeter shells are to be used in the Caesar and Panzerhaubitze 2000 artillery systems, as NATO’s Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA) announced on Tuesday. NATO signed the contract with France’s Nexter Munitions and Germany’s Junghans Microtec. The first deliveries will take around 24 months, NSPA Director General Stacy Cummings said.

While addressing reporters in Brussels, Stoltenberg said that he does not see any imminent threat from Russia to any NATO ally. “We do all of this to ensure that we have the forces in place to remove any room for miscalculation or misunderstanding in Moscow about our readiness to protect every inch of NATO territory, and as long as we do that, there will be no attack against the NATO territory,” he said. NATO artillery stocks have been drained by shipments to Ukraine in helping its forces fight off Russia’s invasion. During Kyiv’s offensive in the summer of 2023, Ukraine was firing around 4,000 to 7,000 artillery shells each day, according to European Union estimates.

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34 comments

  1. Millions of people in European countries are dying of hunger. They are sending billions of Euros of weapons for the lost war.

  8. Throwing good money after bad! “Project Ukraine” in its death throes. The good news is that the privatised military complex will make millions $$$$$$$

  12. North korea can make them faster and cheaper……and they are supposedly the most sanctioned country in the world..way to go america…peace talks and negotiations is just to cheap and no profit for weapons investors and thier pet politicians

  18. 18 months (conservatively) to get the shells online, once online they likely get used to replenish depleted domestic stockpiles, and IF they go to Ukraine some unknown portion will naturally get siphoned off to the rest of Eastern Europe and the Middle East due to corruption. Meanwhile Chinese, Russian, North Korean, Iranian, and to some extent Indian industry is supplying the Russian front which does not seem to be experiencing any sort of ammo shortage.

    This is what happens when you prioritize the shareholders of defense companies over actual defense!

  22. Russia uses 3 million shells a year in Ukraine. Ukraine needs at least 1 million 155 mm shells a year. I think at the moment due shortages Ukraine is limited to firing one shell for every ten Russia fires. This is causing unnecessary casualties.

  25. Better make it 2 million . Putin will strike a nato member with missiles to enact a proportionate response from Nato He need that to decree martial law in Russia .Right out his playbook . Nato forget the proportionate response back . If you do you have given his industrial military bases and oil and gas intact Along with his bases . Once martial law is enacted millions from Moscow and St Petersburg will be rounded up to fight rearm and continue Dont give him a start point hit it all All coming your way in 2024 Watch the indicators a s Dmitry and lavrov non stop are wheeled out to blame the west for not allowing Ukraine to die and be enslaved on his way to Latvia Estonia Moldova Romania and others . Where he though he would be now . The allies should be humbled by what 🇺🇦 achieves after all the first year you drip fed them apart from Britain and Poland glad to say you seen the light in most cases

  28. Grandiose, magnanimous, invulnerable and victorious Russian nation over would-be global dominators, the kick it gave to the bag of dollars hurts more in the Yankee bags.

    The West, believing in its ability to carry out coups in different countries, is thinking about organizing a revolution in Russia, but it will not succeed, said in an interview, Sergei Naryshkin, director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR). Russia.
    "I can say with certainty that the Western, above all American, intelligence community has sincerely believed in the power of its technology to overthrow so-called undesirable regimes," he noted.
    "In fact, we must give them credit, they have in their assets the tragedy of the so-called Arab Spring, with its chaos, thousands and thousands of deaths and destruction. The responsibility of Western countries, first of all the USA, is the tragedy of Ukrainian Euromaidan, whose consequences the world is paying to this day", highlighted the head of SVR.

  29. Ukraine already lost, let's be realistic. Giving Ukraine money and equipment is like poking a dead cat with a stick

  32. Frontline in Ukraine round about 1.300 km.

    200.000 / 1.300 = 153 rounds per Kilometer Frontline

    Is ist for a week, a month or a year?

    For a week: 153 / 7 = 22 shots per day per kilometer

    For a month: 153 / 30 = 5 shots per day per kilometer

    For a year: 153 / 365 = 0,4 shots per kilometer per day

    Sound not great for a trench warfare

  34. Wtf she talking about Bulgaria started month ago making shells
    Also in west Ukraine near Poland they got arms factories
    Ukraine is a country to be afraid of now
    Every western ciuntry love these wars, they get to battle test weapons see how they hold up

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