Defence companies in Europe will be able to increase production of ammunition, including for supplies to Ukraine, not before the end of 2025 or early 2026. This was reported by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) with reference to sources in the EU defence industry.
According to WSJ, European manufacturers are facing regulatory challenges, supply chain disruptions and labour shortages, as well as insufficient government funding.
The newspaper’s sources say it takes about two years to increase ammunition production at an existing plant, while it takes about five years to build a new facility.
The newspaper notes that the UK, which is no longer part of the EU, intends to increase its defence production capacity eightfold by the beginning of 2025 compared to the period before the start of the Ukrainian conflict.
According to the newspaper, Russia, “despite tough economic sanctions”, will be able to produce almost three times more large-calibre ammunition than the US and Europe this year.
We shall remind you that earlier the French newspaper Le Figaro noted that despite the sanctions pressure from Western countries, Russia had increased the growth of its defence budget, which would allow it to continue its special military operation.