The United States will quadruple its production of artillery ammunition in the coming years.
What is known about the increase in the production of ammunition in the United States
Under the current administration, the production of artillery shells in the United States will not simply increase. It will not just double. It will quadruple, Austin said.
He also noted that the high rate of artillery use in Ukraine convincingly proves the need for significant investments in ammunition development.
Compared to the defense budget five years ago, we are now investing almost 50 percent more in their production, he added.
The head of the Pentagon also announced that the US had started the most ambitious modernization of the defense-industrial complex in almost 40 years.
About 50 billion dollars will go to our defense and industrial base. And it will create or sustain tens of thousands of American jobs in more than 30 states. It is about the production of rockets in Arizona, cars in Wisconsin and Indiana, as well as artillery shells in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Texas, Austin said.
Shells for Ukraine
It will be recalled that at the end of last winter, it became known that the Armed Forces faced the problem of a shortage of artillery shells. Therefore, at the beginning of May, the Council of the European Union decided to aid Ukraine with one billion euros for the joint procurement of ammunition and missiles. It was planned that European countries would provide Ukraine with one million shells.
Bloomberg later wrote that the EU lags behind its plan to provide Ukraine with one million artillery shells in March 2024. So far, it is only 30% completed.
It was also reported that against the background of fears in the EU about falling behind the schedule of supplying artillery shells to Ukraine, the option that they will be purchased in countries not in the European Union is allowed.
Subsequently, it became known that the USA was discussing with Greece the possibility of selling 75,000 artillery shells from the reserves of the country's Armed Forces to Ukraine.
