As of: March 28, 2024, 6:52 a.m
By: Simon Schröder
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Press
Split
Ukraine needs ammunition. The US government is concluding a new arms deal with Turkey because the European-wide armament against Putin is overwhelming the arms industry.
Ankara – The USA is currently negotiating with Turkey for more supplies of artillery shells and explosives. This should also boost production for Ukraine. Because ammunition is slowly becoming scarce for Ukraine. Kiev still urgently needs supplies in its fight against the Russian invaders.
Trinitrotoluene, also known as TNT, produced in Turkey is essential in the production of NATO standard 155 mm caliber ammunition. And since all NATO countries are currently rearming, weapons, ammunition and military equipment are generally in short supply. The ammunition orders are putting global arms manufacturers under pressure to deliver, as the
New York Times
reports.
A Ukrainian soldier loading a howitzer with a 155 mm projectile. © IMAGO/Smoliyenko Dmytro/Ukrinform/ABACA
USA and Turkey plan arms deal – Erdogan visits Biden in Washington
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is expected in Washington on May 9 to improve military cooperation with President Joe Biden. By 2025, almost 30 percent of all US 155 mm artillery shells will be manufactured by the Turkish arms company Repkon. In a statement, the Pentagon expressed confidence. Cooperation is “key to building a global defense industry.”
The West is still in competition with Russia to see who can produce more material for war. At the moment, Russia seems to be able to produce around four million bullets. At the moment, many German defense companies still have the problem of ramping up production and meeting current production requirements. Rheinmetall is currently running at full speed. The German armaments factory is expanding, building new factories and has introduced three-shift operation in order to be able to cope with the current order situation.
The Czech Republic wants to procure 800,000 rounds of ammunition for Ukraine
The Czech Republic is currently working on supplying ammunition to Ukraine, as
DW
reports. There should be up to 800,000 pieces in total. The Eastern European country alone has 500,000 rounds of the highly sought-after 155 mm caliber in stock. Petr Pavel, Czech President, assured Kiev at the Munich Security Conference on February 20, 2024 that the ammunition would be found as quickly as possible. “We were able to locate half a million pieces of 155 millimeter caliber ammunition and 300,000 pieces of 122 millimeter caliber ammunition,” said Pavel at the Munich Siko.
(SiSchr)