Commission: EUR 500 million for an increase in ammunition production by the end of 2025

The EU announced that it would allocate 500m euros to increase production capacity in the European defence industry, to 2 million artillery missiles annually by the end of 2025. Overall, the Commission has announced that EUR 2 billion will be allocated to strengthening the defence industry in the EU, as part of various defence programmes that exist, such as the framework of the ammunition production (ASAP), the instrument for strengthening the European defence industry through joint procurement (EDIRPA) and the fourth annual work programme of the European Defence Fund (EDF). In order to achieve an increase in ammunition production to 2 million by the end of 2025, the Commission selected 31 projects in the EU and Norway to help European industry. These projects cover five areas: explosives, gunpowder, missiles, missiles and testing and rehabilitation certification. The projects will be financed with EUR 500 million from the EU budget and this funding will bring additional investment from industry through cofinancing, resulting in total investments of around EUR 1.4 billion in the supply chain. The Commission notes that thanks to the measures already taken, the annual European production capacity for 155 mm missiles needed by Ukraine had already reached 1 million annually in January 2024. The goal of obtaining a million shells from the EU in Ukraine, by the end of March 2024 was not achieved, but EU member states commit that this target will be achieved by the end of the year.