The European Commission allocated €500 million, on Friday, as stipulated by the “ASAP” ammunition production support law within member states, allowing the European defence industry to increase its ammunition production capacity to two million shells annually by the end of 2025.
In a statement released through its official website, the Commission noted that it has also launched the work program for the European Defense Industry Enhancement Tool through the Common Procurement Policy (EDIRPA) and the fourth annual work program for the European Defense Fund (EDF).
The statement added that the combined budget for these programs is approximately €2 billion, with today’s steps taken towards enhancing the European defence technological and industrial base following the adoption of the first-ever European defence industrial strategy, known as “EDIS,” and the associated proposal for the European Defense Industry Program “EDIP.”
The Commission emphasized in its statement that once €500 million is allocated to increase ammunition production capacity to two million annually, supported by the ASAP program, Europe is expected to achieve an annual production capacity for ammunition shells reaching two million by the end of 2025.
It noted that it completed the evaluation under the ASAP regulation in record time and selected 31 projects to assist the European industry in increasing ammunition production and readiness.
The selected projects cover five areas, including explosives, propellants, shells, rockets, testing certification, and renewal. The projects will be funded with €513 million from the European Union (EU) and Norwegian budgets.
This funding will catalyze additional investments from the industry through joint financing, resulting in a total investment of approximately €1.4 billion in the supply chain.
The program focuses on propellants and explosives, which pose obstacles to ammunition shell production, with about three-quarters of the program allocated to them.
The program will support projects to increase annual production capacity by over 10,000 tons of propellants and over 4,300 tons of explosives.
For this purpose, the Union will invest €248 million in powder manufacturing capacity and €124 million in explosive manufacturing capacity.
According to the statement, thanks to measures already taken, the European annual production capacity for 155mm caliber shells reached one million annually in January 2024.
The Commission noted that through an overall budget allocation of €310 million, the EDIRPA work program will support joint procurement in three areas: ammunition production used in manufacturing small arms, artillery shells, mortars, and rockets, enhancing air and missile defence industries, platform development, and replacing old systems for various weapons such as tanks, armoured vehicles, support systems, soldier systems, and unmanned aircraft.
These funding priorities have been identified in collaboration with member states to meet urgent defence needs and renew defence stocks.
