Estonia proposes EU investment in ammo purchases for Ukraine
The flag of Estonia (Photo:hanswell / pixabay)
Estonia has put forward a plan for the European Union to invest about EUR 4 billion ($4.28 billion) in joint purchase of one million 155mm artillery shells for Ukraine, Bloomberg reported on Feb. 15.
The article notes that currently Russia fires as much ammunition in one day as Europe can produce in a month.
Estonia argues that the EU urgently needs to increase its military-industrial potential in order to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the war with Russia.
“We must make an extraordinary effort toward rapid decision-making and implementation of the initiative, as soon as possible, already in 2023 – this is what the severity of Ukraine’s situation requires,” the message reads
“The price of any delay is very high, and it is going up each day.”
This plan would allow European industry to increase its capacity sevenfold and produce the 1 million 155mm projectiles over the next six months. An additional 4 billion euros could go to the European Peace Fund, which is used to compensate other countries for their military support to Ukraine.
Estonia estimates that Ukraine now uses an average of 60,000 to 210,000 artillery rounds per month, while the European defense industry is only capable of producing 25,000 over the same period. European countries in particular have been slow to launch production lines as companies complain about the lack of contracts.
And while Russian stocks are also under pressure, its capacity is many times greater than in Europe, and its industry can produce 1.7 million 152mm artillery shells per year.
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