The European Union has accelerated its production of projectiles and will match Russia's production capacity in 2025, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton said in an interview with French news outlet La Tribune on June 14.
The performance of the European defense industry has been lackluster, as the EU failed on its promise to deliver 1 million artillery shells between March 2023 and 2024. After supplying only about half of the promised rounds, Brussels shifted the deadline to the end of this year.
"By the end of this year, the EU plans to reach the level of 1.7 million projectiles per year, and in 2025 to match the production capacity of Russia, that is, to produce 2.5 million projectiles per year," Breton said.
Reports have suggested that Russia is managing to produce artillery shells at triple the speed of Ukraine’s allies for a quarter of the price.
Earlier this month, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that his country had increased ammunition production by more than 20 times.
"We accelerated the production of ammunition," Breton said. "In March 2023, we produced 500,000 shells a year in Europe and were already better than the Americans, who produced only 300,000. But since then, we have doubled this capacity."
The EU adopted the first-ever European Defense Industrial Strategy (EDIS) in March to support the competitiveness and readiness of the bloc’s defense industry amidst growing threats from Russia.
Breton also emphasized that the bloc must continue to increase defense purchases "against the tension in relations with the Russian Federation," as Europe "must continue to rearm in the coming years."
"This need is shared by many EU member states and can benefit our defense industry. But it must be able to deliver weapons to the European army on time."
Dominic Culverwell
(Updated: )
