Timeline of EU’s actions to tackle ammunition shortage in Ukraine
2022-2023


Feb. 24, 2022
Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine begins
March 2022
Two of Europe’s largest ammunition producers, Nammo and
Nexter, start buying an additional hundreds of tons of raw
materials to prepare for an increase in demand
March 21, 2022
NATO member states’ foreign ministers meet. Admiral Rob Bauer,
chairman of the NATO military committee, informs the audience
that the bloc won’t be able to provide Ukraine with
long-lasting support since stocks are low
April 28, 2022
NATO armaments directors meet. Concerns about possible
ammunition shortages are aired by member states for the first
time
May 18, 2022
The EU Commission announces several initiatives to tackle
ammunition shortages, including the Joint Procurement
Taskforce. It also
presents
the “Scoping EU defense investment gaps” analysis which calls
upon member states to increase investment in their defense and
start buying ammunition together
June 10, 2022
Vadym Skibitsky, deputy head of Ukraine’s military
intelligence,
says
that Ukraine is running out of Soviet-style ammunition, and
moves to use 155-caliber NATO shells, the only ones left
Sept. 4, 2022
NAMMO, a Norwegian-Finnish company, one of Europe’s three
biggest ammunition producers, publicly
asks
for state aid to ramp up production to meet the rising demand
Sept. 27, 2022
NATO member states’ armament directors meet. For the first
time, they are joined by arms producers
Oct. 14, 2022
The newly created EU Joint Procurement Task Force
concludes
that the European defense industry is “aligned for peacetime”
and faces “concrete supply chain bottlenecks and shortages.”
Jan. 20-30, 2023
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
asks
member states to give more military aid to Ukraine, also
highlighting the urgent need for ammunition
Feb. 9, 2023
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas
introduces a plan
to speed up ammunition deliveries to Ukraine
May 3, 2023
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton
announces
the Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) to increase
funding for ammunition production.
July 7, 2023
As part of the ASAP plan, the EU allocates 500 million euros
to support the ramp-up of production of ground-to-ground and
artillery ammunition, as well as missiles